The tangle of greenery along railway lines, flowers growing on vacant lots, or unmown grassy patches under power lines, it turns out people in cities engage with nature in all these spaces.
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Articles on City parks
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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.
Park policy must reimagine parks as more than a contributor to property value and consider how they can be used as community resources.
The more our cities grow, the more we need access to enjoy — and be in relationship with — urban forests to maintain our well-being.
The earth our towns and cities are built on is teeming with potential. It is under threat too
Access to parks and green space in England’s cities is far from equal.
Decades after the Good Friday Agreement, urban space in Belfast is still divided.
Politicians are keen to talk up the benefits of parks and other outdoor spaces – but less eager to spend money on their upkeep.
Research that measures the public mood based on Twitter posts shows that it’s currently at its lowest point in a decade. One exception: when people visit parks and green spaces.
Public washrooms are an essential service and the people who maintain them are essential workers. But what happens when a pandemic closes public bathrooms and a civil rights protest breaks out?
Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of many great North American city parks, understood that ready access to nature made cities healthier places to live.
Parks have a vital role to play for both physical and mental wellbeing.
Four out of 5 Americans live in cities, so urban planning can make a big difference in our lifestyles – especially if it promotes healthy diets and physical activity.
Residents of the ‘leafy suburbs’ will continue to fear what they might lose to increasing urban density without an explicit planning approach that enhances green space in affected neighbourhoods.
Some might scoff at the free-ranging ideas sparked by a competition to design future parks for Melbourne. But the legacy of a radical idea to green a CBD street in 1985 shows why we need such thinking.
Some parks reduce violence in the local vicinity. Other parks attract crime. The difference has to do with how these urban green spaces are designed, programmed and managed, experts say.
Parents are more willing to let children do their own thing in parks. It’s a chance for children to make their own decisions, explore their abilities and imaginations, and weigh up risks.
Australia’s coastal settlements are highly exposed to the impacts of climate change. Climate-resilient urban landscapes that can cope with large amounts of water need to become the new normal.
Research shows that access to urban green space makes people and neighborhoods healthier. But parks can’t work their magic if their design ignores the needs of nearby communities.
Australia has guidelines for designing safe parks, but the stories of many women show these are not enough. We must involve women in co-designing these shared public spaces.
Top contributors
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Professor in Environmental & Landscape Planning, University of Manchester
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Professor, Landscape Architecture, History, and Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington
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Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University
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Associate Professor, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University
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Research fellow, The University of Western Australia
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Postdoctoral Scholar, North Carolina State University
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Research Fellow, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University
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Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University
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PhD Candidate, Soil and Ecosystem Services, Lancaster University
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John Rennie Short is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Assistant Professor of Urban Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, George Mason University
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PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of Guelph
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Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield
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Professor and Director, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont
