Klawitter_UP 504 Health and Wellbeing_Urban Green Spaces

Because of the large amount of land parks take up, they have a major impact on the development and character of every city yet not everyone benefits in the same ways from parks. Lower income and colored communities have less access to quality green spaces in a city which, combined with less access to public transit, creates more health problems. It has been proven that green spaces help promote and increase physical activity, improve air quality, decrease respiratory illness, improve general mental health, and reduce stress and mental disorders. People use it to relieve the chronic stress of cramped spaces and housing which is a premium in New York. So, when communities do not have access to urban green spaces, the health and wellbeing of the residents as well as the neighborhood declines. Long standing and rising income inequality, combined with a history of racial residential segregation, has led to startling health inequalities experienced most by neighborhoods that lack opportunities for wellbeing.

We can start to address these inequalities by taking advantage of the forgotten spaces in cities like railways, shipyards and under highways. The possibilities for these spaces are endless but can help transform neighborhoods and cities alike with social, environmental, and economical benefits. It can improve the health of a neighborhood, provide jobs for the local community, and connect neighbors to each other. Which is the whole point for living in a city in the first place, to be connected and around life. We must create healthy and equitable places for people to live in cities and it all starts with public spaces and green infrastructure, a critical part to the health and wellbeing of a city.

References

Closson, Troy. “The Disparities in Access to New York's Parks.” The New York Times, 27 May 2021.

Garvin, Alexander. “Parks and Playgrounds.” The American City: What Works, What Doesn't, McGraw-Hill, 1996, pp. 29–34.

Harnik, Peter. The Urban Land Institute and Trust for Public Land, Washington D.C., 2000, Inside City Parks.

McPhearson, Tim. “Parks Are Critical Urban Infrastructure: The Use of Urban Green Space in New York City During COVID-19.” The Nature of Cities, 6 Oct. 2020, https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2020/10/06/parks-are-critical-urban-infrastructure-the-use-of-urba....

“Reimagining Public Space: Getting to Know the High Line Network.” High Line, 11 May 2020, https://www.thehighline.org/blog/2020/05/11/reimagining-public-space-getting-to-know-the-high-line-n....

Waxman, Sarah. “History of Central Park, New York.” NY, https://www.ny.com/articles/centralpark.html.