This book presents a new approach to the issues of urban landscape design. Improvisation is a clear departure from the typical institutional or economically-driven approaches to design in the inner city. It allows sociocultural patterns and everyday activities to shape space. This study explores scenes of life in the community of West Oakland, California. It focuses on activities in and around several Model Cities parks, reveals limitations in their intention and use, and builds on observations of life in the parks to develop theoretical designs inspired by improvisation.