Public parks play a vital role in our urban environments. They are not just patches of grass; they are essential green spaces that enhance community well-being.
In a world increasingly dominated by concrete and steel, these parks offer a refuge of nature, promoting health, social interaction, and environmental benefits.
Use no-dig gardening to protect wildlife. Learn how to create pet-safe parks (all bulbs are toxic to pets).
Don’t plant flowers in railing (deer get stuck in them) and ensure sloping sides for ponds, to let wildlife keep safe.
The Oregon city of Portland has way more parks than Sheffield (similar size and population). So it’s not like we can’t do the same: green quiet spaces with litter/recycling bins and solar lighting (that goes off at night, to avoid light pollution).
London Parks spends a year walking around the author’s favourite parks. From his local haunt on Hampstead Heather to Richmond Park to Battersea Park (with the little brown dog statue, in memory of the first victim of vivisection).
Whether you’re spotting pelicans and politicians in St James’ Park or enjoying views from Greenwich Park, there’s something here for every city dweller.
Park Life is a book by travel writer Tom Chesshyre who recalls 50 of his favourite urban parks around the world, and what we can learn from them. Whether in Colombia or Korea, America or Australia, urban parks are places to feel calm amid the chaos.
Why Public Space Matters is a book that suggests to not sell off land to business, but make public spaces sustainable greenways for the public to play, meet, talk, read, debate and work.
Looking at public spaces from New York to Costa Rica, the author shows why they matter and how we can expand and protect them, both at grassroots and national level. Setha M Low is a professor of environmental psychology.
The Importance of Public Parks
Public parks are a breath of fresh air, literally. They improve local biodiversity by providing habitats for wildlife. This contributes to a balanced ecosystem in urban areas, where natural habitats are often scarce. Parks also help to purify the air by absorbing pollutants and producing oxygen.
Additionally, they play a role in urban cooling, combating the heat island effect common in cities. Imagine walking through a park on a hot summer day; the shade from trees can significantly lower temperatures, making the environment more comfortable.
Access to parks encourages physical activity among community members. Whether it’s jogging, cycling, or simply walking, parks provide the space for people to engage in exercise. This active lifestyle leads to better physical health, reducing risks of chronic diseases.
Moreover, parks have a positive impact on mental health. Nature has a calming effect, reducing stress and anxiety. Just think about how a simple walk in a green space can lift your mood.
Parks also foster social interaction, bringing people together for community events or casual gatherings, thus enhancing social ties.
Parks serve as community hubs. They are spaces where people from diverse backgrounds can come together. This fosters a sense of belonging and community pride.
A Guide to London’s Hyde Park
Hyde Park is one of England’s most popular parks, attracting millions of residents and tourists each year. A former hunting ground (built in 1536 by King Henry VIII), he ‘stole the park’ from local monks who used the area as a place of worship and to garden. He forced the monks to go elsewhere and began to use the park to hunt deer.
Today thankfully no deer are hunted in this park and instead the 350 acres of land is home to over 4000 trees and an antique bandstand. Nearby Marble Arch was designed to be an add-on to Buckingham Palace, before being moved to nearby Hyde Park.
Lake Serpentine is not actually a lake, it’s a pool built by royalty. This 40-acre body of water was built at the request of Queen Caroline in 1730 and marks a boundary from Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, with water originally pumped from the river Thames.
Hyde Park is also home to a ‘speakers’ corner’ used for campaigning. Two famous speeches were in 1855 (when riots broke out over a Sunday Trading Bill, which Karl Marx called ‘the beginning of the English Revolution).
And in 1972 when three Irish republicans were arrested after giving speeches following Bloody Sunday (after British troops opened fire and killed 13 civil rights demonstrators in Derry). And of course the park suffered tragedy in 1982, when an IRA bomb which killed four men and seven horses.
Public Park Benches (made from waste)
Ecotribo make lovely park benches, made from recycled ghost fishing waste.
Ideal for public parks or schools, these are in 2 different designs in a range of colours, and very durable in wet weather. All they need is to be wiped clean now and then, and they’ll last for years.
Marmex Recycled Products also makes park and picnic benches (also wheelchair-friendly option) all made from recycled milk bottles.
Avoid the recycled plastic nest boxes. RSPB says plastic makes birds damp/cold (also avoid metal that overheats). Use quality plain wood boxes, treated water-based preservative.
Weatherproof and easy to clean, you may see white flecks (from the bottles, can be a talking point!) Guaranteed for 25 years and made in Durham, a city built (like Rome) on seven hills!
Easy to assemble with a spanner, this company also makes litter bins, path posts, log stores, dog poop pins and ramps/platforms for wildlife ponds.
We like the Goal Wall that is better than football nets (which can tangle foxes and other wildlife, when not stored away).
Central Park (lessons for England councils)
New York’s Central Park has become the gold standard worldwide, housing a third of the city’s wildlife and birds, and containing almost 60 miles of walking routes, over 18,000 trees and 10,000 benches, yet is three times smaller than London’s Richmond Park.
Yet the latter has people ignoring warnings to stay away from autumn rutting deer, and litter clean-ups have found everything from plastic bags wrapped around a stag’s mouth, hedgehogs entangled in party balloons, and cormorant birds with plastic beer rings around their necks.
Richmond Park has also called out people for littering disposable face masks and cyclists who drop blue hydration gel (some deer have died on eating it).
Yet Central Park (despite having over 40 million annual visitors) have ratproof bins that are emptied by quiet electric vehicles, and the park is mostly litter-free. It’s even recently banned carriage horses, due to welfare campaigns.
In New York, they perform Shakespeare in the park. Why don’t most parks in England do this, as we are the home of the Bard?
