Roosevelt Plaza Park (RPP) is a central open space in Camden, NJ at the doorstep of City Hall. From August to December 2014, RPP was the site of a new Pop-Up Park, which sought to enliven the existing park and encourage residents, employees, students, and visitors to spend time outside in Camden.
The most striking impact of the Pop-Up was the feeling of inclusion that the site brought to a place previously characterized by social fragmentation. Nearby employees, residents, students, and clinic patients spontaneously interacted while listening to someone play the piano, watching a child fly a kite, or while enjoying a meal with friends. This sentiment was most powerfully voiced by Jennifer in a “Pop-Up Story”: “[The park] is something we are not used to, we don’t get this. The City of Camden has been neglected for so long because we are like the ‘bad people’... to have somebody care enough to give this, it’s the smallest thing, but it’s the biggest thing.”
