Dr MacKenzie, a researcher in open space planning at the University of Canberra, said Canberra had too many parks and open spaces that it could not maintain to the standard expected by the community, and other parks that were "frankly not safe to go into".

Haig Park, in Braddon, was dark and cold in winter, over-planted and not useful for people living in the inner north. It should be completely redesigned, he said, suggesting a redevelopment that went well beyond the lights and better paths being considered by the government.

The government was looking to "replace existing evergreen trees with more evergreen trees as if to try and freeze it in time ... atrophying the park into something that … was useful 50 years ago but doesn't serve its purpose as a windbreak any more," he said.

"We're talking about a big increase in the number of people living in medium-density residential unit-style apartments with no private open space that need proper recreation facilities," he said. Haig Park could include sporting fields, recreation areas suitable for all times of year, including winter, and event spaces, while maintaining the heritage importance through areas of original plantings.

Public open spaces were increasingly important as the city expanded, especially because of the dwindling space for backyards and the growth in townhouse and apartment living. But because the city had no strategy to determine where parks should be and to identify parks that were no longer functioning, new suburbs were being development with insufficient parks, and big areas of open space were being maintained in areas of dwindling population, Dr MacKenzie said.

Point Park at West Basin was an example of "haphazard" parks development. The government is spending $10 million developing the park, and while Dr MacKenzie supported the development of the lake for residential and commercial use and said it was well planned, he said the main purpose of Point Park was as a catalyst for development.

"Over time it will serve the needs of future residents – there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're talking about directing funds into parks, at the moment it's being done in the absence of a strategy so it's more haphazard," he said.

"We need to be much more evidence-based decision making in relation to meeting recreational needs of the community. And that includes both upgrading existing parks where there is demand and perhaps making other open spaces redundant where that demand no longer exists."

The city had fallen into the trap of a dispersed approach that was unsustainable.

"The government can barely keep up with the maintenance demand of our existing urban parkland. TAMS is faced with the almost insurmountable task of just keeping the grass in check in our suburban parks. Without the dedicated volunteer park care groups, Canberra nature parks would be in trouble.

"Any proposals for new higher quality recreation facilities in parks such as Haig Park are met with nervous apprehension from city parks managers reluctant to add more assets requiring a higher level of care than a six-monthly visit from the ride-on mowers," he said, writing in today's opinion pages.

Dr Mackenzie's design students are working on an installation for West Basin as part of the Art Not Apart festival on March 14, in which 200 floating devices will mark the line of the original Griffin-proposed lake edge, where the government now plans a boardwalk and reclamation.