tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/parks-26237/articlesParks – The Conversation2024-02-08T19:17:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223902024-02-08T19:17:30Z2024-02-08T19:17:30ZHarry Potter and the Disenchanted Wildlife: how light and sound shows can harm nocturnal animals<p>Light and sound shows in parks can enthral crowds with their colour, music and storytelling. Lasting for weeks to months, the shows provide entertainment and can boost local economies. But unless they are well-located, the shows can also harm wildlife.</p>
<p>A planned production at a wildlife sanctuary in outer Melbourne has brought these concerns to the fore. In April and May this year, a wildlife reserve on the Mornington Peninsula will host <a href="https://hpforbiddenforestexperience.com/melbourne/#location">Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience</a>. The event involves a two-kilometre night walk where, according to organisers, characters from the film are “brought to life”.</p>
<p>The event has prompted an <a href="https://www.savebriarssanctuary.com/">outcry</a> from people worried about the effect on the reserve’s vulnerable wildlife. The sanctuary, known as The Briars, is <a href="https://biocache.ala.org.au/explore/your-area#-38.2695%7C145.0465%7C14%7CAnimals">home to</a> native animals <a href="https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2294907">including</a> powerful and boobook owls, owlet-nightjars, koalas, wallabies, Krefft’s gliders, <a href="https://biocache.ala.org.au/explore/your-area#-38.2695%7C145.0465%7C14%7CReptiles">lizards</a>, <a href="https://biocache.ala.org.au/explore/your-area#-38.2695%7C145.0465%7C14%7CAmphibians">frogs</a>, moths and spiders. A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/urge-mornington-peninsula-shire-to-relocate-the-harry-potter-forbidden-forest-experience">petition</a> calling for the event to be relocated has attracted more than 21,000 signatures.</p>
<p>Research shows artificial light, sound and the presence of lots of people at night can harm wildlife. It’s not hard to see why. Imagine if a music and light show, and thousands of people, turned up at your house every night for weeks on end. How would you feel?</p>
<h2>A history of community opposition</h2>
<p>In addition to the lights and sounds, these shows can involve artificial smoke and animated sculptures. While they often take place along existing walking trails, they attract huge crowds at a time when animals usually have the place to themselves.</p>
<p>Most of Australia’s mammals and frogs and many bird and reptile species are nocturnal, or active at night. They have adapted to the natural darkness, sounds and smells of the night.</p>
<p>The Harry Potter experience planned for The Briars has taken place elsewhere around the world, including at a nature area near the Belgian capital of Brussels. That event, in February last year, was also <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/325125/belgian-harry-potter-theme-park-draws-backlash-from-local-residents">opposed by locals</a> on ecological grounds. Belgian Minister for Nature Zuhal Demir has <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/363616/no-repeat-flanders-says-evanesco-to-harry-potter-event">reportedly</a> said the show would not return this year due to concern for wildlife.</p>
<p>Light shows proposed for other wildlife conservation areas have also faced community opposition. In Australia, there were calls to halt the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/16/calls-to-halt-nt-light-festival-over-fears-for-vulnerable-rock-wallaby">Parrtjima</a> light festival in the Alice Springs Desert Park over potential harm to the threatened black-footed rock wallabies. The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-03/lumina-light-show-mount-coot-tha-wildlife-concerns/102804780">Lumina</a> light show proposed for Mount Coot-tha in Brisbane has also attracted concern for wildlife.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/predators-prey-and-moonlight-singing-how-phases-of-the-moon-affect-native-wildlife-140556">Predators, prey and moonlight singing: how phases of the Moon affect native wildlife</a>
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<h2>Light, sounds, action!</h2>
<p>Research shows <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/S41559-020-01322-x">artificial light</a> affects wildlife in many ways. For example, it can <a href="https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/media/uploads/2023_12/biodiversity_council_2023_impacts_of_artificial_light_on_wildlife_gVmenJh.pdf">change</a> their hormone levels, and the numbers and health of their offspring.</p>
<p>Light also interferes with the ability of many species to navigate. This can cause birds to become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708574114">disorientated</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44973632">crash</a>. It can also prevent <a href="https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/?hottopic-entry=the-impacts-of-artificial-light-on-marine-turtles">baby turtles</a> from finding the sea. </p>
<p>Some animals will forgo <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12206">feeding</a> or <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acv.12340">drinking</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/z06-142">attracting mates</a>. Other animals will try to move to a darker location. In the Belgian case, locals claimed owls left the park to avoid the lights.</p>
<p>Studies of small mammals such as <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acv.12635?campaign=wolearlyview">bats</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12034">micro-bats</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-37166-1">possums and bandicoots</a> have shown many will avoid using habitat that is artificially lit. When there is no alternative dark habitat, species forced to deal with bright conditions – whether natural or artificial – have been found to reduce their activity. </p>
<p>Conversely, some animals are attracted to light. Insects such as moths will cluster around the artificial light source, unable to leave. Some will become so exhausted they will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12381">become easy prey</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, human-caused <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1130075/full">noise</a> also stresses animals and changes animal behaviour. It <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1135-4">masks the natural soundscape</a>, making it harder for animals to find mates or hear the calls of their young. It can also mean animals can’t hear predators or their prey.</p>
<p>When thousands of humans travel through an area they leave strong <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320717314453">predator-like smells</a>. This can be <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/9104/">stressful</a> for wildlife. It can also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1135-4">mask smells</a> vital for an animal’s <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2015.1053">survival</a>, such as that of food and predators.</p>
<h2>Long-term harm</h2>
<p>When faced with all this disruption, many nocturnal animals will hide until a site returns to normal, which in the case of light shows is often close to midnight. This cuts in half the time animals have to go about their life-sustaining activities and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2206339119">exposes them to greater risks</a> when they do go out.</p>
<p>Light and sound shows are usually temporary – but can have major long-term impacts.</p>
<p>In species with low birth rates and short lifespans, a disturbance to breeding can be catastrophic. For example, males of the genus <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/186/2/553/5480676?login=true">Antechinus</a> (small marsupials) live long enough for just one <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00360-007-0250-8">short breeding season</a>. If they are <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo17041">disrupted</a>, there are no second chances.</p>
<p>The stress of human lights, sounds, smells and disturbance can shorten an animal’s <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2011.1291">life</a>. Stress can make them more prone to <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2011.1291">illness</a> and create <a href="https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/media/uploads/2023_12/biodiversity_council_2023_impacts_of_artificial_light_on_wildlife_gVmenJh.pdf">problems</a> with <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/221/6/jeb156893/20849/Hormonally-mediated-effects-of-artificial-light-at">sleeping</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113883">reproduction</a>, development and growth that can last for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159114000574">multiple generations</a>. </p>
<h2>Find a better location</h2>
<p>The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-31/briars-wildlife-reserve-harry-potter-experience-petition/103275544">defended</a> the Harry Potter event, saying the placement of props, lights and sounds has been carefully considered.</p>
<p>Organisers may have minimised impacts where they can, but evidence suggests the impact on wildlife will still be extensive. </p>
<p>The sanctuary where the event will be held is <a href="https://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/files/content/public/environment/the-briars/whats-on-at-the-briars/briars-dl-brochure-wildlife-sanctuary_v02_2020-1.pdf">billed as</a> “an ark – a place which nurtures, protects and celebrates the unique flora and fauna of the peninsula, now rare but not lost”. Deliberately locating a light and sound show at the reserve seems at odds with this mission.</p>
<p>Events such as this clearly affect wildlife. Finding genuinely suitable locations should be done with care – and should avoid wildlife conservation areas altogether.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaana Dielenberg works for the Biodiversity Council. The Biodiversity Council was founded by 11 universities and receives support from The Ian Potter Foundation, The Ross Trust, Trawalla Foundation, The Rendere Trust, Isaacson Davis Foundation, Coniston Charitable Trust and Angela Whitbread. Jaana is employed by the University of Melbourne and is a Charles Darwin University Fellow.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action. Euan is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Therésa Jones receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with NERAL (Network for Ecological Research on Artificial Light).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loren Fardell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Harry Potter nightwalk experience at a wildlife sanctuary on the Mornington Peninsula has raised concern for wildlife. Evidence suggests the fears are well-founded.Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow, Charles Darwin UniversityEuan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLoren Fardell, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandTherésa Jones, Professor in Evolution and Behaviour, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067372023-06-20T12:29:12Z2023-06-20T12:29:12ZSaving lives from extreme heat: Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531486/original/file-20230612-248839-sft9gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C17%2C3918%2C2598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Volunteers pick up water to deliver to homeless people during a 2021 heat wave.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NorthwestHeatWave/5811cb2415d048d584b0162ec7011a61/photo">AP Photo/Nathan Howard</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The heat dome that descended upon the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 met a population radically unprepared for it.</p>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/us/western-heat-wave.html">two-thirds of households earning US$50,000 or less</a> and <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattle-is-a-lot-more-air-conditioned-than-it-used-to-be/">70% of rented houses</a> in Washington’s King, Pierce and Snohomish counties had no air conditioning. In Spokane, <a href="https://www.gonzaga.edu/center-for-climate-society-environment/our-work/climate-resilience-project/beat-the-heat/survey">nearly one-quarter of survey respondents</a> didn’t have in-home air conditioning, and among those who did, 1 in 5 faced significant, often financial, barriers to using it.</p>
<p>Imagine having no way to cool your home as temperatures spiked to <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/extremes/scec/reports/20220210-Washington-Maximum-Temperature.pdf">108 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius), and 120 F (49 C) in some places</a>. People in <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands">urban heat islands</a> – areas with few trees and lots of asphalt and concrete that can absorb and radiate heat – saw temperatures as much as <a href="https://repository.gonzaga.edu/ccsereach/2/">14 F (7.8 C) higher</a> than that. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/world/canada/canadian-wildfire-british-columbia.html">Extreme heat disasters</a> like this are becoming <a href="https://theconversation.com/dangerous-urban-heat-exposure-has-tripled-since-the-1980s-with-the-poor-most-at-risk-169153">increasingly common</a> in regions where high heat used to be rare. Blackouts during severe heat waves can also leave residents who believe they are protected because they have in home air conditioners at unexpected risk. To prepare, cities, neighborhoods, companies and individuals can take steps now that can reduce the harm.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and two women sit in the shade while kids play in a fountain. The man has cool cloth on his head and cold soda in his hand. June is nicknamed 'Juneuary' in Seattle for its clouds and usual chill, but that isn't what residents endured in June 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531491/original/file-20230612-16-c47rc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Designing shady spots for sitting and public fountains for kids to play in, like these people found in Seattle on June 27, 2021, can provide some relief from extreme heat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PacificNorthwestHeatWave/176e2e948dea47efbc9753259e0d27f4/photo">AP Photo/John Froschauer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a <a href="https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/in-the-hot-seat-saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-in-washington-state/">new report</a>, written with colleagues at universities and the Washington State Department of Health and released ahead of the two-year anniversary of the heat wave, we show how municipal planning agencies, parks departments, local health agencies, community-based organizations like churches and nonprofits, multiple state agencies, hospitals, public health professionals and emergency response personnel, as well as individuals and families, can play a vital role in reducing risk.</p>
<p>The 2021 heat dome was Washington’s deadliest weather disaster on record. It contributed to <a href="https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/in-the-hot-seat-saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-in-washington-state/">441 deaths in the state between June 27 and July 3</a>, our research shows. Medical systems were overwhelmed. </p>
<p>There are numerous ways to avoid this deadly of an outcome in the future. Many emerge from thinking about extreme heat as long-term risk reduction, not just short-term emergency response.</p>
<h2>Designing environments for cooling</h2>
<p>Greening the urban environment can reduce heat exposure and save lives. For example, planting trees and building shade structures where people are most exposed to heat can provide local relief from extreme temperatures. That includes providing shade at buildings without air conditioning and exposed public spaces, such as bus stops and parks.</p>
<p>Planting rooftops with vegetation, known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038092X12002447">green roofs</a>, or painting them white so they reflect heat rather than absorb it, can also <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/using-green-roofs-reduce-heat-islands">lower roof temperatures by tens of degrees</a>. Used widely, they can reduce an entire neighborhood’s heat island effect by several degrees.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration showing a cross-section of a region, with a city and rural areas, and two chart lines showing day and night temperatures. The temps rise over areas with lots of concrete and asphalt, particularly dense areas that hold the heat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531162/original/file-20230609-21291-onib7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Developed areas tend to heat up more than natural landscapes, such as parks. That can increase heat stress on humans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/in-the-hot-seat-saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-in-washington-state/">Climate Impacts Group/University of Washington, adapted from EPA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Efforts like these, along with tree planting campaigns in public parks and rights of way, and ordinances requiring shade trees for parking lots and private development projects, can transform the urban heat landscape.</p>
<h2>Reaching vulnerable people</h2>
<p>When heat waves are coming, culturally nuanced outreach efforts focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101392">the most vulnerable populations</a> – and involving sources they trust – can save lives.</p>
<p>Government heat advisories in traditional media like radio, newspapers, TV and the internet have been shown to have limited success in changing people’s behavior. In the <a href="https://www.gonzaga.edu/center-for-climate-society-environment/our-work/climate-resilience-project/beat-the-heat/survey">2022 Spokane survey</a>, 88% of respondents indicated they were unlikely to leave their home during an extreme heat event to go to a cooling center, for example. The reasons varied, including misperception of personal risk, fear of leaving homes unoccupied, not wanting to leave pets behind and mistrust of government. </p>
<p>Culturally specific resources led by community-based organizations can get around the government trust issue and can be tailored to the local population. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a wheel chair leans back with cooling clothes on her forehead and chest during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave. The heat wave killed hundreds of people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531487/original/file-20230612-29-i0013b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman puts cold cloths on her forehead at a cooling center in Portland, Ore., on June 27, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tracy-wallace-puts-ice-cold-cloths-on-her-forehead-and-news-photo/1233728368">Alisha Jucevic for The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That might mean opening cooling centers in churches or common community gathering places and launching heat awareness campaigns driven by trusted community messengers. New York City developed a door-to-door wellness check program that <a href="https://climate.cityofnewyork.us/initiatives/be-a-buddy/">uses neighborhood volunteers</a> to check on elderly and other at-risk residents.</p>
<p>Under this model, churches, libraries, community centers and community nonprofits take center stage, supported with resources from local and state governments. Baltimore developed more than a dozen “<a href="https://www.baltimoresustainability.org/baltimore-resiliency-hub-program/">resiliency hubs</a>” using this model to provide water, cooling, power for charging devices and other support.</p>
<p>Community-based organizations can also direct energy assistance to lower-income community members. In Spokane, one community organization created a “<a href="https://www.snapwa.org/cool">cooling fund</a>” to provide portable air conditioners to those who cannot afford one. </p>
<p>Our report lays out <a href="https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/in-the-hot-seat-saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-in-washington-state/">many other strategies</a> to achieve long-term heat risk reduction.</p>
<h2>Landlords, employers and utilities have a role</h2>
<p>Addressing extreme heat over the long term requires the participation of many other groups not tasked with protecting public health.</p>
<p>For example, landlords of multifamily housing and rental homes have an important role to play. After the 2021 heat wave, <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2022R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB1536/Enrolled">Oregon passed a law</a> prohibiting landlords from restricting tenants’ ability to install window air conditioners.</p>
<p>Employers of people who work outdoors, or indoors in buildings without air conditioning, can protect workers by allowing more breaks, providing shade and water and adjusting work hours to avoid heat exposure – although concerns persist about rule enforcement and reduced pay. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A worker standing in shade holds a " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531488/original/file-20230612-23-wcvsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outdoor workers may face extreme heat for hours on end. More frequent breaks and providing shade can help when work can’t stop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/construction-workers-guide-traffic-along-hot-pavement-on-news-photo/1227714772">Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Utilities can make a difference by ensuring the power stays on during high-demand periods, particularly in vulnerable neighborhoods, and working with communities to reduce costs for vulnerable people that may prevent them from using air conditioning.</p>
<p>Ultimately, reducing extreme heat vulnerability through multiple strategies is crucial because lives are at stake.</p>
<h2>Coordination is essential</h2>
<p>Extreme heat waves are forecast to <a href="https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/6/">occur more frequently</a> across the globe as greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the climate. Between 1971 and 2021, Washington state experienced an average of three extreme heat days per year. By the 2050s, climate models project that will rise to between 17 and 30 extreme heat days per year – <a href="https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/in-the-hot-seat-saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-in-washington-state/">a fivefold increase</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five maps show observed temperature change and much higher changes by mid and late century, particularly with high-emissions scenarios." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=703&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=884&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=884&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531244/original/file-20230611-23-w48erd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=884&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Annual average temperatures are projected to increase, with proportionally greater changes at higher latitudes. The top map shows observed temperature changes from 1986-2016 relative to 1901-1960. The lower maps show projected changes for mid-century (2036–2065) and late century (2070–2099) depending on high and low greenhouse gas emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://toolkit.climate.gov/image/515">Fourth National Climate Assessment/NOAA NCEI/CICS-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the end, saving lives from extreme heat is a complicated challenge requiring coordination across multiple levels of government, agencies and the civic and private sectors.</p>
<p>Some cities, including Phoenix, are <a href="https://www.phoenix.gov/heat">experimenting with heat offices</a> tasked with this coordination. But individuals have an important role to play as well. </p>
<p>In addition to knowing how to protect themselves, their loved ones and their neighbors, individuals can add their voices to the rising chorus calling on all levels of government and the private and civic sectors to take urgent steps to reduce heat risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Vogel receives funding from Washington state that supports the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group to conduct data modeling and provide technical assistance on climate impact analysis to Washington communities, businesses, and governments.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian G. Henning receives funding from Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment to support teaching, scholarship, consulting, and capacity building. </span></em></p>A new report lays out steps communities can take to help their residents survive heat waves as the risk of dangerous temperatures rises.Jason Vogel, Interim Director, Climate Impacts Group, University of WashingtonBrian G. Henning, Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies, Gonzaga UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2023432023-05-02T20:42:18Z2023-05-02T20:42:18ZExercise can help prevent and treat mental health problems, and taking it outside adds another boost to those benefits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523463/original/file-20230428-22-4jbvw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=465%2C1008%2C4837%2C2819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Levels of the stress hormone cortisol are reduced with as little as 20 minutes in a city park.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/exercise-can-help-prevent-and-treat-mental-health-problems--and-taking-it-outside-adds-another-boost-to-those-benefits" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Mental health problems affect <a href="https://cmha.ca/brochure/fast-facts-about-mental-illness/">one in five people every year</a>. The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that by the age of 40, about half of people will either have had a mental illness or will currently be dealing with one. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.37.5.04">Behavioural therapy and medications</a> are common first options for treatment. However, research has shown the importance of exercise in not only preventing mental illness, but also treating it. And when exercise is taken outdoors, the benefits can be even greater.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/about-mental-illness.html">Mental illnesses</a> include depression, addictions and anxiety, as well as personality disorders. Of these, anxiety and depression are the most common, with <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/254610">depression being the leading cause of disability worldwide</a>. Left untreated, these diseases can result in physical illness and premature death.</p>
<p>My research focuses on the benefits of physical activity to prevent and manage disease, and ways to make it easier for people to be active. In December 2021, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and exercise and spending time in nature were vital to my recovery.</p>
<h2>Exercise can make you happy</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Female soccer players training on the field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523464/original/file-20230428-18-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It also doesn’t matter what type of activity you do. Whether it’s team sports, cycling, walking, running or aerobics, all provide benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exercise and activity have long been known to improve mood. A study of more than 1.2 million adults in the United States reported those who exercised had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30227-X">1.5 fewer days in the past month of poor mental health</a>. And the greatest benefits occurred in those people who exercised 45 minutes or more for three or more days per week.</p>
<p>But even shorter sessions can make a difference. As little as ten minutes of activity was enough to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9976-0">improve happiness</a>. Over time, regular exercise can result in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16111223">less likelihood for getting depression</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.05.012">anxiety</a>. It also doesn’t matter what type of activity you do. Whether it’s team sports, cycling, walking, running or aerobics, all provide benefits. Even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30227-X">active household chores can reduce the chances for depression</a>.</p>
<h2>Exercise as treatment for mental illness</h2>
<p>Numerous studies indicate exercise as an effective treatment for people with existing depression and other mental illnesses. A meta-analysis revealed as little as four weeks of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22842">exercise reduced symptoms of depression</a> in people with major depressive disorder. This is less time than it takes for most antidepressant medications to work.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in exercise gear outside, with a towel around her neck" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523657/original/file-20230501-1462-hmu9o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Numerous studies indicate exercise as an effective treatment for people with existing depression and other mental illnesses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While exercise is beneficial at all intensity levels, it appears <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195">higher intensity exercise may be more effective than low intensity</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0572">Strength training can also reduce symptoms</a> in people with depression. And a recent review of studies totalling 128,119 participants reported <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105964">exercise is as effective as antidepressants</a> for treating non-severe depression. Exercise has also been found to reduce symptoms in people with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3313-5">clinical anxiety</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00167">schizophrenia</a>.</p>
<h2>How exercise works to improve mental well-being</h2>
<p>Exercise may improve mental well-being due to the release of hormones and brain function. Exercise results in the release of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199724010-00002">endorphins</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-200312020-00015">endocannabinoids</a>. Endorphins are the feel-good hormones that reduce pain or discomfort associated with activity. Endocannabinoids work on the same system affected by marijuana, reducing pain and improving mood.</p>
<p>In the brain, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2020.01.001">low levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)</a> and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-021-00587-x">smaller hippocampus</a> have been associated with a number of mental illnesses. BDNF is important for the growth of nerves in the brain and development of new neural connections, while the hippocampus is associated with learning, memory and mood. Exercise can <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00037">increase BDNF levels in people with depression</a>, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.11.007">increase hippocampus volume</a>.</p>
<h2>Take it outside</h2>
<p>Exercising in nature can further improve mental well-being. <a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/rumination">Rumination</a> is a negative pattern of repetitive thinking and dwelling on things. It is associated with greater chances for mental illness, but can be reduced with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510459112">walk through a natural environment</a>. And people who spent at least two hours in nature over the course of a week reported <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3">higher well-being</a> compared to those who had no contact with nature.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with a backpack standing on a wooded trail." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523658/original/file-20230501-22-110x55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parks Canada recognized the benefits of exercising in nature by partnering with a health organization to allow doctors to prescribe Adult Parks Canada Discovery Passes to patients to enable them to spend time outdoors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are a number of reasons why nature is good for us. Trees are known to give off compounds called phytoncides, which have been associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-009-0086-9">multiple health benefits</a>. In addition, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722">levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) are reduced</a> with as little as 20 minutes spent in a park.</p>
<p>The value of being outdoors to physical and mental health was recognized by Parks Canada in January 2022, when they <a href="https://www.parkprescriptions.ca/">partnered with PaRx</a>, an organization led by health professionals who prescribe time in nature to their patients, to allow <a href="https://www.parkprescriptions.ca/blogposts/announcing-a-new-collaboration-between-parx-and-parks-canada">doctors to prescribe Adult Parks Canada Discovery Passes</a>. </p>
<p>With these passes, patients can access Canada’s national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas. This follows <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/green-prescriptions-health-wellbeing/">similar programs in many other countries</a> such as New Zealand, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>With all the benefits of exercise and nature on mental health, it’s important to recognize some people with a mental illness can find simple daily tasks challenging. For these people taking an antidepressant and behavioural therapy may be more suitable. But for others, exercising in nature is a simple and cost-saving activity to maintain your mental health and treat mental illnesses.</p>
<p><em>Scott Lear writes a biweekly blog <a href="https://drscottlear.com/">Become Your Healthiest You</a> and co-hosts a monthly podcast <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1xsvY0F6qbBKDG8INVvy5T">How to Health</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Lear receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Hamilton Health Sciences, and has received funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Novo Nordisk, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p>Numerous studies indicate exercise as an effective treatment for people with existing depression and other mental illnesses, and exercising in nature can further improve mental well-being.Scott Lear, Professor of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1973882023-04-04T12:16:34Z2023-04-04T12:16:34ZFood forests are bringing shade and sustenance to US cities, one parcel of land at a time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518800/original/file-20230331-28-ayzg5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C12%2C4019%2C2939&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Uphams Corner Food Forest in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood was built on a vacant lot.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boston Food Forest Coalition</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than half of all people on Earth live in cities, and that share <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview">could reach 70% by 2050</a>. But except for public parks, there aren’t many models for nature conservation that focus on caring for nature in urban areas. </p>
<p>One new idea that’s gaining attention is the concept of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/08/its-like-a-place-of-healing-the-growth-of-americas-food-forests">food forests</a> – essentially, edible parks. These projects, often sited on vacant lots, grow <a href="https://www.gardencityharvest.org/the-real-dirt-garden-city-harvest-blog/2020/12/26/what-is-a-food-forest">large and small trees, vines, shrubs and plants</a> that produce fruits, nuts and other edible products. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9IYpXA0CxXg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Atlanta’s Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill is the nation’s largest such project, covering more than 7 acres.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike community gardens or urban farms, food forests are designed to mimic ecosystems found in nature, with many vertical layers. They shade and cool the land, protecting soil from erosion and providing habitat for insects, animals, birds and bees. Many community gardens and urban farms have limited membership, but <a href="https://www.brightvibes.com/atlanta-creates-first-free-food-forest-to-fight-food-insecurity/">most food forests are open to the community</a> from sunup to sundown. </p>
<p>As scholars who focus on <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SRC3hyMAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation, social justice</a> and <a href="http://otheringandbelonging.org/equity-common-cause-sustainable-food-system-network-cultivating-commitment-racial-justice/">sustainable food systems</a>, we see food forests as an exciting new way to protect nature without displacing people. Food forests don’t just conserve biodiversity – they also promote community well-being and offer deep insights about fostering urban nature in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-irony-of-the-anthropocene-people-dominate-a-planet-beyond-our-control-64948">Anthropocene</a>, as environmentally destructive forms of economic development and consumption alter Earth’s climate and ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two adults and a young girl plant a tree seedling in an urban park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519106/original/file-20230403-18-ierb3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Community stewards planting a tree at Boston’s Edgewater Food Forest at River Street, July 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boston Food Forest Coalition/Hope Kelley</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Protecting nature without pushing people away</h2>
<p>Many scientists and world leaders agree that to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-solve-climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss-we-need-a-global-deal-for-nature-115557">slow climate change and reduce losses of wild species</a>, it’s critical to protect a large share of Earth’s lands and waters for nature. Under the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, 188 nations have <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/cop15-ends-landmark-biodiversity-agreement">agreed on a target</a> of conserving at least 30% of land and sea areas globally by 2030 – an agenda known popularly as 30x30. </p>
<p>But there’s fierce debate over how to achieve that goal. In many cases, creating protected areas has <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-environmentalisms-racist-roots-have-shaped-global-thinking-about-conservation-143783">displaced Indigenous peoples</a> from their homelands. What’s more, protected areas are disproportionately located in countries with high levels of economic inequality and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.08.018">poorly functioning political institutions</a> that don’t effectively protect the rights of poor and marginalized citizens in most cases.</p>
<p>In contrast, food forests promote civic engagement. At <a href="https://beaconfoodforest.org/">Beacon Food Forest</a> in Seattle, volunteers worked with professional landscape architects and organized public meetings to seek community input on the project’s design and development. The city of Atlanta’s Urban Agriculture Team partners with neighborhood residents, volunteers, community groups and nonprofit partners to manage the <a href="https://www.aglanta.org/2021-uffbm-partnership-applications">Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1641551380367257602"}"></div></p>
<h2>Block by block in Boston</h2>
<p>Boston is famous for its <a href="https://www.boston.gov/parks-and-playgrounds">parks and green spaces</a>, including some designed by renowned landscape architect <a href="https://www.olmsted.org/the-olmsted-legacy/frederick-law-olmsted-sr">Frederick Law Olmsted</a>. But it also has a history of systemic racism and segregation that created <a href="https://www.boston.gov/environment-and-energy/heat-resilience-solutions-boston">drastic inequities in access to green spaces</a>.</p>
<p>And those gaps still exist. In 2021, the city reported that communities of color that had been subjected to redlining in the past had <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7EPNw7hL-Ct7SkKXEaTUjmVJmoZuOe6/view">16% less parkland and 7% less tree cover</a> than the citywide median. These neighborhoods were 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.8 degrees Celsius) hotter during the day and 1.9 F (1 C) hotter at night, making residents more vulnerable to <a href="https://theconversation.com/dangerous-urban-heat-exposure-has-tripled-since-the-1980s-with-the-poor-most-at-risk-169153">urban heat waves</a> that are becoming increasingly common with climate change. </p>
<p>Encouragingly, Boston has been at the forefront of the national expansion of food forests. The unique approach here places ownership of these parcels in a community trust. Neighborhood stewards manage the sites’ routine care and maintenance.</p>
<p>The nonprofit <a href="https://www.bostonfoodforest.org/">Boston Food Forest Coalition</a>, which launched in 2015, is working to develop 30 community-driven food forests by 2030. The <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1PDQqrbIDZJ9qyGjYCoU5vYuo5hOhTYQx&ll=42.282422051643174%2C-71.07159202632803&z=12">existing nine projects</a> are helping to conserve over 60,000 square feet (5,600 square meters) of formerly vacant urban land – an area slightly larger than a football field.</p>
<p>Neighborhood volunteers choose what to grow, plan events and share harvested crops with food banks, nonprofit and faith-based meal programs and neighbors. Local collective action is central to repurposing open spaces, including lawns, yards and vacant lots, into food forests that are linked together into a citywide network. The coalition, a community land trust that partners with the city government, holds Boston food forests as permanently protected lands. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of a city lot planted with fruit trees, vines and raised flower beds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518814/original/file-20230331-24-h4s7ff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerial view of the Ellington Community Food Forest in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boston Food Forest Coalition</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Boston’s food forests are small in size: They average 7,000 square feet (650 square meters) of reclaimed land, about <a href="https://www.hoopsaddict.com/how-many-square-feet-is-a-basketball-court/">50% larger than an NBA basketball court</a>. But they produce a wide range of vegetables, fruit and herbs, including Roxbury Russet apples, native blueberries and pawpaws, a nutritious fruit native to North America. The forests also serve as gathering spaces, contribute to rainwater harvesting and help beautify neighborhoods.</p>
<p>The Boston Food Forest Coalition provides technical assistance and fundraising support. It also hires experts for tasks such as soil remediation, removing invasive plants and installing accessible pathways, benches and fences. </p>
<p>Hundreds of volunteers take part in community work days and educational workshops on topics such as <a href="https://www.bostonfoodforest.org/workshops/winter-pruning-bnc-march12">pruning fruit trees in winter</a>. Gardening classes and cultural events connect neighbors across urban divides of class, race, language and culture. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mWGM-3ZKMrg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Boston residents explain what the city’s food forests mean to them.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A growing movement</h2>
<p>According to a crowd-sourced repository, the U.S. has <a href="https://communityfoodforests.com/community-food-forests-map/">more than 85 community food forests</a> in public spaces from the Pacific Northwest to the Deep South. Currently, most of these sites are in larger cities. In a 2021 survey, mayors from 176 small cities (with populations under 25,000) reported that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20011">long-term maintenance</a> was the biggest challenge of sustaining food forests in their communities. </p>
<p>From our experience observing Boston’s approach close up, we believe its model of community-driven food forests is promising. The city sold land to the Boston Food Forest Coalition’s community land trust for $100 per parcel in 2015 and also funded initial construction and planting operations. Since then, the city has made food forests an important part of the city’s open spaces program as it continues to sell parcels to the community land trust at the same price. </p>
<p>Smaller cities with much lower tax bases may not be able to make the same sort of investments. But Boston’s community-driven model offers a viable approach for maintaining these projects without burdening city governments. The city has adopted <a href="https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/FINAL_Boston%20Urban%20Agriculture%20Guide_Ground-Level%20Less%20than%20One%20Acre_March%202014_Complete%20Final_tcm3-43849.pdf">innovative zoning and permitting ordinances</a> to support small-scale urban agriculture. </p>
<p>Building a food forest brings together neighbors, neighborhood associations, community-based organizations and city agencies. It represents a grassroots response to the interconnected crises of climate change, environmental degradation and social and racial inequity. We believe food forests show how to build a just and sustainable future, one person, seedling and neighborhood at a time.</p>
<p><em>Orion Kriegman, the founding executive director of the Boston Food Forest Coalition, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen is Principal of KAS Consulting, which works with health and equity-focused initiatives. She serves on the Steering Committee and as Massachusetts Ambassador for the Food Solutions New England network and on the boards of the Boston Food Forest Coalition, the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, the Northeast Organic Farmers Association: Massachusetts Chapter. Also serves on the Advisory Council of Global Council of Science and the Environment; founding member of Southern New England Farmers of Color Collaborative; committee work with Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and member of Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prakash Kashwan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Food forests are urban oases that pack a lot into small spaces, including food production, local cooling and social connections.Karen A. Spiller, Thomas W. Haas Professor in Sustainable Food Systems, University of New HampshirePrakash Kashwan, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1935602023-02-10T12:29:00Z2023-02-10T12:29:00ZParks versus people? Challenges facing the South African capital’s greening efforts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496238/original/file-20221119-16195-ziab04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C5%2C1839%2C1349&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green spaces provide benefits for people and nature. Photo by Ida Breed,</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GRIP Research team</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Urban green spaces have recently been getting more research attention because of the <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80043-636-720211018/full/html">benefits</a> they offer. </p>
<p>Gardens, parks, reserves and trees have been <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6836">linked</a> to cultural, spiritual and alternative medical solutions. Natural or semi-natural land areas can also deliver ecosystem services like <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-plants-on-buildings-can-reduce-heat-and-produce-healthy-food-in-african-cities-191190">food</a>, storm water management and <a href="https://theconversation.com/heat-and-health-dar-es-salaams-informal-settlements-need-help-181816">climate control</a>. Cities can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204619303299">plan and manage</a> these for maximum benefit. </p>
<p>Our research team works on the <a href="https://bio.au.dk/forskning/forskningscentre/biochange/research/grip">Integrative Green Infrastructure Planning</a> project, a collaboration between the University of Pretoria in South Africa and Aarhus University in Denmark. We reviewed policy documents relating to green infrastructure in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria and surrounds) to look for ways to plan, manage and maintain these green space resources. We also interviewed city officials and held workshops with officials and consultants. </p>
<p>We discovered that Tshwane needs guidelines based on green infrastructure principles. An increase in green infrastructure awareness among city officials and residents will increase the many benefits that green spaces can deliver. </p>
<h2>Rapid development</h2>
<p>Tshwane is in an area that is rich in biodiversity. It is one of the largest metropolitan <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204614000401?casa_token=Q5h4MFqVI0QAAAAA:-ODIuvQ82fal3HOrbipS9bvrqRGs_XwYYPr4cPCK303KBF_sF8KJ1Y5KSqMrWE_r_7nrg5PX">municipalities</a> by area in the world – growing at <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=1021&id=city-of-tshwane-municipality">3.1%</a> a year – and serves as the administrative seat of South Africa’s government. Despite the change of government to democratic rule in 1994, the impact of the apartheid era still shows in the city’s neighbourhoods and land development. People are still separated spatially and some areas have more services, facilities and access to planned green infrastructure than others.</p>
<p>Green infrastructure in Tshwane takes the form of public and private gardens, street trees, community parks, unmanaged vegetated land and reserves. The City of <a href="https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CityofTshwane_Final_March-2016.pdf">Tshwane bioregional plan 2016</a> revealed that its biodiverse, protected and ecological areas covered 456,340 hectares – 26% of Tshwane’s land.</p>
<p>In any city, expansion often comes at the expense of green spaces. In Tshwane, our research found that the challenges to green infrastructure include rapid development, budget constraints, departmental silos, negative perceptions and limited capacity within departments. Collaboration is also insufficient among different disciplines in the city’s departments to manage and sustain green infrastructure.</p>
<p>One official told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The biggest challenge towards green infrastructure sustainability has to do with rapid developments linked to aspects such as higher rates of formalising the informal settlements, which is difficult for planning to meet up with. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another challenge is that of resources. A city official explained that projects like electricity provision and road construction were prioritised above the environment. In her words: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we look at the capital budget, the portion of the budget going into the environment is probably less than one percent. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We found that the flow of information among departments was limited. One informant said the situation could complicate necessary or urgent decisions and actions. For example, solutions to flooding might need to go beyond the Infrastructure and Engineering department and include the Social and Human settlement department, to help with welfare and relocation. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We don’t optimise the benefits of understanding the connections and linkages between different departments. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another city official argued that residents’ perceptions could make or mar green infrastructure planning:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People just don’t comply with related green infrastructure by-laws because there’s not much ecological awareness. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>From our policy documents analysis, the research team discovered that housing, roads, electricity and water were at the top of the government priority list. Most of the yearly budget was directed towards these services. Plans for green infrastructure were mostly embedded in climate action plans.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/green-policies-are-in-place-for-south-africas-major-port-city-but-a-key-piece-is-missing-181272">Green policies are in place for South Africa's major port city: but a key piece is missing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small river surrounded by trees and vegetation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496239/original/file-20221119-16-adim7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Urban green spaces, like this stretch of river in Mabopane, have great potential for recreational activities, cultural uses and climate adaptation, Photo by: Maya Pasgaard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GRIP research team</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We believe there are opportunities for balancing the preservation of green spaces and the socio-economic needs of the people by creating multi-functional and beneficial green spaces. The city of Aarhus in Denmark is an example of a city where recently developed urban green spaces provide multi-functional benefits. For example, a new urban park also retains storm water during flooding events. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-020-00886-8">Transdisciplinarity</a> has lately been highlighted as a way to tackle complex global challenges. </p>
<p>City officials in Aarhus spoke of the way green infrastructure planning should cut across divisions like engineering and housing departments, and across disciplines.</p>
<p>One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I see a need for trans- and interdisciplinarity within departments; the issue of managing storm water should not only be from the engineering perspectives but from planning and social angle. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>One way to break down departmental silos could be to work together on joint projects. </p>
<h2>Balancing needs</h2>
<p>Cities need to balance residents’ daily needs with the conservation of green spaces for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and environmental health. </p>
<p>Based on the interviews, a way forward is for the city to engage in collaborative processes to create an enabling environment and develop actionable guidelines for people and green spaces to co-exist. </p>
<p>In our research, we mapped out three priority green areas to support Tshwane’s biodiversity. </p>
<p>We recommend that the high priority green areas that produce most green infrastructure benefits should be judiciously conserved. The medium priority areas should serve as buffer zones to the critical biodiverse areas that are at risk of climate hazards, fires and the like. The low priority areas are those with low green infrastructure benefits, characterised by high population density and informal development. These areas are flexible for development.</p>
<p>Green infrastructure planning and management includes increasing awareness of the benefits of green space to government, developers and residents, creating a joint vision and making it clear what’s expected from everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193560/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Titilope Funmbi Onaolapo receives funding from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Integrative Green Infrastructure Planning is a funded project by DANIDA, which is a collaboration between the University of Pretoria, South Africa and Aarhus University, Denmark. It is an interdisciplinary research project tied to a city to city, a Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) in Denmark.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Breed is affiliated with the University of Pretoria in South Africa and receives funding from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristine Engemann Jensen is affiliated with Aarhus University, Denmark and receives funding from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maya Pasgaard is affiliated with Aarhus University in Denmark and receives funding from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. </span></em></p>South Africa needs to integrate urban green spaces as part of valuable infrastructure and provide framework for their sustainability.Titilope Funmbi Onaolapo, Postdoctoral fellow, University of PretoriaChristina Breed, Senior Lecturer, University of PretoriaKristine Engemann Jensen, Assistant Professor, Aarhus UniversityMaya Pasgaard, Adjunct assistant professor, Aarhus UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1989382023-02-02T05:49:50Z2023-02-02T05:49:50ZPlan will put everyone in England within 15 minutes of green space – but what matters is justice not distance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507685/original/file-20230201-12652-jyhvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GIOIA PHOTO / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How long does it take you to walk to your nearest park, woodland, lake or river? If it takes more than 15 minutes, according to the UK government’s new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-improvement-plan">environmental improvement plan for England</a>, something needs to be done about it. It says 38% people in England don’t have a green or blue space within a 15-minute walk of their home.</p>
<p>The plan promises a “new and ambitious commitment to work across government and beyond” to provide access to local green and blue spaces. It recognises the importance of connecting with nature, and that time spent outdoors is good for physical and mental health.</p>
<p>That’s a message researchers have been underlining for years, as a recent <a href="https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/about/insight/research/space-thrive">evidence review</a> shows, and it has been <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2021.708209/full">amplified</a> by COVID-19, which showed the importance of local green and blue spaces for wellbeing.</p>
<p>But the plan’s laudable ambitions overlook the ways our experiences of the outdoors are shaped by privileges of wealth and health.</p>
<p>If you live in a disadvantaged area, your local green space may be further away from your home, or you might have to share it with more people. As the campaign group Fields in Trust pointed out <a href="https://www.fieldsintrust.org/green-space-index">in a 2022 report</a>, this is a question of justice.</p>
<p>However, there’s more to justice than the amount of space you have to share with others, or how long it takes you to get there. It’s also about how you feel and what you can do when you get there.</p>
<p>My own research highlights some key questions we need to ask if we’re to protect and improve our green spaces for future generations. Questions such as “Do I feel welcome here?” “Does this space meet my needs?” or “Do I get a say in how it is looked after?” highlight the fact that access is a matter of equality and democracy.</p>
<h2>Some green spaces are greener than others</h2>
<p>There are three key aspects of green and blue spaces that should be considered, and invested in, if the environmental improvement plan is to be more than wishful thinking.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People playing football" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507607/original/file-20230201-20-vvgcxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some green spaces aren’t for everyone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">1000 Words / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, not all green and blue spaces are the same or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8582763/">provide the same benefits</a>. The qualities of a football pitch are very different from those provided by a woodland walk along a stream. </p>
<p>Lumping them all together as “green and blue spaces” overlooks the need for a variety of spaces within easy reach to meet local people’s needs for physical and mental wellbeing.</p>
<p>Second, not all spaces are equally well looked after. Spaces that are fly-tipped or associated with antisocial activities can feel intimidating, especially after dark. </p>
<p>Green and blue spaces in disadvantaged areas need more care, and that requires time and money. As Public Health England <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf">noted</a>, access to good quality green spaces is worse in more disadvantaged areas.</p>
<p>Third, simply being in a space won’t necessarily bring you all the benefits a space can offer. For people suffering from anxiety or depression, for example, more structured activities might be more helpful. </p>
<p>This could include time spent on <a href="https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/east-midlands/social-prescribing-in-the-east-midlands">rivers</a> or <a href="https://staa-allotments.org.uk/green-social-prescribing/">allotments</a> as part of the government’s pilot plan to tackle mental ill health by <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/projects/all-projects/national-evaluation-of-the-preventing-and-tackling-mental-ill-health-green-social-prescribing">prescribing time in nature</a>.</p>
<h2>Be like Birmingham</h2>
<p>In Birmingham, the local authority isn’t content with trumpeting the merits of its 600 parks. Instead, the city has developed a <a href="https://naturallybirmingham.org/birmingham-city-of-nature-delivery-framework/">city of nature plan</a> (I was part of a team that evaluated it). </p>
<p>At the heart of its approach is the idea of environmental justice, which it defines as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of city highlighting parks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507608/original/file-20230201-10239-m0ncyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Birmingham’s 600 parks and open spaces are shared between 1.1 million residents of the city proper.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Intrepix / shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>To apply environmental justice to the city’s green spaces, Birmingham Council has assessed each of its 69 electoral ward in terms of access to green space of two hectares (about three football pitches) or more within 1,000 metres, as well as flood risk, urban heat island effects, health inequalities and deprivation.</p>
<p>Through this work, it has identified 13 of its 69 wards which are most in need of investment to reach a new “fair parks standard”. These mainly central areas have less accessible green space, are more at risk of flooding and urban heating, and are more deprived. </p>
<p>Starting with a pilot programme in Bordesley & Highgate Ward (setting for the BBC series Peaky Blinders), the plan is then to invest in a further five priority areas in central and east Birmingham: Balsall Heath West, Nechells, Gravelly Hill, Pype Hayes and Castle Vale.</p>
<p>This is the kind of approach that could guide investment in many other cities. It links funding with equalities and brings together climate change, public health and community issues. It shows that quality and equity can’t just be boiled down to the distance between your home and the nearest park.</p>
<p>The challenge now is to learn from Birmingham’s pioneering approach and apply similar principles elsewhere. At its best, this work can be used to highlight the challenges not only of applying resources equitably, but of ensuring the resources are there in the first place, an issue the environmental impact plan rather predictably glosses over.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Dobson and colleagues were funded by the National Trust and National Lottery Heritage Fund to evaluate the Future Parks Accelerator programme. The views expressed here are the author's own.</span></em></p>The UK government wants every household in England to be within 15 minutes walk of a park, woodland or water.Julian Dobson, Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1932042023-01-25T13:24:55Z2023-01-25T13:24:55ZAtlanta’s BeltLine shows how urban parks can drive ‘green gentrification’ if cities don’t think about affordable housing at the start<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505972/original/file-20230123-3880-1m5d4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5409%2C3187&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A pedestrian walking along the BeltLine in Atlanta on Feb. 17, 2016, passes townhomes under construction. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MortgageRates/85b0bf9c6bc94185a45205a672d7e70c/photo">AP Photo/David Goldman</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is Atlanta a good place to live? Recent rankings certainly say so. In September 2022, Money magazine rated Atlanta the <a href="https://money.com/atlanta-georgia-best-places-to-live-2022/">best place to live in the U.S.</a>, based on its strong labor market and job growth. The National Association of Realtors calls it the <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/10-housing-markets-expected-to-lead-the-nation-in-2023">top housing market to watch in 2023</a>, noting that Atlanta’s housing prices are lower than those in comparable cities and that it has a rapidly growing population. </p>
<p>But this is only part of the story. My new book, “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520387645/red-hot-city">Red Hot City: Housing, Race, and Exclusion in Twenty-First Century Atlanta</a>,” takes a deep dive into the last three decades of housing, race and development in metropolitan Atlanta. As it shows, planning and policy decisions here have promoted a heavily racialized version of gentrification that has excluded lower-income, predominantly Black residents from sharing in the city’s growth.</p>
<p>One key driver of this division is the <a href="https://beltline.org/">Atlanta BeltLine</a>, a 22-mile (35-kilometer) loop of multiuse trails with nearby apartments, restaurants and retail stores, built on a former railway corridor around Atlanta’s core. Although the BeltLine was designed to connect Atlantans and improve their quality of life, it has driven up housing costs on nearby land and pushed low-income households out to suburbs with fewer services than downtown neighborhoods. </p>
<p>The BeltLine has become a prime example of what urban scholars call “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31572-1">green gentrification</a>” – a process in which restoring degraded urban areas by adding green features drives up housing prices and pushes out working-class residents. If cities fail to prepare for these effects, gentrification and displacement can transform lower-income neighborhoods into areas of concentrated affluence rather than thriving, diverse communities. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This promotional video from Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. describes the project’s emphasis on increasing Atlantans’ access to green spaces.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The U.S. currently faces a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/30/realestate/housing-market-prices-interest-rates.html">nationwide housing affordabilty crisis</a>. Many factors have contributed to it, but as an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YpAWsOMAAAAJ&hl=en">urban studies scholar</a>, I believe it is important to learn from Atlanta’s experience. </p>
<h2>No more Black majority</h2>
<p>U.S. cities generally are diverse places, and many of them are becoming more so. But the city of Atlanta is going <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2020-01-22/measuring-racial-and-ethnic-diversity-in-americas-cities">in the opposite direction</a>: It’s becoming wealthier and more white. </p>
<p>In 1990, 67% of the city’s residents were Black; by 2019, that share had fallen to 48%. At the same time, the share of adults with a college degree rose from 27% to more than 56%. Median income in the city increased from 60% of the median income of the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/population-in-atlanta-how-large-is-metro-atlanta/DMC7A3RM7JCPRK57GBTOI5RBII/">much larger Atlanta metropolitan area</a> to 110%. Median family income in the city in 2021 dollars nearly doubled, rising from approximately $50,000 to $96,000. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing the BeltLine's position within the City of Atlanta." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506140/original/file-20230124-24-b9m9ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Atlanta’s BeltLine surrounds the city’s downtown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Immergluck</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The most rapid gentrification occurred from 2011 onward, after the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/foreclosure-crisis.asp">2008-2010 foreclosure crisis</a>. Globally, urban scholars call this period one of “<a href="https://www.american.edu/spa/metro-policy/upload/contextualizing-gentrification-chaos.pdf">fifth-wave” gentrification</a>, in which a large increase in rental demand triggered speculation in rental real estate that drove up housing costs. </p>
<p>In Atlanta, this was when the BeltLine really hit its stride after being proposed in the early 2000s and formally adopted as a <a href="https://beltline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Redevelopment-Area-and-Tax-Allocation-District-Creation-Legislation.pdf">tax increment financing district</a>, or TIF, in 2005. In these districts, anticipated increases in property tax revenues are used to front-fund development projects. No urban development project in metro Atlanta – and perhaps in the entire country – has been more transformative.</p>
<h2>Driving gentrification and displacement</h2>
<p>Even before the BeltLine TIF district was adopted, boosters, developers, consultants and many city officials began touting the benefits of a proposed public-private partnership that could remake large parts of the city. Shortly after the special taxing district for the project was formally adopted, the city of Atlanta created an affiliated nonprofit, <a href="https://beltline.org/organizer/atlanta-beltline-inc/">Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.</a>, to implement and manage the BeltLine. </p>
<p>In 2004, Yale architect <a href="https://www.architecture.yale.edu/about-the-school/news/in-memoriam-alexander-garvin">Alexander Garvin</a> published a report called “<a href="https://beltline.org/wp-content/uploads/2004/12/The-BeltLine-Emerald-Necklace-Study_Alex-Garvin-Associates-Inc..pdf">The BeltLine Emerald Necklace: Atlanta’s New Public Realm</a>.” “The BeltLine’s future users are an attractive market,” Garvin wrote. “Early word of the project has already accelerated real estate values.” In 2005, one developer called the BeltLine the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2O19EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=the+%E2%80%9Cmost+exciting+real+estate+project+since+Sherman+burned+Atlanta.%E2%80%9D">most exciting real estate project since Sherman burned Atlanta</a>.” </p>
<p>Many neighborhoods that the BeltLine runs through, especially on the south and west sides of the city, had experienced decades of disinvestment and were predominantly Black and lower-income. But boosters weren’t worried about investors and speculators buying up land near the BeltLine, and didn’t prepare for displacement and exclusion. Garvin’s report did not mention the terms “affordable,” “gentrification,” “lower-income” or “low-income.” </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://saportakinsta.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/immergluck-2007.pdf">2007 study</a> for the community group <a href="https://www.georgiastandup.org/">Georgia Stand-Up</a>, I found that property values were increasing much faster near the BeltLine than in areas farther from it. This meant that property taxes rose for many lower-income homeowners, and landlords of rental properties were likely to raise rents in response. This process directly displaced lower-income families and made many areas around the BeltLine unaffordable for them.</p>
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<p>The BeltLine TIF ordinance included some provisions for funding affordable housing, but as I show in my book, they were fundamentally insufficient and flawed. The BeltLine was the work of a coalition, including core members of Atlanta’s traditional “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bEITAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Stone+Atlanta+Urban+Regime&ots=mg2iyVlGu4&sig=vICy3M8GI88SfGLDUCQgSZH82u4#v=onepage&q=Stone%20Atlanta%20Urban%20Regime&f=false">urban regime</a>” – elected officials and the downtown business elite. Their vision produced a wealthier, whiter city population. </p>
<h2>Noninclusive growth</h2>
<p>Rather than focusing on securing land for affordable housing when values were low, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. prioritized building trails and parks. These features helped boost property values, accelerating gentrification and displacement.</p>
<p>After the <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/subprime-mortgage-crisis">subprime mortgage crisis</a> in 2007-2010, foreclosures put pressure on housing markets. Atlanta lost about 7,000 low-cost rental units from 2010 to 2019. Meanwhile, construction of new, pricier apartments boomed: Permits were issued for more than 37,000 units over roughly the same period. </p>
<p>By my calculation, Atlanta’s job market exploded from 330,000 jobs in 2011 to over 437,000 jobs by 2019. Companies like Google, Honeywell and Microsoft moved in, often with city and state subsidies. Many new jobs paid over $100,000 per year and went to young, highly skilled workers, driving up housing demand. </p>
<p>In 2017 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a high-profile <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/how-the-atlanta-beltline-broke-its-promise-affordable-housing/0VXnu1BlYC0IbA9U4u2CEM/">investigative series</a> documenting that the BeltLine had produced just 600 units of affordable housing in 11 years – far off the pace required to meet its target of 5,600 by 2030. Some of these units had been resold to high-income households. Soon afterward, <a href="https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2017/08/23/atlanta-beltline-ceo-stepping/">the CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. resigned</a>. </p>
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<p>That year, a student and I redid my 2007 study on home values around the BeltLine. Once again, we found that during the years we examined – this time, from 2011 to 2015 – home prices near the BeltLine <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2017.1360041">rose much faster than in areas farther from it</a>. The BeltLine was certainly not the only cause of gentrification and racial exclusion in Atlanta, but it was a key contributor. </p>
<p>Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. has increased its affordable housing activity in recent years, and in late 2020, it initiated a program to pay the increased property taxes of legacy residents. However, by this point in the BeltLine’s existence, displacement prevention efforts may be too little, too late. By May 2021, only 128 homeowners had applied for the program. <a href="https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/the-atlanta-beltline-wants-to-prevent-displacement-of-longtime-residents">Just 21 had received assistance</a>.</p>
<h2>Putting affordability first</h2>
<p>What can other cities learn from Atlanta’s experience? In my view, the most important takeaway is the importance of <a href="https://shelterforce.org/2017/09/01/sustainable-large-scale-sustainable-urban-development-projects-environmental-gentrification/">front-loading affordable housing efforts</a> in connection with major redevelopment projects.</p>
<p>This means assembling and banking nearby land as early as possible to be used later for affordable housing. Cities also should limit property tax increases for low-income homeowners and for property owners who agree to keep a substantial portion of their rental units affordable. They might offer low-cost, long-term financing to existing lower-cost rental properties – again, in exchange for keeping rent affordable. </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/09/headway/anacostia-bridge.html">Some large-scale urban redevelopment projects</a>, such as the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, seem to be making serious efforts to <a href="https://create.umn.edu/toolkit/">anticipate and mitigate gentrification and displacement</a>. I hope that more cities will follow this lead before undertaking “transformative” projects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Immergluck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A longtime critic of Atlanta’s BeltLine explains how the popular network of parks has increased inequality in the city and driven out lower-income residents.Dan Immergluck, Professor of Urban Studies, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1960242023-01-02T19:43:21Z2023-01-02T19:43:21ZGreen streets: why protecting urban parks and bush is vital as our cities grow and become denser<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500842/original/file-20221213-22444-n02f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C38%2C5097%2C3364&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">GettyImages</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than half of the <a href="https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/">world’s population lives in cities</a>. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the proportion of people who <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.urb.totl.in.zs">live in towns or cities</a> exceeds 86%. With our lives increasingly lived in urban environments, it’s vital for our personal wellbeing – and the planet’s – that city planners find ways to foster a connection with nature. </p>
<p>The evidence is clear – people need direct, personal experiences with nature to <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/cedar/sites/default/files/attached-files/Chawla,%20L.%20(1998).%20Significant%20life%20experiences%20revisited.%20Journal%20of%20Environmental%20Education,%2029(3),%2011-21..pdf">care enough to protect it</a>. As evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould argued,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204622002821">recently published study</a>, we explored the perceptions and experiences of nature that Hamilton residents had in their city. </p>
<p>Hamilton City Council is responsible for <a href="https://hamilton.govt.nz/your-council/news/community-environment/embracing-our-green-spaces">1,142 hectares of open space</a>, including more than 200 parks and reserves. In 2019, the council outlined its goal to have <a href="https://hamilton.govt.nz/your-council/news/community-environment/its-official-hamiltonians-love-their-parks">80% of households</a> with access to a park or open space within 500 metres of home.</p>
<p>Green spaces are any areas of unsealed urban land with some form of vegetation cover. We focused on three types – private gardens, parks dominated by native vegetation (“bush parks”), and parks dominated by introduced vegetation (“lawn parks”, large expanses of mown lawn scattered with individual trees). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-protect-nature-for-its-own-sake-for-its-economic-value-because-it-makes-us-happy-yes-180302">Should we protect nature for its own sake? For its economic value? Because it makes us happy? Yes</a>
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<p>Residents took us on tours of different green spaces around the city. During these visits, we asked them about the importance of these places, how they engaged with them and about their plant and animal encounters. We interviewed 21 residents – seven restoration volunteers, seven people who frequently visited bush parks, and seven who visited lawn parks.</p>
<p>We were particularly interested in how people perceived urban green spaces and the benefits they got from them. We also looked at the experiences and connection gained from different natural environments. </p>
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<h2>Ringing with birdsong</h2>
<p>Kaelin was one of the Hamilton residents who took us on a tour of her garden and local park, one of Hamilton’s many branching gullies. </p>
<p>The gully was cool and quiet, the only sounds the murmurs of the tiny stream at its centre and the occasional indignant cheeps of our fellow fantail. As bell-like flutes punctuated by rude coughs and gurgles announced the presence of a tui, Kaelin turned to me with a delighted smile and said: </p>
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<p>You can be down here in the right time of the year and you think, where am I? It’s not the city, it’s just ringing with birdsong.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our interviewees described native bush parks as special places that provided a relaxing and restorative escape from city life. These green spaces, dominated by native vegetation, were the ones respondents commonly identified as places to sit peacefully and observe nature.</p>
<p>Lawn parks, on the other hand, acted more as “backdrops” for other activities – picnics, sports or farmers’ markets. Residential gardens, like bush parks, allowed for deeper observation and engagement with nature, but as private spaces, they didn’t provide the social benefits that parks do. </p>
<h2>The value of diversity</h2>
<p>Lawn parks are the <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.1946">most common type of green space</a> in cities. Yet our study highlights that participants valued a diversity of green spaces that would meet a range of needs – their own, those of their community and those of other creatures such as birds, bats and weta. </p>
<p>Interviewees voiced a desire to have spaces in cities where unique New Zealand plants and animals could thrive. Respondents enjoyed sharing their parks and gardens with birds, bats and insects, recognising these animals contributed to the meaning of the place. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/neighbourhood-green-space-is-in-rapid-decline-deepening-both-the-climate-and-mental-health-crises-183389">Neighbourhood green space is in rapid decline, deepening both the climate and mental health crises</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Creating habitat in cities for wildlife, however, was only one of the multiple
purposes of green spaces that respondents believed were important. They wanted to see a variety of parks that meet a range of community needs. </p>
<p>Just as respondents held multiple priorities for their own gardens, not always just as <a href="https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol26/iss2/art43/">habitats for native flora and fauna</a>, interviewees also wanted urban green spaces to support multiple uses and not serve exclusively as wildlife habitat.</p>
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<h2>The threat of densification</h2>
<p>But the benefits of green spaces are threatened by the loss of parks and gardens to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S161886671500103X?casa_token=gNI1uwqASqsAAAAA:Ho9MjQil-H6BgNIjUWroQJtLFoAk8OHnQUjpujzWjzTffd-ykWBPWTX8lhxjkaiD9cf5dOBJGqA0">redevelopment and densification</a>. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.tewaihanga.govt.nz/news/how-new-zealand-built-its-housing-crisis/">ongoing housing crisis</a> has intensified political debates about urban green spaces, and Hamilton is no different. </p>
<p>The council recently completed consultation on <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/hamilton-housing-intensification-submissions-open-for-further-input/B4VCJYRT4BHGPFBP3DHEKO37TY/">significant changes to density rules</a> in Hamilton’s central city and surrounding areas. The plan will allow three homes of up to three storeys to be developed on most properties, though the council says it is committed to maintaining its public green spaces.</p>
<p>As urban populations continue to rise, our research supports a renewed call for the importance of reserving space for parks and nature in cities. Instead of being a dispensable luxury, green space is crucial for the health and wellbeing of both people and native species. </p>
<p>Finding ways to foster personal experiences of green spaces, and the plants, animals, people and stories that provide meaning, is one way to increase city dwellers’ emotional involvement with local nature. Such subjective bonds can spur the motivation required for people’s everyday actions to nurture and protect what they love.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Elliot Noe receives funding from Bioprotection Aotearoa. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ottilie Stolte does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Urban green spaces are threatened by growing cities. But research shows the importance of protecting access to nature as housing densification increases.Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Postdoctoral Fellow, Lincoln University, New ZealandOttilie Stolte, Senior Lecturer, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802962022-12-02T13:42:40Z2022-12-02T13:42:40ZProtecting 30% of Earth’s surface for nature means thinking about connections near and far<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498105/original/file-20221129-12-xljhhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4095%2C2715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Red knots stop to feed along the Delaware shore as they migrate from the high Arctic to South America.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/79Bf5u">Gregory Breese, USFWS/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A biodiversity crisis is reducing the variety of life on Earth. Under pressure from land and water pollution, development, overhunting, poaching, climate change and species invasions, approximately 1 million plant and animal species <a href="https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment">are at risk of extinction</a>.</p>
<p>One ambitious proposal for stemming these losses is the international initiative known as 30x30: conserving and protecting <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2021/07/a-new-global-framework-for-managing-nature-through-2030-1st-detailed-draft-agreement-debuts/">at least 30% of Earth’s surface, on land and at sea, by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://www.campaignfornature.org/heads-of-state-ministers-announce-new-support-for-30x30-targets-bringing-112-countries-now-committed-to-protecting-at-least-30-of-land-and-ocean-by-2030#:%7E:text=Sharm%20el%20Sheikh%2C%20Egypt%20%E2%80%94%207,protection%20of%20at%20least%20thirty">112 countries</a> support this initiative, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/">including the United States</a>. More nations may announce their support at the <a href="https://www.unep.org/events/conference/un-biodiversity-conference-cop-15">international biodiversity conference</a> that opens Dec. 7, 2022, in Montreal.</p>
<p>Scientists say that protecting 30% of Earth’s surface will <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869">help species and ecosystems recover</a> from the stresses that are depleting them. It also will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw3372">conserve valuable services</a> that nature provides to humans, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-reefs-provide-flood-protection-worth-1-8-billion-every-year-its-time-to-protect-them-116636">buffering coasts from storms</a> and <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/11-109pr.shtml#.YnlVfvPMLh8">filtering drinking water</a>. Protecting forests and grasslands can help slow climate change by promoting <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-trees-in-the-ground-where-they-are-already-growing-is-an-effective-low-tech-way-to-slow-climate-change-154618">carbon storage in soil and plants</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1589898095235473408"}"></div></p>
<p>As researchers in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x-evXF4AAAAJ&hl=en">ecology, conservation</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WDvnXtUjJVgC&hl=en">global sustainability</a>, we study biodiversity around the world, from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198703549.001.0001">giant pandas deep in the forests of China</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13736">sea lions along the shorelines of New Zealand</a>. Saving a wide variety of living things requires striking a balance between the needs of nature and people, and a global, holistic perspective. We believe a <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/telecoupling/metacoupling/">metacoupling</a> approach, which looks at human-nature interactions within and across different areas, can help achieve the 30x30 goal.</p>
<h2>What is a protected area?</h2>
<p>Since 30x30 focuses on protecting space for wild nature, many people assume it means setting swaths of land or ocean aside and keeping people out of them. But that’s not always true. </p>
<p>As of mid-2021, <a href="https://livereport.protectedplanet.net/chapter-3">16.64% of the world’s land and 7.74% of its oceans were in protected areas</a>. The <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>, a partnership of governments and civil society groups that tracks the health of the natural world, classifies protected areas in <a href="https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about/protected-area-categories">six categories</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>Strict nature reserve or wilderness area </li>
<li>National park</li>
<li>Natural monument or feature </li>
<li>Habitat or species management area </li>
<li>Protected landscape or seascape<br></li>
<li>Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources </li>
</ul>
<p>Many countries’ 30x30 conservation pledges are likely to include areas such as <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-conserving-30-percent-of-u-s-land-by-2030-could-work/">forests and grasslands</a> that are open for recreation, logging, livestock grazing and other uses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cows graze on a lush field surrounded by evergreen trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498088/original/file-20221129-17135-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cattle grazing at Kaiser Meadows in California’s Sierra National Forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dept-of-forestry-held-one-of-the-several-planning-meetings-news-photo/563538293">Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Few intact ecosystems remain</h2>
<p>Scientists agree that protected areas need to include a large variety of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01620-y">species</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635">ecosystems</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.08.009">habitats</a> that the 30x30 initiative aims to conserve. There are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109378">many ways</a> to choose and prioritize new areas for protection. Criteria can include the species, habitats and ecosystems that an area contains; its connections to other protected areas; how large and intact an area is; and the benefits it provides to people who live in, near and far from it. </p>
<p>Some scientists contend that the top priorities should be places that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635">still ecologically intact</a> and virtually untouched by humans. But only about <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635">3% of the Earth’s land and oceans are still in this state</a>. And even wilderness areas can’t escape the effects of climate change caused by human activities elsewhere.</p>
<p>Over <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.08.009">58% of our planet’s land</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1149345">41% of its oceans</a> are already under moderate to intense human pressure. This means that most newly protected areas will effectively be works in progress, with <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/ecological-restoration-protected-areas-principles-guidelines-and-best-practices">restoration projects</a> to help species recover, improve habitat quality and make ecosystems healthier. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n0g5ls75nC8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ryan Davis, Pennsylvania forest program manager with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, explains options for stabilizing stream banks that have become badly eroded.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15109">40% of land</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8615">10% of oceans</a> have experienced relatively low impacts from human activities. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.08.009">Terrestrial ecosystems</a> with the lowest human footprints include tundra, boreal forests and deserts. At the other extreme, tropical, subtropical and temperate forests are at the highest risk. </p>
<p>In the oceans, areas with the lowest human pressures are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8615">near the poles or in polar regions</a>. Coral ecosystems, which are home to <a href="https://coral.org/en/coral-reefs-101/why-care-about-reefs/biodiversity/">25% of all marine life</a>, are under the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1149345">most pressure</a>.</p>
<p>It isn’t always possible to protect large areas. Some scientists argue that small areas can still successfully <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.12.026">protect species</a>, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.07.022">others disagree</a>. In our view, what ultimately matters is how multiple protected areas are connected and how close they are to each other. </p>
<p>Connections can develop naturally, like the <a href="https://www.audubon.org/birds/flyways">flyways</a> that migrating birds use to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.184">travel between continents</a>. Or they can be structures built by humans, such as <a href="https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/as-banffs-famed-wildlife-overpasses-turn-20-the-world-looks-to-canada-for-conservation-inspiration/">wildlife bridges</a> over highways. Connecting protected areas is important because it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13828">promotes genetic diversity</a> and makes it possible for species to move in response to climate change and other threats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bridge planted with grasses over a four-lane highway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498097/original/file-20221129-17135-4rvz7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wildlife crossings, like this vegetated bridge over a highway in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, can connect protected land and help wildlife move across large areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/aerial-view-over-wildlife-crossing-wildlife-overpass-animal-news-photo/1404621920">Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The metacoupling approach</h2>
<p>Given all these factors, selecting protected areas can get complicated. Based on our research, we think that a holistic approach can make 30x30 feasible and effective. It has three parts.</p>
<p>First, protected areas should meet both conservation needs and human needs. Second, in creating newly protected areas, researchers and managers should consider how they will interact with adjacent areas. Third, researchers and officials should assess how newly protected areas will interact with areas far away – including in other countries.</p>
<p>This approach is guided by the <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/telecoupling/metacoupling/">metacoupling framework</a>, which is an integrated way to study and manage human-nature interactions within and between different places. It recognizes that human and natural systems in a given place can be affected for better or worse by people, policies and markets both nearby and far away. </p>
<p>At <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1213/">Wolong Nature Reserve</a> in southwestern China, one of us, Jack Liu, has worked with Chinese collaborators to understand and manage human-nature interactions in ways that support the recovery of a global wildlife icon – giant pandas. Wolong, which is now part of China’s <a href="https://national-parks.org/china/giant-panda">Giant Panda National Park</a>, was one of the first and largest panda reserves in China, and also houses numerous other rare animals and plants. It is also home to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5299">almost 6,000 people</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people converse in a small market." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498102/original/file-20221129-24-puyzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ecologist Jianguo ‘Jack’ Liu, left, speaks with a resident in Wolong, China, about pressures on panda habitat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michigan State University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Forest is an important part of panda habitat, but over time the human population in Wolong grew and needed more resources, such as wood for cooking and heating or to make goods for visiting tourists. In a 2001 study, our team showed that panda habitat in Wolong <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1058104">declined faster</a> after the reserve was established in 1975 than it had before that time. Increasing demand for wood was degrading and fragmenting the forest and negatively affected panda population numbers.</p>
<p>To reverse this trend, our team worked with the Chinese government to provide more financial support to the local community in the early 2000s. This increased household incomes and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198703549.001.0001">reduced the need to harvest wood</a>. </p>
<p>Taking a broad geographic view of the pandas’ situation helped to produce a positive outcome. Recognizing that panda habitat was being affected not just by human-nature interactions inside Wolong but also by interactions between Wolong and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09830-220429">adjacent and distant places</a> showed that conservation subsidies from the faraway <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/16557">central government in Beijing</a> could improve protection for Wolong forests. </p>
<p>In 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/712/121745669">downlisted and reclassified giant pandas</a> from endangered to vulnerable. Today there are an estimated <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-soccer-sports-giant-pandas-china-dce20cdfcdecc737635c6a1b61cb39a0">1,800 giant pandas in the wild</a>, thanks partly to government subsidies that helped strike a balance between humans’ needs and those of pandas.</p>
<p>All protected areas are influenced by human actions both nearby and far away. We believe that creating and managing protected areas using a holistic metacoupling approach will make it easier to achieve the 30x30 goal and make sound decisions that sustain nature and human well-being around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Veronica Frans receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jianguo "Jack" Liu receives funding from National Science Foundation and Michiga AgBioResearch. </span></em></p>Governments, scientists and conservation groups are working to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water for nature by 2030. Two scientists explain why scale matters for reaching that goal.Veronica Frans, PhD Student in Fisheries & Wildlife and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior, Michigan State UniversityJianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1819522022-05-29T14:43:33Z2022-05-29T14:43:33ZLevelling the playing field: How a trauma-informed approach can make physical activity more accessible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465572/original/file-20220526-21-asq0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=221%2C57%2C5242%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Physical activity can be an important tool for recovery from the collective trauma experienced and exacerbated throughout the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052235">resulted in decreased levels of physical activity</a>, which has implications for physical and mental health. Physical activity can also be an important tool for recovery from the collective trauma experienced and exacerbated throughout the pandemic, especially for equity-seeking communities.</p>
<p>During the pandemic, high levels of stress, isolation and inequity have <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemics-disproportionate-impact-on-women-is-derailing-decades-of-progress-on-gender-equality-180941">had a disproportionate impact on women</a>, girls across the globe. Progress that had been made on gender equality and women’s rights has been reversed in areas such as employment and economic setbacks and expanding domestic roles. According to the United Nations, a “<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response">shadow pandemic” of violence against women</a> emerged during the pandemic that has disproportionately affected <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01146-w">racialized women and girls</a>. </p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://medium.com/the-machinery-of-government/recovery-and-regeneration-in-community-sport-9a217bd70aef">multiple calls</a> to address negative effects of the pandemic on physical and emotional well-being, including the impact of increased violence and poverty on sport participation and safety. </p>
<p>As we move into spring and summer, and more people consider taking up physical activity outdoors, it is crucial to centre issues of equity, inclusion, safety and access. One such strategy is promoting trauma- and violence-informed physical activity. </p>
<p>In seeking gender responsive approaches to pandemic recovery, there is a need to improve access to physical activity by creating inclusive opportunities for equity-seeking populations. Our research <a href="https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2022-002">has used trauma- and violence-informed physical activity as a tool to address inequity in physical activity</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164485">explored the potential for sport to help prevent gender-based violence as part of development interventions</a>. </p>
<h2>Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tgClXqDxtZg?wmode=transparent&start=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How a trauma- and violence-informed approach to physical activity improves access and addresses barriers to sport participation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity research has highlighted how this approach may be useful to create ways to equitably work with program participants and to reach new participants. Importantly, this approach addresses structural and systemic issues of access in COVID-19 recovery efforts. Given the competing social determinants of health, there is often a lack of political will and/or commitment to sustainable funding for recreational physical activity focused on women living in poverty.</p>
<p>Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity is an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101224">equity-based approach that considers and actively addresses barriers to exercise</a>. This includes collaboration across systems, such as offering physical activity programming or referrals through health and social services that women are already accessing, as well as removing barriers. Examples may include providing free on-site childcare or children’s attendance at programs, transforming spaces to accommodate self-identified women-only programming and using invitational language that focuses on choices rather than directives. </p>
<p>Recognizing the intersections of trauma with health and social issues, this approach integrates understanding of trauma and marginalization into all aspects of program design and delivery. </p>
<p>Through our previous research, we have considered how culture, historical issues and gender shape our critical thinking for new approaches to physical activity. We believe all individuals involved in developing and implementing physical activity programs should address the key tenets of trauma- and violence-informed physical activity: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Trauma awareness</p></li>
<li><p>Safety and trustworthiness</p></li>
<li><p>Choice and collaboration</p></li>
<li><p>Peer supports</p></li>
<li><p>Strengths-based and capacity building</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity connects important work on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10778012211038966">trauma and recovery to sport</a>. It has been identified as a strategy that enhances social connections, community cohesion and collective movement and healing.</p>
<p>Current efforts to engage people in physical activity have focused on individual physical benefits of physical activity and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12590-6">improved mental health</a>. By shifting our focus to address the social determinants of physical activity, there are more options for developing programming and resources designed for specific communities. </p>
<h2>Applying the tenets</h2>
<p>The pandemic has also further underlined the need to examine the structural and systemic issue of access related to physical activity in COVID-19 recovery efforts. A relatively new and promising approach to improve access to the natural environment is through prescriptions such as Canada’s National Parks (<a href="https://www.parkprescriptions.ca/">PARX, A Prescription for Nature</a>). This innovative program allows health-care professionals to connect patients to nature as “Canada’s first national, evidence-based nature prescription program.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three women walking in the woods." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465607/original/file-20220526-14-p8y3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not everyone has easy access to parks and green spaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This strategy could be further enhanced by using a trauma- and violence-informed physical activity lens by clearly identifying and addressing key barriers to participation: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Transportation, challenging the assumption that people have equal access to green space; and </p></li>
<li><p>foregrounding intersections of race, gender and class in relation to access and perceptions of “safety” in outdoor spaces. For example, studies have demonstrated that racialized women feel unwelcome in “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2022.2057649">uncultivated green spaces and rural areas</a>,” and that <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-nature-deprived-neighborhoods-impact-health-people-of-color">racialized people are three times more likely than white people to live in places with no access to green spaces</a>. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Considerations of trauma- and violence-informed approaches may improve access and uptake of physical activity, as mainstream programs may not consider social and structural inequities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl in a swimsuit and swimming goggles in front of a body of water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465606/original/file-20220526-14-bcjrb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unequal access to safe spaces to participate in inclusive physical activity may delay pandemic recovery efforts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research aims to better understand how this approach might be a promising post-pandemic intervention for safely addressing trauma caused by things like stress, isolation and violence. It also looks at how such interventions can be developed and scaled up as a tool to be used by health practitioners, sport managers, non-governmental organizations and policy-makers. </p>
<p>This is particularly critical as Canadians will need to consider how gender inequities in physical activity will continue to be exacerbated as the pandemic continues, and how uneven access to safe spaces to participate in inclusive physical activity may delay recovery efforts.</p>
<p>We recognize that trauma- and violence-informed physical activity is not a cure-all. However, having an equity-based approach that considers and actively addresses barriers to participation is one step towards promoting equitable access to physical activity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181952/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francine Darroch receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyndsay Hayhurst receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.</span></em></p>During spring and summer, as more people consider exercising outdoors, a trauma- and violence-informed approach to physical activity can help ensure equity, inclusion, safety and access.Francine Darroch, Assistant Professor, Health Sciences, Carleton UniversityLyndsay M.C. Hayhurst, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833892022-05-18T15:38:22Z2022-05-18T15:38:22ZNeighbourhood green space is in rapid decline, deepening both the climate and mental health crises<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463962/original/file-20220518-11-od12em.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Falcon Harding / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past 20 or so years of housing development in England and Wales has decimated community access to green space. That’s according to a <a href="https://neweconomics.org/2022/05/exposed-the-collapse-of-green-space-provision-in-england-and-wales">new report</a> from think tank the <a href="https://neweconomics.org/about">New Economics Foundation</a> (NEF), which has brought together data on the age of housing developments, public green space provision and public perceptions of green space in their local area.</p>
<p>As an academic researching and writing the role of access to nature in health and wellbeing I was shocked by the detail of the report.</p>
<p>“Green space” in this sense means any public area in a town or city that includes plant life or water features (sometimes referred to as blue space), set aside for recreation. This can be a whole park or woodland, street trees or simply a small patch of grass.</p>
<p>The new report points to some stark differences in the accessibility and quality of green space provision depending on when most of the houses in the area were built – and, as the report’s authors point out, the planning laws at the time that governed their design.</p>
<p>It turns out that in general, the newer the housing that dominates an area, the less the total amount of green space within a 1km radius. The most recent generation of housing, built between 2009 and 2021, has up to 40% less local green space than areas where the homes are mainly late 19th- and early 20th-century.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly then, people living in post-2000 developments are significantly less likely to visit green spaces, a loss the NEF calculates as nine million fewer trips each year. They are also less likely to report having access to a private garden, or “feeling part of nature”. Basically, we’re creating a new generation of neighbourhoods with very little green space, adding to a <a href="https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/insight/englands-green-space-gap">well-documented</a> decline in pre-existing public green space.</p>
<h2>Access to nature is an equality issue</h2>
<p>Why does this matter? There is now substantial evidence that points to the importance of green space for human health and wellbeing. Psychological <a href="https://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/1267">studies</a> suggest that if we spend time in nature regularly, we are more likely to report positive mood and cognition, lower anxiety, higher creativity, mindfulness and social connectedness. These benefits are greater if we have a strong sense of our connection to nature and take the <a href="https://findingnature.org.uk/2021/10/19/how-actively-noticing-nature-not-just-time-in-nature-helps-promote-nature-connectedness/">time to notice</a> our surroundings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person stands on grassy hill and looks over town" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463971/original/file-20220518-21-wk44n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nature is a mood-enhancer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Malgosia Janicka/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It follows that a widespread reduction in everyday nature contact, on the kind of scale reported by the NEF, means the reverse, with the potential to threaten the physical and mental health of thousands, perhaps millions of us.</p>
<p>This is why routine access to nature has become an equality and justice issue, with <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj2gvrMneT3AhVUolwKHaCHCzkQFnoECCUQAQ&url=https://theconversation.com/green-space-access-is-not-equal-in-the-uk-and-the-government-isnt-doing-enough-to-change-that-177598&usg=AOvVaw0qN7O-lJOvOHlOswxNsR-E">research</a> highlighting existing inequalities in green space access, and campaign groups <a href="https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/97831/petition/1?locale=en-GB">calling for</a> local nature access to be established as a legal right.</p>
<p>Surprising? Possibly not. During recent <a href="https://www.derby.ac.uk/magazine/issue-13/how-the-pandemic-changed-our-relationship-with-nature/">lockdowns</a>, with the usual distractions suddenly out of reach, many of us developed a new or renewed sense of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143984">benefits</a> of time spent in nature.</p>
<h2>Good for humans, good for the environment</h2>
<p>But there’s another reason, perhaps more surprising, to expose and reverse this decline in access to green space. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494419301185">Psychological research</a> suggests that it also threatens our chances for averting environmental catastrophe, now and in the future.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, the higher the degree of our sense of connection to nature, the stronger our moral concern and care for the environment. This is reflected across a wide range of private and public practices, for example in higher reports of recycling or environmental volunteering. Contact with and connectedness to nature are not quite the same thing, but they tend to be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34299948/">mutually reinforcing</a> – the more time we spend in nature, the more we feel connected to it and vice versa.</p>
<p>A widespread reduction in local green space reduces how often people access nature-rich spaces, which erodes their sense of a connection to nature, and combined these losses affect how much we are committed to care for and protect nature – even how much we notice its decline in the first place. </p>
<p>Potentially we then come full circle – with fewer of us feeling a strong moral environmentalist concern, we become bystanders as the climate and biodiversity crisis deepens, and options for human-nature relationships decline further, apart, perhaps, for the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2020/sep/16/poorer-uk-households-have-less-access-to-green-spaces-study">privileged</a>.</p>
<p>Being charitable to the UK government, we might say this is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing – after all the UK is currently investing over £4 million in pilot “green social prescribing” <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-social-prescribing-pilots-open-for-applications">projects</a>, explicitly promoting the benefits of nature-based health interventions.</p>
<p>However, moves like this are meaningless if we take for granted the access to and quality of nature and natural environments in the first place, while willingly (or otherwise) overseeing its rapid decline. Healthy nature contact requires joined-up public planning and strong investment in infrastructure.</p>
<p>It is time for the government to oblige planners, developers and public bodies to <a href="https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/97830/petition/1">make sure</a> everyone can access and develop a connection with the natural environment. Neighbourhood green and blue space is an essential component of a sustainable transition for the UK, with the potential to help address a crisis in health and wellbeing as well as the wider environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Adams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The more new housing a neighbourhood has, the less of the local area is dedicated to green space, which has knock-on effects for wellbeing and the climate crisis.Matthew Adams, Principal Lecturer in Psychology, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802282022-04-08T12:34:06Z2022-04-08T12:34:06ZTo protect wildlife from free-roaming cats, a zone defense may be more effective than trying to get every feline off the street<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456624/original/file-20220406-7184-ca7n0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C8%2C5590%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Killer on the loose.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/street-cat-walking-on-cobblestone-street-royalty-free-image/1303705524">Alex Walker via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should domestic cats be allowed to roam freely outdoors? It’s a contentious issue. Those who say yes assert that they’re <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-019-00408-x">defending outdoor cats</a> and the <a href="https://www.alleycat.org/about/">people who care for them</a>. Critics respond that free-roaming cats <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-let-them-out-15-ways-to-keep-your-indoor-cat-happy-138716">kill so many birds, reptiles, mammals and important insects like butterflies and dragonflies</a> that they <a href="https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds">threaten biodiversity on a global scale</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dan-Herrera">conservation</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RaEz6G8AAAAJ&hl=en">biologists</a> familiar with these clashing viewpoints, we wondered whether there was room for a more nuanced strategy than the typical yes/no standoff. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109503">recently published study</a>, we used camera traps at hundreds of sites across Washington, D.C., to analyze the predatory behavior of urban free-roaming cats. The cameras recorded all cats that passed them, so our study did not distinguish between feral cats and pet cats roaming outdoors.</p>
<p>Our data showed that the cats were unlikely to prey on native wildlife, such as songbirds or small mammals, when they were farther than roughly 1,500 feet (500 meters) from a forested area, such as a park or wooded backyard. We also found that when cats were approximately 800 feet (250 meters) or farther from forest edges, they were more likely to prey on rats than on native wildlife. </p>
<p>Since the average urban domestic cat ranges over a small area – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12563">roughly 550 feet</a> (170 meters), or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_block">one to two city blocks</a> – the difference between a diet that consists exclusively of native species and one without any native prey can be experienced within a single cat’s range. Our findings suggest that focusing efforts on managing cat populations near forested areas may be a more effective conservation strategy than attempting to manage an entire city’s outdoor cat population. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ltYxFlMlYqI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cats have an instinctual drive to hunt, even when they’re well-fed, and pursue many types of prey.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cats on the loose</h2>
<p>Free-roaming cats are a common sight in Washington, D.C., which has a feline population of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/09/24/cat-count-dc/">200,000</a>. Like many cities, Washington has had its share of <a href="https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/445531/d-c-official-wildlife-plan-does-not-endorse-killing-feral-cats/">cat management controversies</a>. </p>
<p>Professionals on either side of the free-roaming cat debate largely agree that cats are safest when kept indoors. An outdoor cat’s lifespan generally peaks <a href="https://pets.webmd.com/cats/features/should-you-have-an-indoor-cat-or-an-outdoor-cat">around 5 years</a>, compared with 10 to 15 years for an indoor cat. Free-roaming cats face numerous threats, including vehicle collisions and contact with rat poison. Acknowledging these risks, most animal welfare organizations encourage <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/our-position-cats">an indoor-only lifestyle</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, there is little disagreement that cats hunt; for centuries humans have used them for rodent control. But invasive rats, which are often the target of modern rodent control, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/cats-vs-rats-new-york/571414/">can grow too large</a> to be easy prey for cats. In response, cats also pursue smaller species that are easier to catch. Studies have linked cats to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1602480113">63 extinctions globally</a> and estimated that cats <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2380">kill 12.3 billion wild mammals</a> annually in the U.S. alone. </p>
<p>Disagreements arise around handling cats that already live outside. Population management programs often utilize trap-neuter-return, or TNR – a process in which cats are trapped, spayed or neutered and re-released where they were caught. </p>
<p>In theory, TNR limits population growth by reducing the number of kittens that will be born. In reality it is rarely effective, since <a href="https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.1871">75% of individual cats must be treated every year</a> to reduce the population, which is often not feasible. Regardless, reproduction itself is not what most worries conservation biologists.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1463188777669730320"}"></div></p>
<h2>Feline invaders</h2>
<p>Today the Earth is losing wild species at such a rate that many scientists believe it is experiencing its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922686117">sixth mass extinction</a>. In this context, free-roaming cats’ effects on wildlife are a serious concern. Cats have an instinctual drive to hunt, even if they are fed by humans. Many wildlife populations are <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911500907/the-world-lost-two-thirds-of-its-wildlife-in-50-years-we-are-to-blame">already struggling to survive</a> in a rapidly changing world. Falling prey to a non-native species doesn’t help.</p>
<p>Cats <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/new-data-on-killer-house-cats/">aren’t picky hunters</a> but will pounce on the easiest available prey. This generalist predatory behavior contributes to their reputation as <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/worst-invasive-predators/#:%7E:text=Cats%20are%20number%20one%E2%80%94the,for%2063%20modern%2Dday%20extinctions.">one of the most damaging invasive species</a>. In our view, however, it could also be a key to limiting their ecological impact.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Silhouettes of predator species above bar charts representing threatened species they kill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456666/original/file-20220406-18446-icfn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graphic shows the numbers of threatened and extinct bird (B), mammal (M) and reptile (R) species negatively affected by invasive mammalian predators. Gray bars are the total number of extinct and threatened species, and red bars are extinct species. Predators (L to R) are the cat, rodents, dog, pig, small Indian mongoose, red fox and stoat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1602480113">Doherty et al., 2016</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Managing cats based on their behavior</h2>
<p>Since cats are generalist predators, their wild-caught diet tends to reflect the local species that are available. In areas with more birds than mammals, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.09.013">like New Zealand</a>, birds are cats’ primary prey. Similarly, cat diets in the most developed portions of cities likely reflect the most available prey species – rats.</p>
<p>While cats top the list of harmful invasive species, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/worst-invasive-predators/#:%7E:text=Cats%20are%20number%20one%E2%80%94the,for%2063%20modern%2Dday%20extinctions.">rats aren’t far behind</a>. In cities, rats spread disease, contaminate food and <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/rat-increase-can-have-real-impact-on-city-infrastructure/24370/">damage infrastructure</a>. There aren’t many downsides to free-roaming cats preying on rats.</p>
<p>City centers have <a href="https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-rodents-rats-population-urban-cities.html">no shortage of rats</a>, which can live anywhere, including parks, subways, sewers and buildings. But native animals tend to stay in or near <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00063">areas with sufficient outdoor habitat</a>, like parks and forested neighborhoods. When cats hunt in these same spaces, they are a threat to native wildlife. But if cats don’t share these spaces with native species, the risk declines dramatically.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V5UyRGuSDUk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The National Park Service built a specially designed 5-mile fence on the island of Hawaii to protect endangered petrels from predation by feral cats.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conservation funding is limited, so it’s critical to choose effective strategies. The traditional approach to cat management has largely consisted of attempting to prohibit cats from being loose altogether – an approach that’s incredibly unpopular with people who care for outdoor cats. Despite <a href="https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Letter-to-Secretary-Jewell.pdf">calls for outdoor cat bans</a>, few have been enacted. </p>
<p>Instead, we suggest prioritizing areas where wildlife is most at risk. For example, cities could create “no cat zones” near urban habitats, which would forbid releasing trap-neuter-return cats in those areas and fine owners in those areas who let their cats roam outdoors. </p>
<p>In Washington, D.C., this would include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109503">forested neighborhoods</a> like Palisades or Buena Vista, as well as homes near parks like Rock Creek. As we see it, this targeted approach would have more impact than citywide outdoor cat bans that are unpopular and difficult to enforce.</p>
<p>Hard-line policies have done little to reduce outdoor cat populations across the U.S. Instead, we believe a data-driven and targeted approach to cat management is a more effective way to protect wildlife.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&source=inline-science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180228/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study shows that when free-ranging cats are more than a few blocks from forested areas in cities, such as parks, they’re more likely to prey on rats than on native wildlife.Daniel Herrera, PhD Student in Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason UniversityTravis Gallo, Assistant Professor of Urban Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, George Mason UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1775982022-02-25T16:11:36Z2022-02-25T16:11:36ZGreen space access is not equal in the UK – and the government isn’t doing enough to change that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448537/original/file-20220225-15-jby5fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3300%2C2198&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wealthy areas of London have better green space provision than the national average.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/canary-wharf-famous-skyscrapers-londons-financial-63069820">QQ7/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A growing gap in green space provision divides the UK according to <a href="https://www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Feb-2022_CPRE_Local-Green-Spaces-full-report-1.pdf">recent research</a>, with people in northern cities having access to fewer parks than their southern counterparts.</p>
<p>Nationwide, ethnically diverse communities and people living on low incomes are more likely to live in areas without accessible or high-quality wild places or parks, according to data from <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-childrens-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-summer-holidays-2021-official-statistics/the-childrens-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-summer-holidays-2021-official-statistics">Natural England</a> and the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/accesstogardensandpublicgreenspaceingreatbritain">Office for National Statistics</a>. These communities are more likely to suffer <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf">poorer health outcomes</a>, with higher incidences of heart and lung disease, depression, diabetes and obesity.</p>
<p>To address this inequity, a coalition of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/21/uk-wildlife-campaigners-call-for-legal-right-to-access-nature-for-all">environmental charities</a> has called for equal access to nature to be enshrined in law. This echoes proposals for a legal right to nature, which have been discussed by the <a href="http://www.harmonywithnatureun.org/rightsOfNaturePolicies/">United Nations</a>. </p>
<p>A legal right to nature will not guarantee everyone enjoys easier access, or even help anyone who wants to use green spaces however. Without sustained funding and proactive local planning, existing problems will persist, particularly in the most deprived areas. </p>
<p>So what’s the government doing to ensure everyone can enjoy the UK’s green spaces?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people stand with hands on hips smiling into the sun with trees surrounding them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448541/original/file-20220225-17-1xzitmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spending time in nature has been linked to health benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/couple-asian-woman-enjoying-freedom-standing-1459409876">GBALLGIGGSPHOTO/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The government recently unveiled its <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1052060/Levelling_Up_White_Paper.pdf">white paper</a> proposals for “levelling up” the UK country and reducing regional inequality. The plans dedicate £39 million to refurbish parks and green spaces across the UK. </p>
<p>This includes <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/spending-review-2021-lga-responds-ps9-million-funding-100-new-urban-pocket-parks-across">money</a> to create 100 urban “pocket parks” on derelict land in communities with the least access to nature. The government’s proposals envision a future where people have greater access to wildlife and parks within a five- to ten-minute walking distance from home. </p>
<p>At first, £39 million sounds substantial. But it falls well short of reversing the drastic cuts to the finances of many local authorities by central government over a decade of austerity. Local councils are the <a href="https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/index.cfm/research/current-research-programme/state-of-uk-public-parks-2021/">primary landowners and managers</a> of public parks in the UK. Newcastle City Council, for instance, had to <a href="https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/citylife-news/lifestyle/what-does-future-hold-parks-and-green-spaces">slash its parks budget</a> 91% from £2.58 million to £87,000 between 2010 and 2017.</p>
<p>The white paper proposes redistributing investment to north-west and north-east England, regions which have suffered chronic underfunding. But it fails to recognise the depth of problems facing the country’s parks and green spaces. </p>
<p>Swingeing cuts to council budgets and ensuing <a href="https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/index.cfm/blog/managing-parks-and-open-spaces-in-the-age-of-austerity/">redundancies</a> have created a shortage in workers with the relevant skills to maintain parks. And proposing capital refurbishment with minimal funding for long-term maintenance of these green spaces will not sustain a safe, accessible, and high-quality natural environment. Cutting the ribbon on a new park is just the start of the commitment, not the end.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, pressure from housing developers threatens to <a href="https://www.manchesterworld.uk/news/carrington-moss-meet-the-residents-battling-to-prevent-development-at-a-manchester-green-space-3539806">convert</a> more green space into residential areas.</p>
<h2>Access for whom?</h2>
<p>Access is also not just about how far you live from a park. Feeling unsafe or unwelcome there can be just as significant. Young people, the elderly, women and girls, and people from ethnic minorities are more likely to experience <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Out-of-Bounds-equity-in-access-to-urban-nature.pdf">verbal or physical harassment</a> in public places. Simply creating a new park, or allowing access to an existing natural area, does not mean everyone will be able to use it.</p>
<p>People in dense urban areas are among the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/datasets/accesstogardensandpublicgreenspaceingreatbritain">most isolated</a> from nature. Investment in inner-city green space, as part of a concerted effort to meet the needs of all communities, would be a worthwhile endeavour.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people sit on a park bench with takeaway coffee, smiling and talking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448545/original/file-20220225-19-vd3ud5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Distance isn’t the only thing which determines whether someone can enjoy green spaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-british-muslim-women-eating-lunch-588829166">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The government does offer communities the chance to nominate valuable places close to home for <a href="https://www.oss.org.uk/need-to-know-more/information-hub/local-green-space-designation/">local green space designations</a>. If approved, these areas would become subject to the same restrictions on development as green belt land. <a href="https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-10/cat%20guide.pdf">Community asset transfers</a> even allow community groups or social enterprises to take ownership of green spaces from a public body. </p>
<p>Giving local people a bigger role in these matters is a positive step, but they may <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/opinion/2016/03/community-asset-transfers-must-not-turn-liabilities">privilege</a> people with the time and legal knowledge necessary to apply for such designations.</p>
<p>Sustained financial support would allow councils to plan strategically for long-term improvements to green spaces. On this front at least, there are reasons to be hopeful. The government finally appears to be reinvesting in, rather than decimating, park budgets, and is featuring parks and green spaces more prominently in national policy. </p>
<p>The recently passed <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2593">Environment Act</a> will include a legal requirement obliging new developments to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/25/natural-england-chair-tony-juniper-backs-biodiversity-net-gain-plan-boost-wild-areas">boost local biodiversity</a> by 10% and new planning tools to <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/urban_greening_factor_lpg_pre-consultation_draft.pdf">evaluate how green</a> a new construction project is. </p>
<p>These measures support <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf">public health initiatives</a> which recognise the importance of urban green space for wellbeing and cement the value of park spending in the public consciousness.</p>
<p>The government still has a long way to go to recuperate the shortfall in local authority park budgets, and is far from ensuring all UK residents have access to nature near where they live. But given the recent history, its levelling up proposals are a small step in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meredith Whitten is a researcher in residence at Parks for London, a UK-based charity.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Mell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The promised £39 million is not enough to ‘level up’ park provision in the UK.Ian Mell, Reader in Environmental & Landscape Planning, University of ManchesterMeredith Whitten, Fellow in Environment, London School of Economics and Political ScienceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1722772021-12-27T12:59:34Z2021-12-27T12:59:34Z4 New Year’s resolutions for a healthier environment in 2022<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438906/original/file-20211222-13-1iqhqlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enjoy the environment in 2022 and find ways to help nature and communities thrive.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/female-athlete-listening-music-while-exercising-on-royalty-free-image/961028158">Cavan Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When many people think of New Year’s resolutions, they brainstorm ways to improve themselves for the year ahead. What if we expanded those aspirations to include resolutions that benefit our communities, society and the planet, too?</p>
<p>It might not be a typical approach, but it can broaden your horizons to show ways you can also be of service to others.</p>
<p>Here are four <a href="https://www.goskills.com/Soft-Skills/Resources/Top-10-new-years-resolutions">popular New Year’s resolutions</a> with a twist for improving your relationship with nature in 2022 and beyond.</p>
<h2>Exercise more consideration for how your actions impact the environment</h2>
<p>We each have an <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare4030061">environmental ethic</a> reflecting how we value, manage and ultimately relate to nature. Balancing the scales of reciprocity between us and nature – how much we give and take – can improve this relationship in many ways. Whether it’s our addiction to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111530118">one-use plastics</a> that pile up in landfills or <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> that warm the planet, a mishandled relationship with nature is not doing us or the Earth any favors.</p>
<p>In 2022, we can all take more responsibility for how our actions exacerbate environmental problems. We can also encourage governments and businesses to make it easier for people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to protect the environment. This includes making recycled goods affordable and reliable public transportation widely accessible.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and woman pick up plastic waste on a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438907/original/file-20211222-19-1df6acj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recycling and reducing waste helps create a cleaner environment with better use of natural resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-people-collecting-trash-on-beach-royalty-free-image/186360537">Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Check out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s <a href="https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-waste-what-you-can-do">resources</a> describing some very simple ways to reduce waste at home, work, in our communities and during the holidays. Tips from the website include turning off or unplugging lights during the day, reusing packaging materials and using online billing services instead of paper mail.</p>
<h2>Lose the weight of social injustice – it harms nature, too</h2>
<p>The perils of social injustice stress multiple aspects of society. Racism and inequality can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120201952">health disparities</a>, and they also have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay4497">consequences for the natural environment</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay4497">recent study</a> described how practices such as redlining and residential segregation led to unequal access to nature, excess pollution and biodiversity loss. These practices <a href="https://theconversation.com/removing-urban-highways-can-improve-neighborhoods-blighted-by-decades-of-racist-policies-166220">brought in highways</a> and industries that harm environmental quality in marginalized communities. They also left neighborhoods with fewer parks and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-value-of-trees-4-essential-reads-116047">trees that provide cooling</a> in summer and benefit the planet.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Kids on skateboards with refinery behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439205/original/file-20220103-172009-1w5rnii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kids play near homes in the shadow of an oil refinery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jesse-ceja-rides-a-segway-hoverboard-in-his-neighborhood-news-photo/1212895641">Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perpetuating social ills like systemic racism and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218656110">inequitable resource allocation</a> is detrimental to the environment, marginalized people and society as a whole.</p>
<p>To help turn this around, you can speak out in your community. Join groups that are trying to promote environmental protection and social justice and are bringing nature back to communities. Call your city, state and Congressional leaders to urge them to take action. Also, refer to the <a href="http://orgs.law.harvard.edu/els/files/2014/02/FullReport_Green2.0_FINALReducedSize.pdf">Green 2.0 report</a>’s section on making diversity initiatives successful for concrete ways that you can actualize this in your place of work.</p>
<h2>Learn something new about nature and how to reduce harm to the environment and yourself</h2>
<p>Clean air, water and soil are fundamental for our survival, but research shows many people lack basic <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16061045">environmental and health literacy</a> to know how to protect themselves.</p>
<p>In 2022, get to know your own impact on the environment. Read more and start exploring ways to preserve the integrity of your area’s natural resources. For example, find out where you can stay abreast of local land-use decisions that impact the environment and your overall community.</p>
<p>You can also support local educators and encourage them to bring the environment into lessons. Environmental issues overlap many other subjects, from history to health. <a href="https://naaee.org/our-work/programs/environmental-literacy-framework">This website</a> includes a framework and materials for educators to help students expand their environmental literacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man points into a pond where 5 kids are looking with excited expressions on their faces." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438908/original/file-20211222-129369-bz21x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Take opportunities to explore nature and teach kids about its wonders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-and-pupils-at-nature-reserve-royalty-free-image/79337306">Image Source/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Staying plugged in <a href="https://theconversation.com/global">with media</a> that discuss the latest research can enhance awareness. You can also try tying environmental facts and knowledge into your game night and team-building activities.</p>
<h2>Spend more time with family and friends in nature</h2>
<p>Studies show that spending time in nature, including urban green spaces, can improve your relationship with nature and with others.</p>
<p>Time in nature can increase <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030452">social cohesion</a>. Throughout the pandemic, many people discovered the outdoors as a place to decompress and reduce stress. Spending more time outdoors can encourage social interactions that benefit health, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112367">buffer emotional distress</a> and encourage use of these spaces, which can help protect them for the future.</p>
<p>Here are <a href="https://www.nrpa.org/publications-research/best-practice-resources/">some tools</a> that outline best practices to enhance parks and recreation near you. Also, here are ways to make <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/rei-2018/five-ways-to-make-the-outdoors-more-inclusive/3019/">outdoor environments</a> more inclusive for families in diverse communities.</p>
<p>Collectively, thinking about our relationship with nature and finding ways to protect the environment can help us be better stewards of the planet.</p>
<p>[<em>Too busy to read another daily email?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-toobusy">Get one of The Conversation’s curated weekly newsletters</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Viniece Jennings serves as a consultant to the National Recreation and Parks Association on a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. She is also a colleague to Dr. Tony Reames in the JPB Environmental Health fellowship at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. </span></em></p>An environmental health scholar shares four resolutions to improve your relationship with the environment – and its prospects for the future.Viniece Jennings, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Agnes Scott CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698172021-10-28T21:16:46Z2021-10-28T21:16:46ZHow the relationships we have with plants contribute to human health in many ways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428921/original/file-20211027-21-16xdlm6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C989%2C2440%2C2103&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plants are more than background foliage in our busy lives. Our relationship with plants supports human health and well-being in many ways. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sarah Elton)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the height of the pandemic, people flocked to the park near my home. For those of us who live in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103856">neighbourhoods where there is access to greenspace</a>, parks allowed us to lounge on the grass and in the shade of the trees, admire flowers, enjoy a walk in the fresh air, or even grow food in a community garden. </p>
<p>These moments <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.01.034">offered a health boost</a> and made visible just one of the ways that human health and well-being is supported by our relationships with plants. It’s part of what I call <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114083">relational health</a> — a term that speaks to the ways health is produced through relationships. From a relational health perspective, health is a constantly unfolding process that is produced by encounters between humans and various aspects of non-human nature. </p>
<p>Sometimes the encounters are not good — we only need to think of emerging infectious diseases to be reminded of this. But mostly, interactions between humans and non-human nature are positive, health-producing and sustaining. Our relationships with plants offer a good example.</p>
<h2>Plant blindness</h2>
<p>Euro-western culture largely ignores the many roles that plants play in society. It’s been called “<a href="https://cms.botany.org/psbarchive/issue/2001-v47-no-1.html#Toward%20a%20Theory%20of%20Plant">plant blindness</a>,” an “inability to see or notice plants in one’s environment.” Plants are not much more than background foliage in our busy lives — or worse, expendable. </p>
<p>At the local level, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640568.2017.1326883">trees are killed as homeowners renovate</a> and <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/01/04/save-smalls-creek-group-opposes-metrolinx-plans-to-cut-down-trees-in-ravine-for-railway-track-expansion.html">infrastructure expands</a>. At the global level, we demonstrate an ignorance of the health-supporting role of plants when we accept, in the name of development, the destruction of forests for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/19/palm-oil-ingredient-biscuits-shampoo-environmental">palm oil plantations</a> or the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-duffins-creek-wetland-pickering-ajax-warehouse-amazon-1.5942938">paving of wetlands</a>, where all sorts of plants flourish. </p>
<p>The lack of awareness of the role of plants in supporting human health is particularly striking if you consider that plants produce oxygen. We can’t breathe without them. <a href="https://pfaf.org/user/otheruses.aspx">They clean our water, they provide us with food and medicine, fibre for our clothes, material for our homes</a>. </p>
<h2>The roles of plants</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Green vines growing up the side of a red brick building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428942/original/file-20211027-21-1578xr8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Squash plants growing up the side of an urban building.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sarah Elton)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Botanists and ecologists study the natural science of plants. As social scientists, my colleagues and I consider the various <a href="https://doi.org/10.14506/ca33.4.08">roles that plants play</a> in our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068%2Fd17712">social and political worlds</a>. </p>
<p>Plants can be considered to be social participants and players in society. So I look at the ways that plants support our health, not only in terms of the food they provide us or the oxygen and shade they offer, but the ways that our relationships with plants facilitate political decisions and actions that support health in the city.</p>
<p>That non-human nature is part of society is foreign to Euro-western thought. Ever since the Enlightenment, the dominant Euro-western worldview has seen the human as the supreme species, leaving the rest of the world as resources to exploit, as writer and philosopher <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2004.0015">Silvia Wynter explores in her work</a>. </p>
<p>To view a plant as a participant requires a shift in worldview, for some. Indigenous ontologies have <a href="https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/19145">understood and valued the contributions of non-humans to world-making</a>. People in other parts of the world, <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo28301734.html">including on the Indian subcontinent</a>, understand that humans are not the only actors on planet earth. Also, the knowledge that health is produced through relationships between humans and non-human nature has long been <a href="https://education.usask.ca/documents/profiles/aikenhead/bridging-cultures-description.pdf">part of Indigenous ways of knowing</a>. It’s only in Euro-western society that has ignored and tried to erase other worldviews.</p>
<h2>Plants as social participants</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Urban streetscape shot from above: a garden, a basketball court, a church and taller buildings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428943/original/file-20211027-19-1nts3hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood viewed from a condo rooftop garden, with the community garden in the foreground and new apartment buildings in the background.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sarah Elton)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what does it look like when plants are social participants? Plants are evidently not like us — they don’t act with intent. Rather, their agency as health actors emerges from relationships. </p>
<p>I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-8867219">conducted fieldwork in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto</a> that is being redeveloped from a social housing community to a mixed-income area. The redevelopment has involved building on land where residents have grown food for decades. Locals did not want to lose their growing space, so they advocated for gardens in the new neighbourhood. They wanted continued access to homegrown vegetables, and the mental peace and exercise that gardening provided them. They didn’t want to lose their relationships with plants. </p>
<p>Very simply, the relationships between people and plants facilitated the advocacy, and residents were able to secure at least some space for gardens in the new design.</p>
<p>At first glance, it might look like humans did the advocacy. They are the ones who spoke up and asked that plants be included in the design. But if you recognize the agency of non-human nature, it shifts the analysis. </p>
<p>If you consider plants as participants in society, then the plants’ agency in the advocacy becomes visible. Their agency arises from the relationships they have with humans. When their needs are considered by humans in decision-making, they play a role. The plants partner with the people and their physical presence in gardens stakes a claim to the land. This shift in worldview opens up many possibilities in better understanding the role of non-human nature in contemporary society.</p>
<p>This scenario also sheds light on how health is produced through relationships between humans and non-human nature in the city. Health is not something that one possesses in one’s body, but rather for the gardeners who depend on the garden for food and well-being, health is produced in part by their relationships with the plants in their gardens. </p>
<p>To promote human health during this time of climate change and global pandemic requires scrutiny of the relationships we have with non-human nature in ways that may not be familiar to the Euro-western worldview.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Elton receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
She is also a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council.</span></em></p>Plants support human health not only in terms of providing food, oxygen and shade. Our relationships with plants facilitate political decisions and actions that support health in the city.Sarah Elton, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1662202021-09-07T12:54:02Z2021-09-07T12:54:02ZRemoving urban highways can improve neighborhoods blighted by decades of racist policies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419106/original/file-20210902-21-1cko3n1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5431%2C3607&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Interstate 980 cuts off West Oakland, Calif., at top, from other Oakland neighborhoods.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/interstate-980-and-the-14th-street-12th-street-and-11th-news-photo/1317878190">Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html">US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill</a> enacted in November 2021 will bring money to cities for much-needed investments in roads, bridges, public transit networks, water infrastructure, electric power grids, broadband networks and traffic safety. </p>
<p>We believe that more of this money should also fund the dismantling of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways">racist infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>Many urban highways built in the 1950s and 1960s were deliberately run through neighborhoods occupied by Black families and other people of color, walling these communities off from jobs and opportunity. Although President Joe Biden proposed $20 billion for reconnecting neighborhoods isolated by historical federal highway construction, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/cut-infrastructure-money-communities-hurt-highways-disappoints-advocates-n1275986">the bill currently provides only $1 billion for these efforts</a> – enough to help just a few places.</p>
<p>As scholars in <a href="https://as.tufts.edu/uep/people/faculty/julian-agyeman">urban planning</a> and <a href="https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/joan-fitzgerald/">public policy</a>, we are interested in how urban planning has been used to classify, segregate and compromise people’s opportunities based on race. In our view, more support for highway removal and related improvements in marginalized neighborhoods is essential. </p>
<p>As we see it, this funding represents a down payment on <a href="http://mzstrategies.com/blog/restorative-justice-and-infrastructure-investment-our-moment-of-opportunity">restorative justice</a>: remedying deliberate discriminatory policies that created polluted and transit-poor neighborhoods like <a href="https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/08/24/transportation-racism-has-shaped-public-transit-america-inequalities">West Bellfort</a> in Houston, <a href="https://www.sanantonio.gov/portals/0/Files/HistoricPreservation/SA%27sWestside.pdf">Westside</a> in San Antonio, and <a href="https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/06/divisive-oakland-freeway-may-be-demolished/">West Oakland</a>, California. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XXzAC-eJFx0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Freeway construction has devastated minority neighborhoods in cities across the U.S.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Policies of separation</h2>
<p>Many policies have combined over time to isolate urban Black neighborhoods. <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants_report.htm">Racialized rental and sales covenants</a> began appearing in U.S. cities in the early 1900s. They changed cityscapes by restricting certain neighborhoods to whites only, which concentrated Black people in other areas. <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20108/w20108.pdf">Racialized zoning</a>, outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1917, was followed by single-family or exclusionary zoning, which restricted residents by socioeconomic class – a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/blog/2021/06/17/exclusionary-zoning-its-effect-on-racial-discrimination-in-the-housing-market/">proxy for race</a> in the U.S. </p>
<p>Next came <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america">redlining</a>, a classification process that started in 1933 when the federal government rated neighborhoods for its loan programs. Working with real estate agents, the federal Home Owners Loan Corp. created color-coded neighborhood maps to inform decisions by mortgage lenders at the Federal Housing Administration. </p>
<p>Any neighborhood with substantial numbers of Black residents was <a href="https://ncrc.org/how-1930s-discrimination-shaped-inequality-in-todays-cities/">colored red, for “hazardous</a>” – the riskiest category. Other New Deal programs, such as the <a href="https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/national-housing-act-1934/">Federal Housing Authority and Fannie Mae</a>, built on redlining by requiring <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/526655831">racially restrictive covenants</a> before approving mortgages. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing color-coded neighborhoods." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419110/original/file-20210902-21-1lep0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1936 Home Owners Loan Corp. ‘residential security’ map of Philadelphia, classifying neighborhoods by estimated riskiness of mortgage loans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Home_Owners%27_Loan_Corporation_Philadelphia_redlining_map.jpg">National Archives/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning with the first <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Federal_Highway_Act.htm">federal highway law in 1956</a>, transportation planners used highways to isolate or destroy Black neighborhoods by cutting them off from adjoining areas. Once the highways were built, the social and economic fabric of these neighborhoods began to deteriorate. Distinguished environmental justice scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wvDQBB4AAAAJ&hl=en">Robert Bullard</a> calls this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Highway-Robbery-Transportation-Racism-Routes/dp/0896087042">transportation racism</a>, alluding to the way in which isolation limited employment and other opportunities.</p>
<h2>The lasting impacts of highway construction</h2>
<p>Today low-income and minority neighborhoods in many U.S. cities have <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf4491">much higher levels of fine particulate air pollution</a> than adjoining areas. Across the U.S., Black and Latino communities are exposed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818859116">56% and 63% more particulate matter, respectively</a>, from cars, trucks and buses than white residents. </p>
<p>Decades of work by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/115008">environmental justice activists and academics</a> have shown these neighborhoods also are much more likely to be chosen as sites for polluting <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.131383">industrial facilities</a> like <a href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/809/">incinerators</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b02527">power plants</a>. </p>
<p>Formerly redlined neighborhoods also have less tree cover and green space today than white neighborhoods. This makes them <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8010012">hotter during heat waves</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1430607526777827331"}"></div></p>
<p>One outcome is that life expectancy in the nation’s cities is compromised, varying considerably between the lowest- and highest-income ZIP codes. The worst cities have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2016.0113">gaps as high as 30 years</a>. </p>
<p>As one example, Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis is a socioeconomic and racial dividing line. North of Delmar, 99% of residents are Black. South of Delmar, 73% are white. Only 10% of residents to the north have a bachelor’s degree, and people who live in this zone are more likely to have heart disease or cancer. In 2014, these disparities led Harvard University researchers, based on their work on the “Delmar Divide,” to conclude that <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/zip-code-better-predictor-of-health-than-genetic-code/">ZIP code is a better predictor of health than genetic code</a>. </p>
<p>Transportation investments in the U.S. have historically <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/23cpr/es.cfm">focused on highways at the expense of public transportation</a>. This disparity reduces opportunities for Black, Hispanic and low-income city residents, who are <a href="https://www.demos.org/research/move-thrive-public-transit-and-economic-opportunity-people-color">three to six times more likely to use public transit</a> than white residents. Only 31% of federal transit capital funds are spent on bus transit, even though <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R42706.pdf">buses represent around 48% of trips</a>. </p>
<h2>Reconnecting neighborhoods</h2>
<p>Many highways built in the 1950s are now deteriorating. At least 28 cities have begun or are planning to partly or fully remove highways that have isolated Black neighborhoods rather than rebuilding them. </p>
<p>Cities began <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1538513211426028">removing expressways, particularly elevated ones</a>, in the 1970s. While these teardowns were mostly to promote downtown development, more recent projects aimed to reconnect isolated neighborhoods to the rest of the city. </p>
<p>For example, in 2014 Rochester, New York, buried nearly a mile of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-01/burying-rochester-s-inner-loop-a-1950s-era-planning-disaster">Inner Loop East</a>, which served as a moat isolating the city’s downtown. Since then, the city has reconnected streets that were divided by the highway, making the neighborhood whole again. </p>
<p>Walking and biking in the neighborhood have increased by 50% and 60%, respectively. Now developers are building <a href="https://www.cnu.org/sites/default/files/FreewaysWithoutFutures_2021.pdf">commercial space and 534 new housing units</a>, more than half of which will be considered affordable. The $22 million in public funds that supported the project generated $229 million in economic development.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cS5AGNxp1Ec?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Rochester, N.Y., is filling in the Inner Loop highway that formerly isolated its downtown, catalyzing new street improvements.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other cities that have removed or are removing highways dividing Black neighborhoods include <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-urban-highways-infrastructure-racism/">Cincinnati, Chattanooga, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New Orleans and St. Paul</a>. There are only a few well-documented <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340103798_Why_are_cities_removing_their_freeways_A_systematic_review_of_the_literature">case studies of freeway removal</a>, so it is too early to identify factors leading to success. However, <a href="https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1900&context=law_journal_law_policy">the trend is growing</a>. </p>
<p>In our view, combining highway removal with significant investments to improve bus networks that serve these neighborhoods would <a href="https://www.vtpi.org/tranben.pdf">significantly improve access to jobs, housing</a> and healthy food. Removing highways would also open up land for new green spaces that can improve air quality and provide cooling. However, we are also mindful that green amenities can cause <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-cities-need-more-than-parks-cafes-and-a-riverwalk-88760">environmental gentrification</a> in these communities if they are not accompanied by robust <a href="https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=urban_studies_institute">support for affordable housing</a>. </p>
<p>Simply removing highways won’t transform historically disadvantaged neighborhoods. But it can be a key element of equitable urban planning, along with housing stabilization and affordability, carefully planned new green spaces and transit improvements. For an administration that has pledged to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/27/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-executive-actions-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad-create-jobs-and-restore-scientific-integrity-across-federal-government/">prioritize racial and environmental justice</a>, removing divisive highways is a good place to start.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to reflect passage of the infrastructure bill.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166220/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two urban policy experts explain why taking down highways that have isolated low-income and minority neighborhoods for decades is an important part of the pending infrastructure bill.Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern UniversityJulian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1660002021-08-31T19:46:11Z2021-08-31T19:46:11ZParks are about promoting everyone’s public health — not just boosting homeowners’ property value<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416867/original/file-20210818-27-1u1sf3r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3675%2C2183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A police officer patrols Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto in May 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of attention on the role of parks and green spaces — particularly in large cities. But, not all of this attention has been positive. </p>
<p>Although the pandemic has clarified the beneficial role of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2020/20_0204.htm">parks in promoting health</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-the-need-for-parks-in-a-time-of-sickness-we-all-need-to-take-a/">and well-being</a> in urban communities, it has also highlighted <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/finding-a-patch-of-green-covid-19-highlights-inequities-in-toronto-park-space-experts-say-1.5640852">inequities in accessing parks and green spaces</a>, problems with <a href="https://parkpeople.ca/2021/07/22/moving-beyond-enforcement-in-parks/">a culture of enforcement</a> and led to a <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/premier-ford-reverses-decision-to-close-ontario-playgrounds-amid-backlash-1.5391546">series of policy responses that were heavily criticized</a>.</p>
<p>Recently, police in Halifax clashed with protesters and violently evicted people staying at <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/arrests-made-as-halifax-protestors-stand-against-clearing-of-shelters-from-city-land-1.6144592">Peace and Friendship Park and Spring Garden Road Library</a>. Earlier this summer, Toronto police forcibly evicted residents living in encampments at <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/lamport-stadium-encampment-homelessness-toronto-1.6110697">Lamport Stadium</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/trinity-bellwoods-homeless-encampment-1.6074952">Trinity Bellwoods Park</a> and <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/07/20/alexandra-park-homeless-encampment/">Alexandra Park</a>. Under the guise of “park remediation” these violent evictions were described as <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/trinity-bellwoods-encampment-evictions-reasonable-firm-but-compassionate-tory-1.5481959">reasonable, firm and compassionate</a> by Mayor John Tory despite the clashes with protesters, use of pepper spray <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fallout-from-toronto-s-homeless-encampment-removals-continues-1.6116021">and numerous injuries and arrests</a>. </p>
<p>These actions have been repeatedly justified as a means of protecting public safety, but activists, health experts and even city councillors have spoken out against the use of violence in these responses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-encampment-violence-in-toronto-betrays-any-real-hope-for-police-reform-165039">Homeless encampment violence in Toronto betrays any real hope for police reform</a>
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<p>Although current events have created a buzz, they reflect a trend in public policy that has been developing for some time and changing the way we see, use and value parks in our cities. They also highlight some of the limitations in our thinking about how parks can serve as a health resource for our communities.</p>
<h2>Multiple visions of urban parks</h2>
<p>The idea of parks as a public health resource was central in the early vision of parks. In the Progressive Era (1896–1916), an interest in health and hygiene <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01490408309513023">motivated the development of parks</a> so there could be clean and sanitary spaces for outdoor play in the overcrowded conditions of growing industrial towns. </p>
<p>However, other visions and motivations have long driven urban park development. City boosters and beautification societies invested in parks as a way to create civic landmarks and spaces of esthetic and natural beauty for residents to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1999.11949875">enjoy as leisure</a>. Middle-class social reformers saw parks as spaces for the social improvement of the working class through <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jeu.2016.0005">organized sport and physical education</a>. Public parks have long been valued as spaces for <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=anon%7Eb6154651&id=GALE%7CA30404572&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholar&asid=e24d8f75">urban amusement and entertainment</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Lush park, cloudless blue sky with tall hedges, flowers, shrubs and perfectly manicured lawn" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416868/original/file-20210818-23-1jap5yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beautification societies invested in parks as a way to create civic landmarks and spaces of esthetic and natural beauty. VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Henrique Paim/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our vision of urban parks — particularly in large cities like Toronto — is also affected by broader economic conditions, local development agendas <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2018.1458261">and gentrification</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://cpra.ca/framework/key-messages/">Parks advocacy groups</a> actively promoted the health benefits of parks as a strategy to promote park investment in cities during periods of chronic underfunding. For some advocates of urban development, parks tend to be positioned as a leisure resource for homeowners and a source of property value. This is reflective of broader social trends where private wealth is valued over public goods. </p>
<h2>The logics of park policy</h2>
<p>Park-related policy is generally established at the municipal level. Examining policy implementation and enforcement helps us understand the motivations that guide policy development. </p>
<p>The events that unfolded in Trinity Bellwoods Park during the pandemic illuminate some of the gaps between the rhetoric of parks as a health-promoting resource and the realities of park use. </p>
<p>We see these gaps in how the City of Toronto responded to concerns related to <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-reopening-recovery-rebuild/covid-19-reopening-information-for-the-public/?accordion=outdoor-recreational-amenities">the spread of COVID-19 in parks</a>. It did so by revising park by-laws to mandate physical distancing. These rules were broken when <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/social-media-erupts-as-thousands-pictured-at-torontos-trinity-bellwoods-park">thousands of people congregated in Trinity Bellwoods in May 2020</a>. </p>
<p>The city then expanded its efforts with additional enforcement and signage, including painting white circles on park grass. This response was designed to enable leisurely park use, despite widely acknowledged rule-breaking (like alcohol consumption and not physical distancing).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit amid unoccupied physical distancing circles at a park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1994%2C1332&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416866/original/file-20210818-21-ljpiev.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People sit amid the unoccupied physical distancing circles at Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto in May 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The pandemic also created a health crisis in the city’s shelter system <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7400862/toronto-shelter-physical-distancing-court-coronavirus/">where it became impossible to follow physical distancing rules</a>. As a result, between 300 and 400 residents moved to city parks, with the aim of reducing their risk of becoming infected with the virus. The city responded to this health-promoting action with forced evictions.</p>
<p>These different responses illustrate the limited way in which we think about parks in relation to health. The responses show that we think of parks as health resources only when we define health promotion in terms of individual engagement in leisure-based health-promoting activities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police officer kneels on the back of a protester in a homeless encampment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416869/original/file-20210818-23-ygvhbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toronto police make arrests as they clear the Lamport Stadium Park encampment in Toronto in July 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Private interest over public health</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/health-promotion/population-health/ottawa-charter-health-promotion-international-conference-on-health-promotion/charter.pdf">World Health Organization suggests</a> health is created by caring for oneself and others, by being able to make decisions and have control over one’s life circumstances by ensuring that the society one lives in creates conditions that allows the attainment of health by all its members. </p>
<p>When we think about health in this way, we can see how parks might serve as a health resource. </p>
<p>Historically, Toronto engaged parks differently in times of crisis. <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/how-toronto-schools-adapted-to-a-health-crisis-a-century-ago-open-air-learning">Forest and open air schools</a> were created in parks for children diagnosed with tuberculosis in the early 1900s. These schools <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7633191/coronavirus-lessons-from-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-for-ontario-classrooms-today/">saw increased use again during the Spanish Flu</a>. At the time, people saw parks as more than just a place to exercise or socialize. </p>
<p>In order for parks to become health-promoting resources, cities must use a broader vision of health to guide park policy-making. This vision might consider parks not just as a place for healthy leisure-based activity, but also as a resource that can be put to use to address other significant health concerns, particularly for those most vulnerable. Future parks health policy must reimagine parks as more than a contributor to property value.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Rich receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Sharpe receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Park policy must reimagine parks as more than a contributor to property value and consider how they can be used as community resources.Kyle Rich, Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock UniversityErin Sharpe, Associate Professor, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1662842021-08-17T15:56:53Z2021-08-17T15:56:53ZLondon’s Marble Arch Mound was a fiasco in a city losing so many green spaces – but pop-up parks can work<p>The original plans for the temporary Marble Arch Mound in London depicted an inviting green space with thick vegetation and mature trees. The reality is far from that. </p>
<p>The sad-looking geometric hill has been <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/europe/the-worst-thing-i-ve-ever-done-in-london-is-marble-arch-mound-the-new-millennium-dome-1.4633846">criticised</a> for featuring little other greenery than than the squares of wilting grass hanging to it. The views of Hyde Park and Oxford Street also leave much to be desired with obscured sight lines to other London landmarks. It is unsurprising then that people have also baulked at the £4.50-£8 entry fee, which is <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/04/london-entry-to-marble-arch-mound-free-after-visitors-mocked-trash-heap-15037534/">now being dropped</a> after many visitors were refunded. </p>
<p>The poor design and construction have led the Mound to be labelled London’s “<a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/visitors-marble-arch-mound-westminster-council-refunds-london-worst-attraction-b947846.html">worst attraction</a>”. Built to tempt shoppers back to Oxford Street, the Mound has ended up costing Westminster council £6 million. This is double the forecasted cost and has led to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/13/marble-arch-mound-deputy-council-leader-resigns-over-cost">resignation of the council’s deputy leader</a>.</p>
<p>In its failure, the project undermines the Mayor of London’s <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/parks-and-green-spaces">strategic</a> work to enhance the quantity and quality of green and open space across the metropolitan area. It is also comes at a time when green spaces and parks around the city (in <a href="https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/battle-to-save-peckham-green-space-with-new-council-homes-planned/">Peckham</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/02/london-councils-under-fire-for-plans-to-build-homes-on-play-areas">Bermondsey</a> and <a href="https://insidecroydon.com/2021/01/07/tory-run-bromley-looking-to-sell-or-develop-public-parks/">Bromley</a>) are under threat of being removed to make way for housing development. </p>
<p>Marble Arch Mound’s failure highlights a willingness by local councils to invest in green space if they promise to promote direct financial return while they decrease funds for existing parks, which are seen as economic burdens and low-money makers. And yet there are ways for cities to improve access to nature, play and community interaction with via investment in nature rather than focusing on tourist revenue. </p>
<h2>Why this project in this location?</h2>
<p>For those living in urban areas whose green spaces are under threat it might seem confusing why local councils would choose to fund tourist projects like the Mound when they are getting rid of permanent spaces that serve local communities in the long rather than short term. </p>
<p>Is it simply an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/14/councils-forced-sell-parks-buildings-art-fund-basic-services">economic choice</a>, as it’s cheaper to sell assets and remove the costs of having to maintain them? Are local councils trying to raise long-term council and business tax revenue through increased property provision? Or do they view development as more worthy compared to the management of public parks? </p>
<p>Research in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104284">Liverpool</a> has shown that local authorities are under significant pressures to meet budgetary demands meaning all these considerations are being made. In some cases, sales are deemed politically practical regardless of the problems associated with a <a href="http://cp-cloudpublish-public.s3.amazonaws.com/p6/5f75dd0615fd7.pdf">lack of accessible parks</a> and green space.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit on grass bank near Tower Bridge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416521/original/file-20210817-15-1df2pak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The pandemic heightened the importance of urban green spaces for people to thrive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/londonuk-july-252019-people-enjoying-summer-1494411917">Kamira/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>However, the <a href="https://fabians.org.uk/breathing-space/">pandemic</a> has reinforced the need for local councils, and society more generally, to consider its health, wellbeing, and the promotion of social interaction provided by the natural environment - especially in areas of low income or diverse ethnicity. Over the last 20 months, enhancement and maintenance of local parks has been critical to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33460630/">public health</a>. Evidence from the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/accesstogardensandpublicgreenspaceingreatbritain">Office for National Stastistics</a>, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-adult-data-y1q1-april-june-2020-experimental-statistics">Natural England</a> and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf">Public Health England</a> provides an argument for more and better provision of green space in support of this view. </p>
<h2>Working with pop-up parks in the future</h2>
<p>Pop-up parks are not a bad idea. The use of pop-up forests and <a href="https://www.engageliverpool.com/events/forest-bathing-pod-bringing-the-mersey-forest-to-williamson-square/">forest bathing pods</a> in Liverpool generated excitement when they were used in the summer of 2019. Additional examples from the <a href="https://geographical.co.uk/places/cities/item/3323-pop-up-park">US and Australia</a> also highlight the ways in which pop-up parks can add a vibrancy to urban areas. </p>
<p>However, these examples were well thought through and didn’t cost £6 million. They were more discreet in their scale and had more interactive elements to their designs that drew people in. The Marble Arch Mound went big and bold and is now viewed as a folly, much like the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/property/london-s-garden-bridge-city-centre-haven-or-bridge-too-far-a7367966.html">Garden Bridge</a>, for failing to meet expectations.</p>
<p>London, though, has numerous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1931064">examples</a> of innovative partnerships developed between businesses, local councils and the environment sector that have brought underused and undervalued spaces back into use. For example, the <a href="http://www.wildwestend.london/">Wild West End</a> partnership champions biodiversity and green space provision in the same area as the Marble Arch Mound, but has delivered projects that have been seen as far more successful. </p>
<p>Another is the Baker Street Quarter Partnership which created the <a href="https://www.wildwestend.london/stories-feed/georges-park-green-oasis">small park in Baker Street</a>, built around an area of decking with planters containing silver birch trees and perennial plants, was created to improve air quality and biodiversity. It also serves as a spot for people to sit and host events in a busy area of the city. Two years since it opened in 2019 the space has had tangible environmental benefits, including welcoming many pollinators, and is loved by local residents, those employed in the area and visitors.</p>
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<p>Likewise, environmental charity <a href="https://www.thames21.org.uk/">Thames 21</a>, has worked extensively with partners to improve London’s waterways and engage people with the environment. They, and other organisations including <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/">Groundwork</a>, have created great green spaces via volunteering and corporate social responsibility programmes that focus on getting people to engage directly with nature. </p>
<p>Westminster council purports that the temporary structure is part of their bid for a “greener, smarter, future, together”. Programmes like Wild West End, Thames 21 and Groundwork are actually achieving this vision with their green spaces, which focus on engaging the local community and improving wellbeing while striving to provide better green urban spaces that aid the local environment. </p>
<p>The ways in which these organisations have worked over a prolonged period in dedicated locations show that the provision of additional amenities such as play areas, sports pitches, or space to socialise can thrive compared to gimmicks or projects that prioritise economic development over ecology and community. They also highlight that a range of green and blue spaces including parks, street trees, open grassed areas and canals can meet local and city-wide health and recreation needs.</p>
<p>Pop-up projects like the Marble Arch Mound can become places that people cherish and important green additions that work with urban environments. However, if green spaces, short and long term, are community driven and have accessible urban nature at their heart, rather than economic concerns like the Marble Arch Mound, local communities and local councils can benefit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Mell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pop-up spaces can be successful, they just need to be better thought through and created with urban ecology in mind rather than economics.Ian Mell, Reader in Environmental & Landscape Planning, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1622232021-07-14T12:24:32Z2021-07-14T12:24:32ZDon’t hike so close to me: How the presence of humans can disturb wildlife up to half a mile away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409534/original/file-20210702-21-b9n87d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C15%2C1802%2C855&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What are you looking at?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/RvnoYa">Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Americans are traveling this summer as pandemic restrictions wind down. <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/2021s-biggest-summer-travel-trend-the-great-outdoors">Rental bookings</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/overcrowded-us-national-parks-need-a-reservation-system-158864">crowds in national parks</a> show that many people are headed for the great outdoors.</p>
<p>Seeing animals and birds is one of the main draws of spending time in nature. But as researchers who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-Spw_2cAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uflMR0gAAAAJ&hl=en">wildlife</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DHusKacAAAAJ&hl=en">human impacts on wild places</a>, we believe it’s important to know that you can have major effects on wildlife just by being nearby. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.44.63270">recent review</a> of hundreds of studies covering many species, we found that the presence of humans can alter wild animal and bird behavior patterns at much greater distances than most people may think. Small mammals and birds may change their behavior when hikers or birders come within 300 feet (100 meters) – the length of a football field. Large birds like eagles and hawks can be affected when humans are over 1,300 feet (400 meters) away – roughly a quarter of a mile. And large mammals like elk and moose can be affected by humans up to 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) away – more than half a mile. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Elk viewed over a hiker's shoulder." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A hiker about 75 feet from a bull elk in Yellowstone National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/YFPp56">Jacob W. Frank, NPS/Flickr</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Many recent studies and reports have shown that the world is facing a <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">biodiversity crisis</a>. Over the past 50 years, Earth has lost so many species that many scientists believe the planet is experiencing its <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mass-extinction-and-are-we-in-one-now-122535">sixth mass extinction</a> – due mainly to human activities. </p>
<p>Protected areas, from local open spaces to national parks, are vital for conserving plants and animals. They also are places where people like to spend time in nature. We believe that everyone who uses the outdoors should understand and respect this balance between outdoor recreation, sustainable use and conservation. </p>
<h2>How human presence affects wildlife</h2>
<p>Pandemic lockdowns in 2020 confined many people indoors – and wildlife responded. In Istanbul, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52459487">dolphins ventured much closer to shore than usual</a>. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/penguins-roads-2020-4">Penguins explored quiet South African Streets</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2021/jan/22/israels-ibex-make-the-most-of-lockdown-in-pictures">Nubian ibex grazed on Israeli playgrounds</a>. The fact that animals moved so freely without people present shows how wild species change their behavior in response to human activities.</p>
<p>Decades of research have shown that outdoor recreation, whether it’s hiking, cross-country skiing or riding all-terrain vehicles, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167259">has negative effects on wildlife</a>. The most obvious signs are behavioral changes: Animals may flee from nearby people, decrease the time they feed and abandon nests or dens.</p>
<p>Other effects are harder to see, but can have serious consequences for animals’ health and survival. Wild animals that detect humans can experience physiological changes, such as increased heart rates and elevated levels of stress hormones. </p>
<p>And humans’ outdoor activities can degrade habitat that wild species depend on for food, shelter and reproduction. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/humans-predators-mountain-lions-landscape-of-fear/594187/">Human voices</a>, <a href="https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2017/09/28/impacts-of-dogs-on-wildlife-water-quality-science-review.pdf">off-leash dogs</a> and <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/your-campsite-destroying-nature/">campsite overuse</a> all have harmful effects that make habitat unusable for many wild species.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D3x3oVKdzhI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Disturbing shorebirds can cause them to stop eating, stop feeding their young or flee their nests, leaving chicks vulnerable.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Effects of human presence vary for different species</h2>
<p>For our study we examined 330 peer-reviewed articles spanning 38 years to locate thresholds at which recreation activities negatively affected wild animals and birds. The main thresholds we found were related to distances between wildlife and people or trails. But we also found other important factors, including the number of daily park visitors and the decibel levels of people’s conversations.</p>
<p>The studies that we reviewed covered over a dozen different types of motorized and nonmotorized recreation. While it might seem that motorized activities would have a bigger impact, some studies have found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00019.x">dispersed “quiet” activities, such as day hiking, biking and wildlife viewing</a>, can also affect which wild species will use a protected area. </p>
<p>Put another way, many species may be disturbed by humans nearby, even if those people are not using motorboats or all-terrain vehicles. It’s harder for animals to detect quiet humans, so there’s a better chance that they’ll be surprised by a cross-country skier than a snowmobile, for instance. In addition, some species that have been historically hunted are more likely to recognize – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.026">and flee from – a person walking</a> than a person in a motorized vehicle.</p>
<p>Generally, larger animals need more distance, though the relationship is clearer for birds than mammals. We found that for birds, as bird size increased, so did the threshold distance. The smallest birds could tolerate humans within 65 feet (20 meters), while the largest birds had thresholds of roughly 2,000 feet (600 meters). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-46702015000600002">Previous research</a> has found a similar relationship. We did not find that this relationship existed as clearly for mammals.</p>
<p>We found little research on impact thresholds for amphibians and reptiles, such as lizards, frogs, turtles and snakes. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.538">growing body of evidence</a> shows that amphibians and reptiles are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.001">disturbed</a> and negatively affected by recreation. So far, however, it’s unclear whether those effects reflect mainly the distance to people, the number of visitors or other factors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic showing distances at which human presence affects animals' behavior." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human recreation starts to affect wild creatures’ behavior and physical state at different distances. Small mammals and birds tolerate closer recreation than do larger birds of prey and large mammals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Markes</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>How to reduce your impact on wildlife</h2>
<p>While there’s much still to learn, we know enough to identify some simple actions people can take to minimize their impacts on wildlife. First, keep your distance. Although some species or individual animals will become used to human presence at close range, many others won’t. And it can be hard to tell when you are stressing an animal and potentially endangering both it and yourself. </p>
<p>Second, respect closed areas and stay on trails. For example, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wildlife managers <a href="https://rootsrated.com/stories/dont-poach-the-powder-campaign-helps-protect-wildlife-in-the-winter">seasonally close some backcountry ski areas</a> to protect critical habitat for bighorn sheep and reduce stress on other species like moose, elk and mule deer. And rangers in Maine’s Acadia National Park <a href="https://www.nps.gov/acad/learn/news/trails-close-for-peregrine-nesting.htm">close several trails annually near peregrine falcon nests</a>. This reduces stress to nesting birds and has <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/peregrine-falcons-in-acadia.htm">helped this formerly endangered species recover</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B89vyKwFlsZ","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Getting involved with educational or volunteer programs is a great way to learn about wildlife and help maintain undisturbed areas. As our research shows, balancing recreation with conservation means opening some areas to human use and keeping others entirely or mostly undisturbed. </p>
<p>As development <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500052">fragments wild habitat</a> and climate change forces many species to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1913007117">shift their ranges</a>, movement corridors between protected areas become even more important. Our research suggests that creating recreation-free wildlife corridors of at least 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) wide can enable most species to move between protected areas without disturbance. Seeing wildlife can be part of a fun outdoor experience – but for the animals’ sake, you may need binoculars or a zoom lens for your camera.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Dertien receives funding from Sonoma Land Trust</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtney Larson received funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Reed receives funding from Sonoma Land Trust. </span></em></p>Outdoor recreation is booming across the US, but research shows that the presence of humans – or the trails they hike and ski on – can have harmful effects on wildlife at less-than-close range.Jeremy Dertien, PhD Candidate in Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson UniversityCourtney Larson, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of WyomingSarah Reed, Affiliate Faculty in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1602272021-06-10T15:44:21Z2021-06-10T15:44:21Z6 ways to approach urban green spaces in the push for racial justice and health equity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405447/original/file-20210609-14804-vcpzcl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=341%2C179%2C5652%2C3774&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green spaces are inequitably distributed across cities: The quality and quantity are lower in racialized neighbourhoods.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Multiple pandemics have been raging over the past year. Those of us in North America witnessed the convergence of three systemic issues focused on people’s health, green spaces and racial justice. </p>
<p>Black, Indigenous and people of colour face increased surveillance, suspicion, harassment and violence in public green spaces, like parks and ravines. This influences behaviours — who feels comfortable to linger in a park and who is seen as out of place, trespassing or suspicious? The perceptions of who belongs stem in part from a history of <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/public-space-park-space-and-racialized-space">parks as spaces for primarily upper class, able-bodied, white men</a>.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic quickly highlighted the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00215-4">underlying social and health inequities</a> that have always been present. In addition, people in cities have been increasingly seeking public green spaces in the face of lockdowns. Finally, calls for racial justice have been amplified with the increased mainstream awareness of racism — especially <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/">anti-Black</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/06/01/seven-of-my-grandfathers-siblings-lay-in-residential-school-graves-the-215-children-found-confirms-what-indigenous-people-have-known-about-canada.html">anti-Indigenous</a> and anti-Asian racism.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cities-can-avoid-green-gentrification-and-make-urban-forests-accessible-160226">How cities can avoid 'green gentrification' and make urban forests accessible</a>
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<p>The increased use of <a href="https://policyresponse.ca/how-city-parks-can-be-part-of-the-covid-19-recovery/">green space during the pandemic</a> shows how it is a key part of the process to “build back better” after COVID-19. The UN-Habitat’s recent report “<a href="https://unhabitat.org/cities-and-pandemics-towards-a-more-just-green-and-healthy-future-0">Cities and Pandemics: Towards a More Just, Green and Healthy Future</a>” shares strategies for post-pandemic urban life, but falls short in naming systemic racism as a factor to address.</p>
<p>How can we take an <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?language=en">intersectional</a>, <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/06/18/Whose-Streets-Black-Streets/">anti-racist approach to planning</a> urban green spaces as a public health measure? Policy-makers, planners and public health professionals can learn from <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5441df7ee4b02f59465d2869/t/5d8e9fdec6720c0557cf55fa/1569628126531/DELGADO++Critical+Race+Theory.pdf">critical race</a> and critical theory scholars in pushing for multidisciplinary action. </p>
<p>This is vital to stop upholding harmful practices that are rooted in systemic oppression. This critical framing is a prerequisite to create socially equitable green spaces that benefit public health post-pandemic. </p>
<p>Here are six ideas for policy-makers, city officials, public health, city builders and planners to consider in research, policy and practice:</p>
<h2>1. Resist romanticizing nature and green spaces</h2>
<p>Public green spaces have the potential to <a href="https://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Green-Space-Scoping-Review-of-Reviews.pdf">promote physical and mental health</a>. However, there is a tendency to romanticize nature and presume that all green spaces are universally good for everyone. </p>
<p>Green spaces, like <a href="https://www.safeinpublicspace.com/content/tour-2">other public spaces</a>, are subject to the same <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ravines-are-a-toronto-treasure-but-everyone-needs-an-equal-chance-to/?">social and systemic factors</a> that govern how people navigate and interact within them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holding a laptop and a woman, both wearing masks, talk with two police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Police talk with people in a park in Montréal during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>As a racialized person in Toronto, I have been told to “go back home” and received sidelong glances when walking through certain neighbourhoods. As a woman, I have been whistled at and followed in public. As someone with chronic pain, I have had to turn back when confronted with a long flight of stairs.</p>
<p>Not everyone experiences a green space in the same way. The presumption that they do undermines the potential for green spaces to improve health in an equitable way, especially for Black, Indigenous and racialized people.</p>
<h2>2. Address the structural determinants of health</h2>
<p>Social determinants of health include factors like race, ability, gender and income, whereas the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425845/">structural determinants of health are the root causes</a> that make those identities subject to health disparities. Structural determinants include racism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-address-internalized-white-supremacy-and-its-impact-on-health-152667">white supremacy</a>, ableism, classism, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Men sitting on bleachers watching a cricket game" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2986%2C1966&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">People play cricket in a city park in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
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<p>In Toronto, neighbourhoods are <a href="http://3cities.neighbourhoodchange.ca/">divided along racial and income lines</a> that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/09/30/toronto-is-segregated-by-race-and-income-and-the-numbers-are-ugly.html">continue to grow</a>. This divide is the legacy of historical exclusionary policies.</p>
<p>Current policies and processes need to be grounded in principles of equity and anti-oppression to address injustices. Allocating the same resources now does not account for decades of discriminatory practices. Why does one neighbourhood get a playground quickly rebuilt after a fire, where another gets a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/yourcitymycity/2010/07/10/porter_playground_politics_are_unfair.html">second-hand playground after years of delays</a>? </p>
<h2>3. Engage meaningfully with people who are racialized</h2>
<p>An anti-racist approach to creating equitable urban spaces ensures that the needs of racialized communities are being met. Existing urban planning processes and health promotion initiatives around green spaces need to be <a href="https://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CIP/plancanadaspring2021/">reimagined to embed racial and social equity</a> in revamping education, theory and practice.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/finding-a-patch-of-green-covid-19-highlights-inequities-in-toronto-park-space-experts-say-1.5640852">quantity and quality of green space</a> available in racialized neighbourhoods is lower than in predominantly white and higher-income neighbourhoods, linking back to systemic issues about where green spaces are protected, developed and maintained.</p>
<p>Long-term accountability and transparency are non-negotiable. How do we address hundreds of years of slavery and settler colonialism, especially when it comes to <a href="https://native-land.ca/">Indigenous lands</a>? Who do we see in leadership positions in government and within institutions? What initiatives get funded? Situations like that of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-26/amy-cooper-exposes-green-space-s-race-problem">Christian Cooper, a Black man and birdwatcher, who was threatened</a> and had the police falsely called on him, continue to happen. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-you-should-know-about-black-birders-139812">What you should know about Black birders</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>My current research focuses on the experiences of people who are racialized in public, green spaces in Toronto. My discussions with community members include questions about who gets consulted in city engagement processes and whose concerns are addressed, versus who might be labelled as problematic. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42979498">Silencing and ignoring certain voices</a> is an insidious and longtime strategy in upholding oppression, including racism, ableism and patriarchy.</p>
<h2>4. Expand the concept of access</h2>
<p>Although physical access (like ramps, clear access points and signage) is important, the definition of access to green space needs to be expanded to include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.126991">social access</a>. </p>
<p>There are deeply embedded ideas within western society about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxnIU6tfQNw">who belongs and who is seen as an outsider</a>. These ideas impact people’s experiences in green spaces.</p>
<p>This social access lens must include a nuanced understanding of race relations and a historical understanding of <a href="https://nccdh.ca/images/uploads/comments/Lets-Talk-Racism-and-Health-Equity-EN.pdf">systemic racism</a> in Canada.</p>
<h2>5. Build solidarity between groups</h2>
<p>While it is important to understand unique group experiences and histories, particularly when it comes to Black and Indigenous people, it is necessary to <a href="https://theconversation.com/searching-for-anti-racism-agendas-in-south-asian-canadian-communities-142431?">build solidarity</a> through common ground. An entrenched focus on differences only <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs23/420117763">serves oppressive systems</a> like white supremacy through fragmentation. </p>
<p>Solidarity extends to include LGBTQ+ groups, those who are undocumented, migrant workers and those experiencing poverty and/or homelessness, for instance. Multiple oppressions can exist simultaneously and should not be presented as contradictions.</p>
<h2>6. Document and share processes and actions</h2>
<p>Documenting both processes and actions is a crucial part of <a href="https://via.library.depaul.edu/lawfacpubs/715/">recording histories</a> that often do not make it into mainstream venues. While not always an easy task, this is especially important for community groups pushing for change to document what has taken place, noting both challenges and opportunities for others to learn from and build on in solidarity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man sitting in front of a tennis court, next to a tent and shopping carts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A man sits beside his tent in a park in Toronto while others play tennis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>What will the archived narratives and stories from this period of crises be? For example, in Toronto, groups like the <a href="https://www.encampmentsupportnetwork.com/">Encampment Support Network</a> and the <a href="https://stjamestowncoop.org/">St. James Town Community Co-op</a> are responding to system-driven crises like homelessness and food insecurity, and documenting them in newsletters and social media.</p>
<p>In moving beyond this pandemic, we must critically consider how urban green spaces are a part of moving towards healthier, equitable cities that are racially and socially just.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadha Hassen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is on the Board of Directors for the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice.</span></em></p>Green spaces can be part of the plan to ‘build back better’ after COVID-19. But city officials and policy-makers must address systemic racism for urban green spaces to benefit public health.Nadha Hassen, PhD Candidate and Vanier Scholar, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1602262021-06-09T17:39:55Z2021-06-09T17:39:55ZHow cities can avoid ‘green gentrification’ and make urban forests accessible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404879/original/file-20210607-120786-j76efi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C239%2C3963%2C2749&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The more cities grow, the more urban residents need access to enjoy urban forests.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/squeakymarmot/28851326651/">(squeaky marmot/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people have developed <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-this-is-your-brain-on-trees-why-is-urban-nature-so-good-for-our-minds/">stronger relationships with urban nature during the pandemic</a>. Some have enjoyed views of nearby trees and gardens during periods of isolation, taken walks after Zoom-filled days or socialized at a distance with friends in local parks. As housing has become increasingly unaffordable, some people have taken refuge in parks as places to live. </p>
<p>As society “builds back better” from COVID-19, cities are increasingly aware of the importance of urban nature — particularly their urban forests — and are working to make it accessible to everyone. Montréal has promised <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-mayor-touts-post-pandemic-green-recovery-plan-with-1-8-billion-for-city-parks-1.5436974">$1.8 billion for city parks</a> and some of <a href="https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/making-streets-for-people-program.aspx">Vancouver’s Making Streets for People program</a>, which closed streets to traffic and connects green spaces, <a href="https://shapeyourcity.ca/making-streets-for-people">will likely persist after the pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>Urban forests provide many benefits to urban dwellers, from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817561116">moderating extreme heat</a> and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph17124371">improving psychological health</a> to offering opportunities to <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/13860">socialize</a> or engage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-013-9572-1">culturally important practices</a>.</p>
<p>The more cities grow, the more urban residents need access to enjoy — and be in relationship with — urban forests to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.05.005">maintain well-being</a>. Yet despite their importance, urban forests are not broadly accessible. </p>
<h2>Urban forests are unfairly distributed</h2>
<p>Urban trees and parks are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.08.007">inequitably distributed</a> across many cities around the world. Socio-economically marginalized people tend to have less access to urban forests, and would <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61689-X">likely gain health benefits from them</a>. </p>
<p>These inequitable distributions exists in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103686">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.06.002">Montréal</a>, for example. Older, more affluent and, to some degree, whiter neighbourhoods often have larger, more mature trees, that overhang buildings, sidewalks and roads.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Vancouver, showing areas with low amounts of park space per person." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404581/original/file-20210604-21-1865at0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Areas in Vancouver with less than 0.55 hectares per 1,000 people and/or no park access within a 10-minute walk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/equity-in-parks-and-recreation.aspx">(City of Vancouver)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cities, increasingly aware of this challenge, are improving access to green spaces for underserved residents via equity-focused plans and policies. For example, Portland Parks and Recreation has <a href="https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oehr/article/620147">partnered with low-income and racialized communities to plant more street trees in low-canopy neighbourhoods</a>. Vancouver Parks and Recreation <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/vanplay-strategic-bold-moves-report.pdf">has mapped tree canopy, park access and recreation demand to identify priority areas for resource investment</a>.</p>
<p>However, cities need to be aware of the risk of green gentrification, which occurs when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412215610491">urban greening initiatives trigger a series of negative impacts commonly associated with gentrification</a>. These can include increases to land or property values, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042098019849380">which raise property taxes and make living there less affordable</a>, changes to the character of a neighbourhood or the displacement of low-income, long-term residents, such as in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042098019885330">Austin, Texas</a>, and along the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12050">New York City High Line</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404579/original/file-20210604-21-5plmt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The High Line in New York is a 2.5 kilometre linear park built on an abandoned railroad in 2009. Housing values increased 35 per cent in a decade for homes closest to the park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Swanny Mouton/flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My lab is studying ways to prevent or control green gentrification, via local and place-based research, and national analyses. Our research to date suggests that urban greening initiatives need to: </p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.03.016">Consider linkages with other urban sectors</a>, such as the relationships between urban greening and housing. </p></li>
<li><p>Work with local residents to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126433">co-create greening plans and engage in urban forest stewardship</a>. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Different cultures and diverse natures</h2>
<p>These issues go beyond distribution: accessibility and opportunities to experience, enjoy and relate to urban nature are different for different people. Despite the dominant narrative that “green is good,” urban green spaces are not neutral spaces. They reflect the dominant cultures that shaped and continue to control them. </p>
<p>Racialized scholars, such as <a href="https://localecologist.medium.com/the-risks-and-rewards-of-being-black-in-nature-4fae06bdc0a8">Georgia Silvera Seamans</a>, have raised awareness of the dangers that racialized populations face in urban forests. Indigenous scholars, such as <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/speaking-for-ourselves">Deborah McGregor</a>, have highlighted the importance of reciprocal relations among all beings in Creation as the core of Indigenous environmental justice. These realities are not currently part of mainstream urban forest management, but they could and should be.</p>
<p>Our recent research on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345392562_Intercultural_learning_in_contested_space_the_biocultural_realities_of_global_cities_through_the_lens_of_Vancouver_Canada">biocultural diversity (the indivisible relationship between human culture and nature, between cultural diversity and biological diversity) in Vancouver</a> highlights the diverse ways in which local people are in relationship with and stewards of the local urban forest.</p>
<p>For example, Mayan gardeners at the <a href="https://aboriginal.landfood.ubc.ca/mayan-in-exile-garden/">Maya in Exile Garden</a> at the UBC Farm celebrate their Indigenous culture by cultivating the Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash. The many plum and cherry trees in Vancouver celebrate the rich Asian heritage of the region. </p>
<p>While cultural groups are not monolithic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2009.07.003">research suggests</a> they may have different urban forest preferences and needs. According to one study, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evan-Fraser/publication/279577103_Cultural_background_and_landscape_history_as_factors_affecting_perceptions_of_the_urban_forest/links/55ddab6408ae45e825d30b99/Cultural-background-and-landscape-history-as-factors-affecting-perceptions-of-the-urban-forest.pdf">populations in Toronto with British ancestry are more likely to appreciate shade trees and naturalized areas than those of Mediterranean heritage, who may prefer food trees and gardens</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people at the edge of a pond fishing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404575/original/file-20210604-21-c1yl1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grenadier Pond is a popular fishing spot in High Park, in Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kyle Huynh/flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Biocultural diversity can also create points of conflict. In Metro Vancouver, local Indigenous and allied land defenders monitor and resist development of the Trans Mountain pipeline, <a href="https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/people-protest-as-trans-mountain-chainsaws-fire-up-to-clear-burnaby-trees-3470945">which runs through urban forests across the region</a>. And many urban forests exist on unceded territory where Indigenous stewardship is not acknowledged.</p>
<p>Despite these diverse relationships and responsibilities, most North American urban forests reflect European values, esthetics and biocultural relationships. For example, cultural tree modification or ceremonial crop cultivation remain rare in most urban parks in North America, and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7583521/trans-mountain-arrest-protest/">land defenders are criminalized for their stewardship work</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-nations-land-defenders-in-caledonia-reveal-hypocrisy-of-canadas-land-acknowledgements-145158">Six Nations Land Defenders in Caledonia reveal hypocrisy of Canada's land acknowledgements</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While many people and communities are expressing their diverse relationships with nature through their work on the ground every day, these relationships and needs are not yet part of mainstream conversation or widely celebrated in the form and function of urban forests. </p>
<h2>Healing through nature</h2>
<p>These ongoing efforts represent an opportunity for city governments to welcome diverse needs and perspectives into urban forestry practice. Cities and their residents need to open their minds to alternative ways of seeing the world and relating to nature, and encourage forms and uses of urban nature outside the mainstream. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a man tosses a stick in the air and catches it behind his back" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404578/original/file-20210604-27-1u3k6qp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man exercises under the shade trees in High Park, in Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Norman Maddeaux/flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An important initiative that offers the chance for intercultural learning and healing is the <a href="https://www.nationalhealingforests.com/">National Healing Forests Initiative</a>. This important program provides guidance on creating urban forest spaces as places for healing, learning, sharing and reflection about Canada’s history and the legacy of Indian residential schools. Canadian society must support and participate in these initiatives.</p>
<p>The pandemic has given us an opportunity to rethink how we live together, including how we live with each other and our urban forests. The time to start this conversation is now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorien Nesbitt receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Rogers Communications, and the University of British Columbia Sustainability Initiative. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She lives and works on the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.</span></em></p>The more our cities grow, the more we need access to enjoy — and be in relationship with — urban forests to maintain our well-being.Lorien Nesbitt, Assistant Professor of Urban Forestry, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1603122021-05-05T14:18:48Z2021-05-05T14:18:48ZHow the trees in your local park help protect you from disease<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398914/original/file-20210505-13-kkpw5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5470%2C3677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bench-under-tree-royal-botanic-gardens-136458284">Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On your next visit to the park, try and count all the different species you can see. Away from the closely mown grass, you might spot wildflowers attended by pollinating insects, like bees, wasps and hoverflies. Overhead there are the gnarled branches of mature trees, some of which will have lived for hundreds of years, providing food and refuge for generations of fungi and insects. </p>
<p>You may find yourself immersed in the chorus of songbirds fervently competing for mates. There will undoubtedly be fleet-footed mammals scurrying in the bushes and amphibians hiding under logs. </p>
<p>But there’s also another world of wildlife floating all around you. This is the biodiversity that we can’t see with the naked eye – the secret life of the air we breathe.</p>
<h2>Invisible nature</h2>
<p>The air is full of microscopic life forms: dense clouds of bacteria, tiny fungi and algae which surround us. There are single-celled organisms called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021001768">protozoans</a> and vast quantities of viruses, moss spores and plant pollen. There may even be a few microscopic moss-dwelling animals <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-marine-biological-association-of-the-united-kingdom/article/abs/im-kinchin-the-biology-of-tardigrades-xi-186p-london-portland-press-1994/C39981B58166F8CAE6F4374AF1361374">called tardigrades</a>, also known as water bears or moss piglets because of their mammal-like appearance (under the microscope, at least).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An electron microscope image of a tardigrade." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398866/original/file-20210505-23-16ahf62.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tardigrades are eight-legged micro-animals that are found everywhere in the Earth’s biosphere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0045682.g001">Schokraie et al. (2012)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Humans are bombarded by all these tiny organisms on a daily basis. Studies have shown that up to a million microbial cells can be found in a single <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/EHP7807">cubic metre of air</a>, and people can inhale a whopping <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/4/1127/2007/">100 million bacteria</a> each day.</p>
<p>But where does all this invisible life come from? And what does our exposure to it mean for our health? Together with colleagues, we set out to discover the kinds of microbes people are likely to encounter during walks in urban parks.</p>
<p>Our recent study in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89065-y">Scientific Reports</a> suggested that many of the life forms floating in the air actually originate in the soil beneath our feet. This makes a lot of sense. Soil is arguably the most biodiverse habitat on Earth, and a single gram of it can contain more microbes than there are <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-rhizosphere-roots-soil-and-67500617/">humans on the planet</a>.</p>
<p>Microbes are incredibly light, so they become airborne really easily and are carried far and wide on <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/9780890545430.fm">the wind</a>. They can be lifted from the soil in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14668">air bubbles</a> that form in raindrops and clump together on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33902752/">dust particles</a> which fall from the atmosphere.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A petri dish with pink and orange bacteria growing on nutrient agar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398912/original/file-20210505-15-1t7ufv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soil microbes grown in a petri dish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-soil-microorganisms-nutrient-agar-1351225445">Sarawut Chainawarat/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study showed that distinct layers of bacteria <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/EHP7807">form in the air</a>, with different species and quantities of microbes occurring at different heights. At the average head-height of a standing adult, there were fewer but also different kinds of bacteria compared with those in the air lower down at the head height of a child or sitting adult.</p>
<p>This means that we may be exposed to different kinds of microbes – some good for us, some bad – depending on our height and posture. Exposure to lots of different types of microbial life, particularly in childhood, is generally considered to be a good thing, because it <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/42/eaba2578.full">allows our immune systems</a> to build up a strong army of cells that protect us from pathogens. The greater number of microbial species we detected closer to the ground could be vital in ensuring children develop robust immunity later in life. </p>
<p>But it also matters which environments we spend time in. After collecting 135 samples, we found that the air in the wooded areas of an urban park near Adelaide in Australia contained more bacterial species but fewer potential human pathogens than nearby sports fields. Trees appear to filter the microbial communities in a given airspace, reducing the risk of exposure to microbes that cause disease. Because trees also seem to increase microbial diversity in the air, allowing more of them to grow in urban areas could provide an important health benefit by enhancing our immune systems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A neatly mown football field in a public park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398915/original/file-20210505-21-vlf689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fewer trees meant more pathogens in the recent study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/background-public-park-soccer-field-sideline-624204398">CLS Digital Arts/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This wouldn’t only benefit human health. Although we can’t see the microbes and the other members of the microscopic world around us, they’re fundamental to the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01097/full">proper functioning</a> of ecosystems, plant health and communication <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aobpla/article/doi/10.1093/aobpla/plv050/201398?login=true">(yes, plants talk to each other)</a>, and even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-019-0222-5">climate regulation</a>. </p>
<p>We still know relatively little about the unseen life in the air we breathe, but our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89065-y">preliminary findings</a> reveal a few of their secrets. We would be wise to learn and encourage them in the <a href="https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202104.0560/v1">important roles they play</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jake M. Robinson receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Jake is a board member of inVIVO Planetary Health and on the Healthy Urban Microbiome Initiative (HUMI) development team. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Breed receives funding from the Australian Research Council and co-leads the Healthy Urban Microbiome Initiative (HUMI).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Cameron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Invisible to the eye, the microbial life in the air around us can vary depending on our environment.Jake M Robinson, Ecologist and PhD Researcher, Department of Landscape, University of SheffieldMartin Breed, Lecturer in Biology, Flinders UniversityRoss Cameron, Senior Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1550162021-03-31T12:15:40Z2021-03-31T12:15:40ZCity dwellers gained more access to public spaces during the pandemic – can they keep it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392618/original/file-20210330-13-1koum8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5509%2C3653&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-walk-down-16th-street-after-volunteers-with-news-photo/1246560762">Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Through a year of pandemic shutdowns and protests, Americans have rediscovered their public spaces. Homebound city dwellers sought havens in <a href="https://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/Parks%20and%20Pandemic%20-%20TPL%20special%20report.pdf">parks, plazas and reclaimed streets</a>. Many of these places also became stages for protests against police violence and systemic racism in the U.S.</p>
<p>Mayors around the world have used this time to reimagine the use of public space. Will cities revert to familiar car-centric patterns, or build on the past year to create more outdoor spaces that are accessible and welcoming for all of their residents?</p>
<p>Beginning in June 2020 and continuing throughout the summer, our team at Boston University interviewed mayors in cities across the country as part of our annual <a href="https://www.surveyofmayors.com/">Menino Survey of Mayors</a>. We wanted to understand how they were grappling with the unprecedented challenges and stark inequities laid bare in 2020, and how they were thinking about repurposing the public realm. </p>
<p>Our newly released report, <a href="http://www.bu.edu/ioc/2021/03/31/2020-menino-survey-parks/">Urban Parks and the Public Realm: Equity & Access in Post-COVID Cities</a>, supported by Citi, The Rockefeller Foundation and The Trust for Public Land, offers new insights into how the disruptions of this unprecedented year have shaped mayoral perspective on parks and streets.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zXqdCqrdYRU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Partial street closures early in the pandemic gave people in cities like Oakland, California, a taste of urban life less dominated by cars.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Whose spaces?</h2>
<p>COVID-19 and racial protests have highlighted pervasive inequities in the U.S. One issue we examined was how mayors think about investing for equity in parks and green spaces.</p>
<p>Among the 130 mayors we interviewed, 70% believed all their residents, regardless of race, ethnicity or income, live within easy walking distance of a park or green space. This view may be somewhat optimistic. </p>
<p>Data developed by The Trust for Public Land shows that, on average, 64% of residents in the cities we surveyed live within a 10-minute walk of a park or green space. Our analysis of The Trust’s <a href="https://www.tpl.org/parkserve">ParkServe</a> data for all U.S. cities with more than 75,000 residents showed that on average, 59% of white residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park or green space, compared with 61% of Black or Hispanic residents and 57% of Asian residents. Mayors, particularly those in Northeast cities, acknowledged that not all neighborhoods had equal access to high-quality parks. </p>
<p>Another important question is how welcome residents feel in local public spaces. In our interviews, 77% of mayors believed their cities’ parks were safe for all users. A similar proportion believed Black residents could use parks without fear of police.</p>
<p>But physical safety is not the only measure of accessibility. Racial and ethnic minorities may be discriminated against or feel socially and culturally excluded in some parks and public spaces. Widely publicized <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/nyregion/amy-cooper-false-report-charge.html">false assault charges</a> by a white woman against a Black birder in New York’s Central Park in October 2020 presented one prominent example. </p>
<p>Past surveys of residents of color and immigrants in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0339-1">Minneapolis</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.10.002">Los Angeles</a> have found similar tensions. Minneapolis now has a <a href="https://www.minneapolisparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MPRB-Racial-Equity-Action-Plan-January-2021.pdf">Racial Equity Action Plan</a> expressly for parks and recreation. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1265654609881829377"}"></div></p>
<h2>Most likely to gain: Diners, walkers and bikers</h2>
<p>Some local leaders capitalized on empty streets to accelerate long-planned projects or initiate new ones. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made headlines with her decision to remove <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/paris-parking-spaces-greenery-cities/">half of all street parking</a> in Paris, add <a href="https://www.francetoday.com/travel/paris/the-paris-bicycle-boom/">50 kilometers (31 miles) of bike lanes</a> and convert a major central roadway, Rue di Rivoli, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/business/paris-bicycles-commute-coronavirus.html">a cycling thoroughfare</a>. These steps mark a fundamental shift toward a public realm that centers on people, not vehicles.</p>
<p>Similarly, one East Coast mayor told us that the need to maintain physical distance between people had prompted a call for more outdoor space: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Fewer cars means more opportunities for public space. We’re learning a lot about how to share public space and not just use it for cars – we worked to close roadways and people want to keep them.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nearly half of the mayors we surveyed closed some roads to through traffic during the pandemic, and just under a third closed select streets to nearly all traffic. One prominent example is Washington, D.C.’s <a href="https://washington.org/visit-dc/black-lives-matter-plaza">Black Lives Matter Plaza</a>, commissioned by Mayor Muriel Bowser along two blocks of 16th Street NW. This new pedestrian promenade has quickly become a landmark that embodies a convergence of protest and pride. </p>
<p>New York City undertook an expansive “open streets” initiative, temporarily closing more than <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openstreets.shtml">100 miles of roadway</a> to cars to provide more space for outdoor recreation in all five boroughs. Like most cities we surveyed, New York did not have a plan or process for retaining these changes after the pandemic. But the city’s Department of Transportation, responding to <a href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/09/14/queens-pol-makes-it-official-demands-34th-avenue-open-street-be-made-permanent/">public pressure</a>, has signaled its commitment to <a href="https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/open-street-for-34th-ave-to-be-permanent/article_74d386f8-8d03-5a1c-b37f-43b9d02aa2f8.html">making some changes permanent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="New York City has allowed communities to partially or fully close street to traffic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392610/original/file-20210330-19-qpow2y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Typical setup for temporary limited local access under New York City’s Open Streets initiative.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openstreets.shtml">NYC DOT</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most popular new use of public space, and the one most likely to endure after the pandemic, was outdoor dining. Among the mayors we surveyed, 92% created new space for outdoor dining, with 34% noting they planned to make these changes permanent. Locations varied across cities and neighborhoods: Some communities <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/cities-plan-increase-outdoor-dining-restaurants-reopen/story?id=70952012">claimed sidewalk space, while others reallocated on-street parking or repurposed empty parking lots</a>. Other cities <a href="https://philly.eater.com/2020/7/20/21330313/outdoor-dining-old-city-philadelphia-restaurants-street-closure">closed entire streets </a> for dining.</p>
<p>Other new uses of public space included widening sidewalks and creating new bike lanes. About 40% of the mayors in our survey pursued each of these changes. In Boston, permitting for new outdoor dining was part of a multifaceted “<a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/transportation/healthy-streets">Healthy Streets</a>” initiative that also accelerated creation of dedicated bus lanes and new bike lanes – including expansive new protected lanes around the city’s historic central green space, Boston Common. </p>
<p>Ambitious projects require resources, and financial pressures still loom. Almost 40% of mayors we surveyed anticipated “dramatic” financial cuts to their parks and recreation budgets. That threat could be offset by the recently enacted <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/fact-sheet-the-american-rescue-plan-will-deliver-immediate-economic-relief-to-families">American Rescue Plan</a>, which provides <a href="https://www.nlc.org/article/2021/03/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-covid-relief/">direct funds for cities of all sizes</a>.</p>
<h2>People-centered public spaces</h2>
<p>Our survey indicates that Americans’ newfound enthusiasm for public spaces isn’t likely to fade. Among the mayors we surveyed, 76% believe their residents will visit parks and green space more frequently in the future than they did before the pandemic, 70% anticipate that residents will be walking more, and 62% believe they will be cycling more frequently.</p>
<p>Speaking recently about the future of cities, renowned Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye asserted that high-quality public space “has now become <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOyIn7HcMs&list=PLOOk6Nnx8t1teQwvx2MJ8PKTmuJjUESrg&index=4">the treasure that people are completely addicted to</a>. If you took for granted a park, now you realize that it’s a very important part of the quality of life [in] cities.”</p>
<p>As the U.S. emerges from a long and challenging year, perhaps more American mayors – spurred on by residents – will find the will to forever transform urban spaces into the treasures they can be.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharine Lusk receives funding from Citi, The Rockefeller Foundation, and The Trust for Public Land. She has also been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. </span></em></p>COVID-19 has underscored the value of parks and public spaces. A new survey shows that US mayors have gotten the message, but post-pandemic plans for public spaces remain largely undefined.Katharine Lusk, Co-Director, Initiative on Cities, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1537102021-01-27T13:27:54Z2021-01-27T13:27:54ZPeople take better care of public places when they feel like they have a stake in them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380551/original/file-20210125-13-121qguf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C21%2C2227%2C804&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If they run across some trash while they're out paddling, what will they do about it?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lebanon-hills-regional-park-in-eagan-has-a-dozen-lakes-and-news-photo/1156560176">Marlin Levison/Star Tribune via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Takeaways</strong></p>
<p>· <strong>People can feel “psychological ownership,” a sense of personal attachment, even for parks and other public places.</strong></p>
<p>· <strong>These feelings lead them to see property they don’t own as being more valuable and boost their sense of responsibility to take care of it.</strong></p>
<p>· <strong>A recent series of four studies found that inexpensive steps like getting park visitors to plan their route or posting welcoming signs can yield significant benefits</strong></p>
<p>Do you take walks on public trails? What happens when you encounter some trash?</p>
<p>If you respond just as you would at home by picking up the litter and disposing of it properly, you’re experiencing what marketing experts call “<a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319771571">psychological ownership</a>.”</p>
<p>That sense of ownership can develop in all sorts of situations. For example, you may develop feelings of ownership for a car or house you’ve picked out but haven’t paid for yet.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-black-friday-shoppers-throw-punches-over-bargains-a-marketing-expert-explains-psychological-ownership-106673">This behavior</a> is at odds with an economic theory known as “<a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/TragedyoftheCommons.html">the tragedy of the commons</a>.” This theory holds that public lands and other shared resources can be neglected because there is no owner who feels obliged to take care of them. </p>
<p>Based on my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sCL9U3EAAAAJ&hl=en">research in this area</a>, I’ve found that it is possible for people to feel a sense of ownership toward parks and other public places without actually owning them. </p>
<h2>Four studies</h2>
<p>My colleagues <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=44V54PcAAAAJ">Joann Peck</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=gvZIdD4AAAAJ">Colleen P. Kirk</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Hbi7H40AAAAJ&hl=en">Andrea W. Luangrath</a> and I wondered whether we could get visitors to a park to act more like they owned the land.</p>
<p>While people often intuitively feel this happens all the time, we directly measured its occurrence while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022242920952084">conducting a series of four studies</a>.</p>
<p>First, we went to a lake in Wisconsin where people could rent kayaks and asked half of the kayak renters to come up with their own nickname for the lake. We then observed from shore whether each kayaker attempted to pick up strategically placed trash during their paddle. The kayakers who we asked to think of a nickname for the lake tried to pick up trash 41% of the time. That was way more than the 7% rate for everyone else.</p>
<p>Next, we asked half of the cross-country skiers at a public park to plan out their route on a park map. The rest got the map without those instructions. Again, the simple act of planning the route seemed to make a difference. The people who had planned a route were 2.5 times more likely to tack a donation onto their rental fees, and they also expressed more willingness to volunteer and to promote the park through social media.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The other two studies we did were online. We tested the impact of “Welcome to your park” signs and an attendance sign showing the number of visitors to a hypothetical park. Through this simulation, we found that the welcome signs would increase beneficial behaviors, while signs showing that there were many other visitors would have the opposite effect.</p>
<p>We hope that the managers of public parks take advantage of our findings. Welcoming visitors to “your” park or pondering a nickname for a lake is easy to implement and inexpensive. And yet they are effective ways to motivate and nudge people to care for these places, whether by volunteering, picking up trash or even promoting the area.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Shu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nicknaming a lake, planning your route or simply seeing a ‘Welcome to your park’ sign can help visitors feel more like a public place is their own to some degree.Suzanne Shu, John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1525732021-01-15T13:17:05Z2021-01-15T13:17:05ZCities can help migrating birds on their way by planting more trees and turning lights off at night<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378880/original/file-20210114-21-cd2a7a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5568%2C3642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tennessee warblers (_Leiothlypis peregrina_) breed in northern Canada and spend winters in Central and South America.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kyle Horton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of birds travel between their breeding and wintering grounds during spring and autumn migration, creating one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world. These journeys often span incredible distances. For example, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.1045">Blackpoll warbler</a>, which weighs less than half an ounce, may travel up to 1,500 miles between its nesting grounds in Canada and its wintering grounds in the Caribbean and South America.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing Blackpoll warbler range" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378931/original/file-20210114-15-x2w6zs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blackpoll warbler abundance in breeding, non-breeding and migration seasons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/bkpwar/abundance-map?forceLogin=true">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many species, these journeys take place at night, when skies typically are calmer and predators are less active. Scientists do not have a good understanding yet of how birds navigate effectively at night over long distances. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blackpoll warbler" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378934/original/file-20210114-23-qtz9i8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blackpoll warbler.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpoll_warbler#/media/File:Blackpoll_Warbler_PJT.JPG">PJTurgeon/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We study bird migration and how it is being affected by factors ranging from <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S04C3UMAAAAJ&hl=en">climate change</a> to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pPk38-8AAAAJ&hl=en">artificial light at night</a>. In a recent study, we used millions of bird observations by citizen scientists to document the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116085">occurrence of migratory bird species in 333 U.S. cities</a> during the winter, spring, summer and autumn. </p>
<p>We used this information to determine how the number of migratory bird species varies based on each city’s level of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/light-pollution">light pollution</a> – brightening of the night sky caused by artificial light sources, such as buildings and streetlights. We also explored how species numbers vary based on the quantity of tree canopy cover and impervious surface, such as concrete and asphalt, within each city. Our findings show that cities can help migrating birds by planting more trees and reducing light pollution, especially during spring and autumn migration.</p>
<h2>Declining bird populations</h2>
<p>Urban areas contain numerous dangers for migratory birds. The biggest threat is the risk of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-13-090.1">colliding with buildings or communication towers</a>. Many migratory bird populations have <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1313">declined over the past 50 years</a>, and it is possible that light pollution from cities is contributing to these losses.</p>
<p>Scientists widely agree that light pollution can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708574114">severely disorient migratory birds</a> and make it hard for them to navigate. Studies have shown that birds will cluster around brightly lit structures, much like insects flying around a porch light at night. Cities are the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2029">primary source of light pollution for migratory birds</a>, and these species tend to be more abundant within cities <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13792">during migration</a>, especially in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103892">city parks</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Satellite image of U.S. at night with cities brightly lit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378884/original/file-20210114-24-svu1yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Composite image of the continental U.S. at night from satellite photos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/2016-north-america-usa.jpg">NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Román, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The power of citizen science</h2>
<p>It’s not easy to observe and document bird migration, especially for species that migrate at night. The main challenge is that many of these species are very small, which limits scientists’ ability to use electronic tracking devices. </p>
<p>With the growth of the internet and other information technologies, new data resources are becoming available that are making it possible to overcome some of these challenges. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07106-5">Citizen science initiatives</a> in which volunteers use online portals to enter their observations of the natural world have become an important resource for researchers.</p>
<p>One such initiative, <a href="https://ebird.org/home">eBird</a>, allows bird-watchers around the globe to share their observations from any location and time. This has produced one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04632">largest ecological citizen-science databases in the world</a>. To date, eBird contains over 922 million bird observations compiled by over 617,000 participants.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/StF19Qdgqn0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Large clusters of birds (blue and green splotches) captured by weather radar during spring migration, April-May 2019.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Light pollution both attracts and repels migratory birds</h2>
<p>Migratory bird species have evolved to use certain migration routes and types of habitat, such as forests, grasslands or marshes. While humans may enjoy seeing migratory birds appear in urban areas, it’s generally not good for bird populations. In addition to the many hazards that exist in urban areas, cities typically lack the food resources and cover that birds need during migration or when raising their young. As scientists, we’re concerned when we see evidence that migratory birds are being drawn away from their traditional migration routes and natural habitats.</p>
<p>Through our analysis of eBird data, we found that cities contained the greatest numbers of migratory bird species during spring and autumn migration. Higher levels of light pollution were associated with more species during migration – evidence that light pollution attracts migratory birds to cities across the U.S. This is cause for concern, as it shows that the influence of light pollution on migratory behavior is strong enough to increase the number of species that would normally be found in urban areas.</p>
<p>In contrast, we found that higher levels of light pollution were associated with fewer migratory bird species during the summer and winter. This is likely due to the scarcity of suitable habitat in cities, such as large forest patches, in combination with the adverse affects of light pollution on bird behavior and health. In addition, during these seasons, migratory birds are active only during the day and their populations are largely stationary, creating few opportunities for light pollution to attract them to urban areas.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08ET47-b13o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Darkening skies at night during migration season makes it easier for birds to navigate.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trees and pavement</h2>
<p>We found that tree canopy cover was associated with more migratory bird species during spring migration and the summer. Trees provide important habitat for migratory birds during migration and the breeding season, so the presence of trees can have a strong effect on the number of migratory bird species that occur in cities. </p>
<p>Finally, we found that higher levels of impervious surface were associated with more migratory bird species during the winter. This result is somewhat surprising. It could be a product of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands">urban heat island effect</a> – the fact that structures and paved surfaces in cities absorb and reemit more of the sun’s heat than natural surfaces. Replacing vegetation with buildings, roads and parking lots can therefore make cities significantly warmer than surrounding lands. This effect could reduce cold stress on birds and increase food resources, such as insect populations, during the winter.</p>
<p>Our research adds to our understanding of how conditions in cities can both help and hurt migratory bird populations. We hope that our findings will inform urban planning initiatives and strategies to reduce the harmful effects of cities on migratory birds through such measures as <a href="https://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa/index.cfm">planting more trees</a> and initiating <a href="https://aeroecolab.com/uslights">lights-out programs</a>. Efforts to make it easier for migratory birds to complete their incredible journeys will help maintain their populations into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank La Sorte receives funding from The Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation and the National Science Foundation (DBI-1939187).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Horton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities are danger zones for migrating birds, but there are ways to help feathered visitors pass through more safelyFrank La Sorte, Research Associate, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.