Based on our early field investigations in the 11 cities participating in the initiative, we developed the following framework to help us examine the contribution of parks partnerships to park improvement and creation projects. Much like most business partnerships, public-private partnerships for parks include both general partners and limited partners, each with its own set of responsibilities, strengths, and weaknesses. In the Urban Parks Initiative, the general partners are typically parks agencies and nonprofit organizations that support parks. In business partnerships, the general partners usually make all of the major decisions, without consulting with the limited partners. Assets and Liabilities.
Partners bring both assets and liabilities to the partnership.
In good partnerships, the assets of one partner offset the liabilities of another. In public-private partnerships for parks, we found it helpful to view assets and liabilities in terms of the partners' financial resources, organizational capacity, public image, and constituency characteristics. The parks partnerships encountered a variety of risks, but all have developed a set of strategies for mitigating them. In addition to the four-part framework, this paper also reviews common challenges to successful parks partnerships. These include insufficient capacity among partners to carry out their promises, inadequate commitment to collaboration, the pursuit of flawed strategies, insufficient returns, and failure to communicate effectively.