What:

PARK(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art collective, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of San Francisco that is underserved by public open space.

Back then the project was named simply PARK(ing), and was devised as a creative exploration of how urban public space is allocated and used. For example, up to 70% of San Francisco’s downtown outdoor space is dedicated to the vehicle, while only a fraction of that space is allocated to the public realm. Paying the meter of a parking space enables one to lease precious urban real estate on a short-term basis. What is the range of possible activities for this short-term lease?

Since 2005, the project has grown into PARK(ing) Day, an annual worldwide phenomenon, created independently by groups of artists, activists and citizens.

For more info:
http://www.parkingday.org
http://www.rebargroup.org

What:

The theme for the 2010 conference, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is Engaging Communities to Create Active Living Environments. To seriously address the childhood obesity epidemic, it is crucial to engage communities in defining research questions, identifying promising environmental and policy solutions, and ensuring results are meaningful to the people who are affected. The conference agenda will contain a variety of breakfast roundtable discussions, keynote speakers, plenary and concurrent presentations, as well as panel presentations.

Introduction and Overview

From the San Francisco Office of the Mayor:

Sunday Streets is one of San Francisco’s newest and most exciting initiatives. Modeled on a 30-year-old program started in South America, Sunday Streets opens local roads and streets on Sunday mornings for physical activity. In the process, it brings physical activity space to neighborhoods throughout the city, creating a route for tens of thousands of local families, kids, and adults to walk, jog, and bike, and participate in group exercise.