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Greening urban areas - the need for an urban green space policy

rpwills
 



The importance of green spaces particularly in urban areas is now recognised as the extracts from a report published by the University of Leeds illustrate.
 
Urban green spaces such as domestic gardens, parks and woodlands provide a multitude of benefits to human urban populations, and a vital habitat for wildlife. By improving physical fitness and reducing depression, the presence of green spaces can enhance the health and wellbeing of people living and working in cities. Green spaces also indirectly impact our health by improving air quality and limiting the impact of heatwaves by reducing urban temperatures. In addition, urban vegetation stores carbon, helping to mitigate climate change, and reduces the likelihood of flooding by storing excess rain water.”  [LEAF centre, 2015.]
 
Spending time in green spaces has been shown to produce levels and patterns of chemicals in the brain associated with low stress and positive impacts on blood pressure. Positive links have also been demonstrated between how well people perform at attention-demanding tasks and time spent, either beforehand or during, in green space.”  [LEAF centre, 2015.]
 
 
Urban green spaces provide pleasant areas to relax and socialise, promoting greater levels of social activity and stronger neighbourhood relationships. This can be particularly important in maintaining a high quality of life for elderly people.” [LEAF centre, 2015.]
 
The situation now
Looking on a map or travelling around and briefly taking in the urban landscape gives an illusion of greenness. Anyone could be forgiven for assuming that all is well. Yet many green spaces in towns are simply areas of grass – devoid of areas of trees and shrubs, willdflower meadows and other habitats. They neither appeal to many people nor provide the benefits such areas could provide.
 
Policy options
To improve the status and usefulness of green spaces in Cornwall a strategy is required to develop and maintain existing areas to ensure they provide a range of uses and contribute both to the provision of environmental services – for example, better air quality, reducing urban temperatures, a relaxing atmosphere and enabling people to connect with nature. As well as existing green spaces the strategy should incorporate areas in industrial estates.  Currently most of the green areas in such estates are just patches of grass, frequently mowed and of little use to wildlife and presenting a boring and uninteresting landscape for the urban population.
 
Perhaps each unit could focus on a particular theme in terms of trees and shrubs for example.
 
A strategy could result in a better environment linking people to a more natural world and generating a range of benefits.
 
Sources
LEAF centre, (2015), A brief guide to the benefits of urban green spaces, The Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest (LEAF) centre, the United Bank of Carbon (UBoC), and the Sustainable Cities Group at the University of Leeds. 
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