Why do cities need more green spaces than ever?

Urban sustainability and green space, these terms are considered the most by the global community of people who are environment enthusiasts. Let us start with the definitions for both of them in the simplest terms possible.

Urban sustainability refers to the preservation of the three cornerstones of sustainability- environmental eco, economic, and social. It includes the strategic planning of the global urban cities at all these forefronts. It is done by defining the guidelines and implementing actions to improve the lives of the people while preserving natural resources and heritage for future generations.

Green Space refers to a collective area or land that is partly or fully covered with trees, grass, shrubs, or other forms of vegetation. This includes community parks, gardens, green landscapes, cemeteries, etc. Such green space within a city is called Urban Green Space.

Here is the Catch!

What if I tell you that your city is damaging the health and life expectancy of your family and you? Don’t be surprised. It is an undeniable truth. Either you know it already but feel helpless to leave city life, or you are simply ignoring this fact.

As a result, heat islands, air pollution, floodwater run-off, cooling, and warming are a few effects that cannot be mitigated beyond a certain point without taking care of nature.

Increased Urbanism

Increased urbanism has only populated and polluted the city's lives. As time passes, the number of migrants in every city on the planet is rising. 

According to the Natural History Museum, by 2050, 68% of the global population will live in cities. That's 2.5 billion more people than today. In Europe, three out of four of us already live in urban areas, and the consequences of that are becoming clear.

Researchers of Global Mortality Estimates have reported that around 9 million people die every year due to breathing polluted air. In London, two million people are living in areas with toxic air. Out of these, 400,000 are children.

Barcelona Institute of Global Health analyzed 1,000+ cities in 31 European countries and found that up to 43,000 premature deaths could be prevented each year if these cities were to achieve the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations regarding residential proximity to green space.

WHO recommends that there should be a green space measuring at least 0.5 hectares at a linear distance of no more than 300 meters from every home. The results showed that 62% of the European population lives in areas with less green space than recommended.

Post-pandemic Era

The worldwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on people’s lives. The majority of people across the world have been emotionally, mentally, physically, and socially damaged up to a level. As a result, an increase in stress, poor mental health, and domestic violence could be seen for over a year now.

On the other hand, an increase in visits to parks, gardens, or somewhere in nature has been seen rising ever since the pandemic. It has been proven that green spaces and blue spaces help a lot in improving our mental and physical health. 

What does the study say?

Numerous studies have shown that the presence- and visits to green spaces can reduce stress and improve restoration in the brain, thereby improving mental health (Gascon et al 2015).  Green space is essential for good physical and mental health.  A recent study showed that spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is needed for good health and well-being (White et al 2019).

A Wide Range of Green Space Benefits for Humans

Greening cities can have many health benefits including longer life expectancy, fewer mental health problems, improved cognitive functioning, better mood, and healthier babies (Nieuwenhuijsen et al 2017).  It also mitigates air pollution, heat, and noise levels. It adds to CO2 sequestration and therefore helps in our fight again the climate crisis.  And green space can improve ecosystems and increase biodiversity in cities, particularly through well-designed green infrastructure throughout the city (Coutts and Hahn 2015).

Multiple studies have found that green space reduces premature mortality (Rojas-Rueda et al 2019, and increasing the tree canopy from 20% to 30% in a city such as Philadelphia could prevent more than 400 premature deaths annually (Kondo et al 2020). Particularly poorer neighborhoods would benefit.

Green Spaces are a great source for the society we live in. This is why an increased effort should be made to maintain them and make them bigger to improve our overall health.

Some of the noteworthy benefits of Green Spaces are:

• Contribute to the mitigation of the urban heat island

• Improve air quality

• Decrease noise

• Promote mental health

• Encourage people to physical activity

• Generate social interactions

Let us put our best foot forward in preserving and enhancing the natural heritage for our future generations.

Let us GO GREEN!