Intro
When I bike or walk through one of my city’s parks, I think about their history. I think about the city squares of Savannah and Central Park in NYC. But I have recently wondered, “What is the environmental, health, and mental impact of parks, among other impacts?” So, I decided to make a post about it. Here is that post.
Environmental Impact
City parks have many beneficial impacts on our cities. For instance, trees in public parks remove an average of 7,111,000 tons of air pollution from each town annually. This removal of air pollution adds an average of $3.8 billion to the city’s value. These green spaces also remove water pollution by filtering rain. This protects the drinking water and the millions of people in that city from waterborne illnesses, such as cholera. City parks also decrease the heat in the city, reducing the heat-island effect. These parks also make the city more resilient to disasters. They do this by lowering flooding that could ruin millions of livelihoods. In addition, they manage stormwater that would have otherwise been unclogged from the sewers by underpaid workers.
Economical Impact
Parks attract businesses, and businesses attract job opportunities. These job opportunities attract people, and people attract revenue for cities. Thousands of cities and towns owe billions of revenue to parks, where they invested only a few million. In Denver, $1.2 million was invested in the city’s parks, and Denver received $2.5 billion in local public and private revenue. All of this extra money is used in many different ways. Some go to the city’s treasury, and some go to maintenance. However, most of it goes to building and funding public services. These public services include bike lanes, shops, hospitals, education institutions, and public transit.
Health Impact
All of these institutions fuel more and more people to go into parks. The people who go into these parks receive many rewards health-wise. They can reduce or prevent many physical and mental problems. The parks can reduce unwanted pounds in someone and reduce the cost of healthcare for the city and the person. For example, $1,500 per person is saved in yearly healthcare costs in the towns with parks.
Crime Impact
Parks can introduce a sense of community into the city by involving the city in designing a new park. These parks reflect the community’s needs and get people involved in community projects. Community involvement in turning parking spaces into green spaces helps people love and care for the community. This reduces crime and increases general support for more parks and green spaces.
Equity Impact
These new vibrant green spaces where people gather and the city relies on are making public officials lobby the city’s government for more of these parks, making the people of the park and the town feel equal. CommunityCommunity engagement in parks and providing equal funding make people feel equal. Communities also help each other as they feel more equal and direct their attention and resources to communities in the greatest need.
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir
