Urban Community Green Spaces

Reader Contribution by Yardmap Network
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“Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction.”? Edward O. Wilson

As the holidays approach, many of us scatter to all parts of the globe to celebrate the passing of another year with our families, or close friends who are chosen family. Wherever you find yourself over the holidays, take note of the frequency with which you find yourself drawn to, or immersed in, nature. With time away from our day to day existence, some people gravitate toward green spaces, or snow-covered open spaces, for those in northern latitudes. Why do some find themselves drawn to these natural places when there is time to relax and reflect? According to one of the most eminent biologists of our time, E.O. Wilson, it is because the natural world is essential to what it means to be human–to what it means to feel whole.

For the first time in human history more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban environments. In the U.S. this number is closer to 80 percent. We are inhabitants of built environments, which are hugely fragmented, carving green space up into smaller and smaller areas. With this can come a separation from that which makes us feel whole.

Community green spaces may have a vital role to play in mitigating the detrimental effects of urban life by providing a critical outlet to reconnect people to nature. Aside from providing a place for mental and emotional peace, these spaces also combat the urban heat island effect, reduce air pollution, reduce city noise, and increase the health of city inhabitants by providing a place to exercise. They also provide wildlife habitat in otherwise low biodiversity areas. Preliminary research reveals that animals can thrive in conjunction with urban landscapes, like the bumblebee populations that take refuge in San Francisco city parks. City planners, designers, and urban landscapers are taking E.O. Wilson’s words of wisdom to heart and redefining what it means to be urban by taking the role of green spaces in city life seriously.

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