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Activities

Some things you can do in urban green spaces

  • Reading
  • Walking dogs
  • Play
  • Contemplate
  • Cooling in the summer
  • Warming in winter
  • Restoration to well-being
  • Growing food
  • Environmental teaching space
  • Raise property values
  • Community gathering place
  • Visual assets
  • Absorb rainwater runoff
  • Aesthetic

    • Social Benefits

  • Provides recreational use:
  • a place to play
  • meditate
  • gather
  • rest
  • Green spaces give a sense of social place
  • allow one to gain social recognition
  • enhance feelings of family kinship and solidarity
  • allow one to teach and lead others
  • provide opportunity to reflect on personal and social values
  • promote spiritual growth
  • and in general allow users to feel free, independent, and more in control than is possible in a more structured home and work environment.
  • Green spaces introduce the natural into the urban environment
  • Green spaces provide a refreshing contrast buildings
  • Green spaces foster a connection between community residents and the natural environment that surrounds them, thus allowing for a more livable city. This is essential in order for a community to be sustainable.

    • Enviormental Benefits

  • Trees have been shown to absorb pollutants; as few as 20 trees can offset the pollution from a car driven 60 miles per day.
  • The urban heat island effect occurs often
    in urbanized areas, where buildings, asphalt, and concrete absorb solar radiation and then readmit it as heat, causing the air temperature of the city to rise.
  • Plants have been
    shown to reduce the urban heat island effect, directly by shading heat absorbing surfaces, and indirectly through evapotranspirational (ET) cooling.
  • In studies, vegetation has been shown to lower wall surface temperatures by 62.6°C, which led to a reduced
    air conditioner use by an average of 50% (McPherson, 1994).
  • Green spaces can also reduce noise pollution, by dense screens of trees and shrubs, and can even cleanse partially-treated wastewater.
  • Finally, green spaces and their inhabitants are a good indicator of overall ecological health of the ecosystem. This is an important measure in judging the ecological sustainability of the community.

    • Other Benefits

  • Displays public art.
  • Offers green spaces for birds, animals, and plants, understanding that green spaces are important not just for human recreation.
  • Green spaces provide habitat for a variety of birds, fish, animals, insects, and other organisms, while also providing corridors and greenways to link habitats.
  • They prevent soil erosion and absorb rainwater, thereby improving drainage.