A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

Definition

A regional park can be a special park district covering a region crossing several jurisdiction boundaries, or a park system of a single jurisdiction, such as a province, county, or city.

By country

Canada

Saskatchewan

There are 101 regional parks in Saskatchewan. All parks are operated by volunteer boards.

Italy

Regional parks in Italy are administered by each region in Italy, a government unit like a U.S. state.

Ireland

Distinguished from National Parks in the Republic of Ireland, which are owned and run centrally by the state's National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ireland's regional parks are managed and operated by individual local authorities in Ireland. Examples include Ballincollig Regional Park (managed by Cork City Council), Millennium Regional Park (

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its aboli ...

), and Malahide Demesne Regional Park (also Fingal County Council).

Lithuania

A law to establish regional parks in Lithuania took effect in 1992. As of 2022, there were 30 such regional parks (''regioniniai parkai'').

New Zealand

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, regional parks are administered by regional councils rather than the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

territorial authorities Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a ...

United States

Definitions

In the United States, a regional park is sometimes referred to as a 'Metropolitan Park (Metropark)' or as an

open space reserve An open space reserve (also called open space preserve, open space reservation, and green space) is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside. The purpose of an open space reserve may include ...

. The terms ''region'' and ''metropolitan'' can have different meanings in U.S. local government agencies. Regional parks can be administered by a regional park board, a state,

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

or other units of

. A special authority can be set up, under the joint jurisdiction of two or more government bodies or as an independent park district to administer parks. Individual parks may or may not cross governmental boundaries. The park district holds the authority, similar to fire protection districts, to manage and raise taxes to cover park acquisition and management costs.

Midwest

Examples of large regional park systems are the

Cleveland Metroparks Cleveland Metroparks is an extensive system of nature preserves in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Eighteen reservations, which largely encircle the city of Cleveland, follow along the shore of Lake Erie and the rivers and creeks that flow through the ...

in Northeast Ohio, Huron-Clinton Metroparks in Southeast

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

; and the Three Rivers Park District in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

. In Ohio, under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1545, metroparks such as the Cleveland Metroparks Park District,

Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks are a group of 19 metropolitan parks in and around Columbus, Ohio. They are officially organized into the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District. The Metro Parks system was organized ...

have their own Police Departments with sworn police officers. The

Toledo Metroparks Metroparks Toledo, officially the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area, is a public park district consisting of parks, nature preserves, a botanical garden, trail network and historic battlefield in Lucas County, Ohio. Founded during ...

, and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Five Rivers Metroparks are also in the state.

California

The

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...

and

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Formed in 1972 by voter initiative, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) is a non-enterprise special district in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has acquired and preserved a regional green belt of open space land and provides o ...

have extensive parklands in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

, protecting habitat and offering recreation.

United Kingdom

Scotland

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, regional parks are defined to co-ordinate the management of areas of attractive countryside that are of importance for recreation due to their proximity to population centres. The parks have been defined and are managed by

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. As of 2018, Scotland had three regional parks: *

Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is the collective name for areas of countryside set aside for conservation and recreation on the South Clyde estuary in Scotland. The park covers an area of of Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, stre ...

* Lomond Hills Regional Park * Pentland Hills Regional Park

England

See: Ziafati Bafarasat, A. (2016) Meta-governance and soft projects: A hypothetical model for regional policy integration, ''Land Use Policy'', 59, pp.251-259.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Regional Park

Regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Urban studies and planning terminology Urban planning