An urban oasis is a public open space, park, or plaza which is located in between buildings or formed by surrounding buildings in an urban setting. It can exist in any kind of culture. There are various sizes of urban oases. Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted's park in New York City, can be considered as a very large urban oasis. The Los Angeles Central Library’s plaza can be considered to be a small scaled oasis.
The oasis is used by residents, workers, and visitors during everyday activities. The urban oasis offers many benefits to the community by inviting people to stop, sit, eat, play, and relax. Plant material provides shade and screens the noise of vehicular traffic while fountains help to drown out the noise pollution. The oasis adds value to cities and neighborhoods while providing identity, economic benefit, environmental benefit, and a site for cultural activities in cities.
Read more about Urban Oasis: Role in The Community, Environment
Famous quotes containing the words urban and/or oasis:
“Commercial jazz, soap opera, pulp fiction, comic strips, the movies set the images, mannerisms, standards, and aims of the urban masses. In one way or another, everyone is equal before these cultural machines; like technology itself, the mass media are nearly universal in their incidence and appeal. They are a kind of common denominator, a kind of scheme for pre-scheduled, mass emotions.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–62)
“Je célébrai mon jour de fête
Dans une oasis d’Afrique
Vêtu d’une peau de girafe.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)