Category Archives: Denver Urban Planning

Denver Urban Planning Officials Caught Unaware

The rapid growth of population in Denver is having far reaching consequences on the shared resources within the city. For instance, the most notable feature is that there is a decrease of open space per resident that used to be there before. Homeowners within the city say that it is increasingly becoming difficult to find a free area where one can walk between buildings. Homeowners nowadays do not even take time to plant grass in front of their houses as it’s a waste of time and resources due to limited space. Compared to other regions in the area such as Aurora and Colorado Springs, the open space has reduced by a third and double respectively. This is according to a report that was released by Trust for Public Land in Denver. This is a body in Denver that promotes natural land preservation within the area.


A report by the same body has revealed that greenway spaces and parks in Denver have reduced by a ratio of 9.3 acres to 1000 residents. Compared to the national median, this is far below the recommended value as the national media recommends 13.1 acres for a 1000 people. Remember that this is for the most populated cities in the United States. This is also shocking and disturbing for Denver residents as other cities in the country have recorded a significant growth in open space per resident. The growth in other cities is estimated at a 1.5 percent growth. As for Denver, the same has shrunk by 5 percent.


This unprecedented growth comes as a challenge for many urban planners. It has shown that these officials are sleeping at their most important job of keeping up with the growing population. However, some people see this an opportunity to increase tax revenues and important for economic vitality.