Building Accessible Greenspace

UNT faculty and students bring parks, trees to an underserved Lewisville neighborhood. 

From a young age, Jose Marines knew he wanted to make the world a better place. When UNT introduced its undergraduate urban policy and planning degree program in 2019, Marines was among the first to enroll.  

“I’ve been interested in urban planning for a long time,” Marines said. “I always knew I wanted to improve public spaces.” 

 As a research assistant for UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute (AERI), Marines had the opportunity to fulfill that calling. He worked on a team of AERI researchers — including faculty and other students in Public Administration and Geography and the Environment — to help plan and develop a new park for the city of Lewisville, which officially opened in summer 2024. 

It’s one of many ways AERI research has brought environmental solutions to communities. The interdisciplinary research institute unites faculty, staff, and students from across the university to work together on projects focused on mitigating environmental problems ranging from air and water quality to urban planning, public health, and conservation biology. Ongoing research for the institute has helped promote healthy watersheds in Texas, educated about sustainable water use, and supported biodiversity conservation both in the region and abroad through efforts to restore native prairies and advance the understanding of bird species and pollinators. 

 AERI has long worked with the city on the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area, a nature preserve that serves as a living lab for environmental research and offers educational opportunities to the public. At a 2020 meeting, AERI faculty and city leadership discussed a new collaboration that would help Lewisville’s desire to improve access to greenspace and infrastructure for its residents. Plans to build a park in the high-density Triangle neighborhood quickly took shape.  

Marines conducted walkability studies and environmental monitoring — research that became his passion. Marines also helped a team of other students host community engagement events in Lewisville to gather direct input from residents on possible improvements to city parks and trails.  

“I was excited by the opportunity to provide baseline data on environmental conditions and look at how it progressed,” Marines said. “Looking at real change and tracking environmental health was interesting to me.” 

The 2.85-acre Parque la Gloria, or Glory Park, in Lewisville’s Triangle neighborhood, which previously had limited access to greenspace, includes a playground and open play space, fitness equipment, shade structures and benches, free Wi-Fi, and an onsite food market. 

Impressed by AERI’s thoughtful expertise, Lewisville city leadership invited AERI faculty and students to collaborate on the city’s Explore More Lewisville Healthy Infrastructure Plan adopted in 2023. The master plan has won awards from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Texas chapter of the American Planning Association, and the Texas Recreation and Park Society. 

For City Manager Claire Powell, the Explore More Lewisville plan is a way to show residents that they matter.  

“Neighborhoods that don’t have healthy infrastructure can experience poor health outcomes and greater poverty levels,” Powell said. “Adding greenspaces like Glory Park — this jewel right in the middle of the community — can lift everyone up.” 

Using the same environmental monitoring practices that were implemented for Glory Park, the plan includes an equity index to improve infrastructure in areas of the city that need it most. The index was developed by AERI with citizen-led committees to identify areas with a history of underinvestment that could be enhanced by planting trees, adding new sidewalks, and more.   

Marines’ commitment to helping others has only begun. He now works for Lewisville’s parks and recreation department while pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at UNT.  

“Urban planners are problem solvers. We look at situations and see how we can do better,” Marines said. “UNT gave me the tools to take on these problems.” 

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