VMDO partnered with Brailsford & Dunlavey to assist the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) with a high-level strategic plan for the District of Columbia’s parks and recreation system. The resulting Ready2Play Master Plan is based on months of robust community engagement work that obtained grassroots data on the most pressing needs and gaps in public park space across DC’s eight Wards. The Ready2Play Plan contributes to DC’s ever-changing urban fabric by expanding access to public space and in demonstrating how small-scale design decisions can make a city-wide impact.

The community engagement process established clear goals for park space across the District and helped to chart a bold path forward for planning, design, programming, and operations for the next two decades. A Strategic Action Plan provided dozens of on-the-ground strategies to be implemented on individual sites. A corresponding Equity Framework is intended to serve as a guide to identify and prioritize initiatives, capital projects, and programs to pursue in response to present and future needs.

In addition to the development of the Master Plan, VMDO also advised on the design and development of a public online platform that provides a virtual exploration of Ready2Play’s goals, strategies, and actions. Widgets related to each action item are programmed to visually show progress through graphs, maps, and point clouds. The site also allowed for exploration of DC’s park system and status of projects as outlined in DPR’s Capital Improvement Plan.