Parks and Green Spaces: A Review of Quality of Life from an Urban Perspective - Report Example

Section/# Parks and Green Spaces: A Review of Quality of Life from an Urban Perspective Beyond merely a place in which recreation can take place, the importance of green spaces and parks within the urban setting are of extraordinary importance. The most part, research into the creation and impact of parks and green spaces has been concentric upon the resources utilized, the individuals impacted, and the actual region that is utilized for such a purpose. However, rather than focusing upon these physical elements of parks and green spaces, it is necessary to understand that they also drastically impact upon the quality of life and psychological Outlook that particular communities, races, cultures, and socioeconomic groups exhibit. As a function of this particular understanding, the following analysis will analyze parks and green spaces based upon their impact; in terms of quality of life and psychological impact for the surrounding community members. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, many scholars have illustrated the fact that parks and green spaces are essential as they help to foster a further level of community engagement (Mullins-Cohen, 2014). Whereas shopping centers, cultural activities, and even sporting events of various types encourage a certain degree of community interaction, parks and green spaces have often been referred to by scholars and analysts as the great equalizers. Accordingly, it is common and expected that individuals of all races, socioeconomic status, and cultures will leverage these spaces as a means of providing a level of recreational benefit; free of charge and available to each and every individual equally. As a direct result of the fact that interaction between peoples takes place within these spaces, they further are able to encourage culture, sport, and other interactions that would not take place within another setting. Likewise, as indicated previously within the analysis, even though certain sporting event can encourage a level of interaction between peoples, green spaces and parks are able to maximize this level of interaction; all the while encouraging other positive elements that further improve quality of life within a given community. In terms of the recent past, society has begun to understand the overall scope and impact that humans have upon the extent environment. Rather than understanding the earth as a limitless resource that can be relied upon in perpetuity, individuals have come to recognize the fact that the resources that the earth exhibits are finite and must be conserved (Veitch et al., 2014). Within increasingly urban and metropolitan areas, the exhibition of green spaces and parks is an essential element in encouraging individuals with respect to the importance of conservation and the renewability that humans can provide towards nature. Likewise, by ensuring that a green space or public park is available within a reasonable distance from stakeholders within an urban area, society is improved in that individuals can come to appreciate the fact that these green spaces can exist concurrently with, and alongside, extraordinarily urban and develop cities; promoting a further level of understanding that nature and development need not exist as separate entities from one another (Puhakka et al., 2014). Beyond the psychological impacts that have thus far been determined, another relevant impacts has to do with the way in which parks and green spaces promote individuals to maintain a better level of overall health. The past several decades have seen a drastically increased rate of illnesses related to obesity (Brown & Cummins, 2013). By much the same token, individuals throughout society are becoming more and more cognizant of the fact that a lethargic lifestyle is nearly guarantee to ensure that they may suffer from issues related to an overall lack of activity (Zhou & Rana, 2012). In this way, parks and green spaces promote the overall quality of life is that they encourage the individual to exercise and spend time within a natural and beautiful setting (Lin et al., 2014). Whereas it is inherently true that more and more individuals are exercising engines or along sidewalks and streets within urban areas, the general preference that individuals have is to utilize their time spent exercising within a natural environment. Not surprisingly, parks and green spaces offered just such an opportunity; all while promoting the other positive benefits to quality of life that have been denoted thus far within the analysis. Additionally, besides the individual positive impact the quality of life which has been discussed, there is a systemic benefit that relates to the way in which parks and green spaces provide for further protect the public lands and have been proven to improve the overall quality of air, water, and land that they occupy (Kabisch & Haase, 2014). Likewise, as CO2 emissions are increasing each and every year, partially contributing to a rise in global climate change, the creation of further parks and green spaces not only produces a habitat for wildlife and a place for individuals to engage one another, it also promotes the growth of vegetation and the creation of clean and fresh oxygen. Not surprisingly, the creation of clean and fresh oxygen within an urban environment that is already saturated with CO2 emission, internal combustion engine activity, and millions of individuals, is an overall net positive for society (Rennie, 2006). A final element with respect to the improvement of quality of life that parks and green spaces are able to provide has to do with the research that relates to the way in which these spaces have been linked to an overall reduction in crime. Essentially, analysts that have engage this particular topic point to the fact that a broad majority of youth crime, drug crime, and vandalism is inherently linked the fact that there are not any positive outlets for young individuals to engage in within their immediate community (Dolesh, 2014). Whereas more affluent areas are more likely to exhibit parks and recreational areas, more urban areas that are middle and lower income have an overall lower propensity for such a luxury. Accordingly, individual youths within these communities do not have a positive outlet for leisure time and, according to some scholars, turn to crime as a means of filling the void. Not surprisingly, the reader can understand the fact that parks and green spaces, it provided within low income areas, and uniformly throughout the more urban areas, can represent a positive impact not only with respect to the aforementioned issues; but also in terms of the way in which they can promote the overall reduction in crime rates and he engagement of individuals that might otherwise view society as a hostile force. From the information that has thus far been provided, it is clear and apparent that green spaces and parks provide powerful determinants and positive impacts on the way in which society is exhibited. Furthermore, beyond merely benefiting individuals within a certain socioeconomic status, culture, race, or personal background, parks and green areas are able to impact upon diverse issues relating to cultural engagement, overall healthfulness of individuals within a given geographic area, interpretations of the importance and need to protect and conserve nature, and the potential for reduction in crime rate among individual that might not otherwise have positive outlets. Whereas any one of these factors might necessarily be a reason for a given township or region to consider the implementation of further green spaces and parks, all of these reasons combined provide a powerful case for government and stakeholders to realize the fact that parks and green spaces impact upon individuals in a variety of different ways and encourage the overall quality of life in a manner that no other public good has thus far been illustrated to effect. Likewise, stakeholders should anticipate the needs that a growing urban population will exhibit and seek to set aside public land as a means of providing these spaces to growing communities and the coming years. Bibliography Brown, T Cummins, S 2013, aIntervening in health: The place of urban green space.a Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol.118, pp.59-61. Dolesh, RJ 2014, Equity in the Big Apple, Parks & Recreation, 49, 8, pp. 50-53, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Kabisch, N Haase, D 2014, aGreen justice or just green? Provision of urban green spaces in Berlin, Germanya. Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol.122, pp.129-139. Lin, B, Fuller, R, Bush, R, Gaston, K, & Shanahan, D 2014, Opportunity or Orientation? Who Uses Urban Parks and Why, Plos ONE, 9, 1, pp. 1-7, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Mullins-Cohen, G 2014, Green Justice: The Promise for Equity in Our Parks, Parks & Recreation, 49, 8, pp. 54-57, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Puhakka, R, Cottrell, S, & Siikamäki, P 2014, Sustainability perspectives on Oulanka National Park, Finland: mixed methods in tourism research, Journal Of Sustainable Tourism, 22, 3, pp. 480-505, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Rennie, A 2006, The Importance of National Parks to Nation-building: Support for the National Parks Act (2000) in the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Geographical Journal, 122, 3, pp. 223-232, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Veitch, J, Carver, A, Hume, C, Crawford, D, Timperio, A, Ball, K, & Salmon, J 2014, Are independent mobility and territorial range associated with park visitation among youth?, International Journal Of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 11, 1, pp. 1-12, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2014. Zhou, X Rana, MP 2012, aSocial benefits of urban green space: A conceptual framework of valuation and accessibility measurements.a Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol.23, no.2, pp.173-189. Read More