"Creating and protecting an open space network that is environmentally healthy, while providing residents and visitors access to nature and the region's landscape heritage, is a challenging goal in the Greater Lowell Region, where twentieth-century, low-density development models continue to expand. Only by looking at the region holistically can we avoid the further fragmentation of open space resources and can we take advantage of opportunities to restore connections. Although the Greater Lowell Region is not well-known for its open space resources, but rather for historic urbanization and suburbanization, it is precisely these characteristics which can make implementation of a regional open space agenda in the Greater Lowell area an innovative model for the twenty-first century."