Benefits of Parks and Open Space
BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
You are probably reading this page because you care about parks and know from your own experience why parks and recreation are beneficial. You know that parks and recreation systems are vital to many aspects of our individual and community life. Because parks are already an important part of your life, you may not give them a lot of thought. We hope to fertilize and enrich your thinking about parks and recreation with the information we provide on this page. We believe the more you know about the benefits of parks and recreation, the better you will be able to advocate for the resources you treasure.
We know that when everyday citizens get involved with neighborhood parks, amazing things can happen and our quality of life improves. NPC encourages you to join our efforts to develop our knowledge about the benefits of parks.
We invite you to tell us how Parks & Recreation benefit your life. Please email Karin Edwards, Open Space 2100 Coordinator at kedwards@sfnpc.org with any suggestions, facts, or links that might support this effort.
WHAT PEOPLE WANT FROM PARKS AND RECREATION
HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARKS AND RECREATION
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF PARKS
- The Benefits of Parks: Why America N eeds More City Parks and Open Space The Trust For Public Land
- The Public Value of Urban Parks The Urban Institute
- People's Perceptions of Parks and Recreation
- The Value of Place Meaning
WHAT PEOPLE WANT FROM PARKS AND RECREATION
HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARKS AND RECREATION
"There is a lack of a coordinated city-wide effort to link the health of people and parks."
-Isabel Wade, Ph.D., Executive Director, Neighborhood Parks Council.
"Our environment and our health are inextricably linked, particularly among low-income urban populations. By paying greater attention to the built environment including homes, schools, parks, transportation and community design, we can reduce instances of chronic disease such as diabetes and asthma."
-Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA).
"Being healthy means access to the resources needed to live a healthy life, and many health resources are fundamentally dependent on the design of our neighborhood environments. Accessible and safe parks are one essential ingredient to a healthy neighborhood, providing a place to exercise, play, spend time with friend and neighbors, or just relax and recuperate. Research tells us that parks matter for health; the effects of nearby parks range from increasing physical activity to improving mental health. All San Francisco residents will benefit when creating and maintaining high quality parks are viewed as an essential public health intervention."
-Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH, Director, Occupational & Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF.
Some important links to research and data that support the vital links between the health of our communities and our parks are provided here:
- San Francisco Shape Up Coalition The Mayor's Challenge
- Healthy Parks, Healthy People research Parks Victoria, Australia
- Center for Disease Control (CDC) Actice Community Environments (ACEs): CDC-sponsored initiative that promotes walking, bicycling, and the development of accessible recreation facilities
- How Land Use and Transportation Systems Impact Public Health: a literature review of the relationship between physical activity and built form Active Community Environments (ACEs) Initiative
- Kids Walk to School CDC
- U.S. Obesity Trends 1985 to 2006 CDC
- Diabetes Trends Among Adults in the U.S CDC
- Physical Activity helps prevent problems of aging CDC
- U.S. Teens In Our World
- Physical Activity Prevention: What Can Be Done?: NPC cited as a prime example of effective resources for disease prevention and public health interventions
- Teens Living in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Lack Access to Parks and Get Less Physical Activity a UCLA policy research brief
- The Influence of Community Factors on Health: An Annotated Bibliography annotated bibliography containing more than 150 entries of research on how community factors affect health
- SF Department of Public Health's Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability (PHES)
- Public Parks and Physical Activity Among Adolescent Girls
- Inactive America: What Can Parks Do? National Recreation and Park Association
- Obesity and Sprawl: the Connection Tightens, by Neal Pierce
- Planning Healthier Suburbs, Where Cars Sit Idle and People Get Moving National Trails Training Partnership
- Sprawl Harms Our Health The Sierra Club
- Does the built environment influence physical activity? Examining the Evidence Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation and Land Use of
the Transportation Research Board Institute of Medicine
- The Health and Social Benefits of Recreation an element of the California Outdoor Recreation Planning Program, California State Parks 2005
The primary purpose for investing in a city park is rarely economic. Although few in San Francisco would argue that parks and open space are an indispensable part of a healthy and sustainable urban mosaic, financial justification is nearly always required, especially when the cost of land is high. Due to the concern over the preservation of parks and open space in San Francisco, there has been an increasing interest in quantifying the value of its parks system.
Measuring the economic value of parks and open space is a difficult yet necessary exercise. This is because while the costs associated with acquiring, developing, and maintaining a city's parks system are relatively easy to calculate, its benefits are hard to quantify. As San Francisco grows and develops, a more complete picture of the economic benefits of parks will provide city agencies, voters, and developers with necessary information to set priorities and develop policies that will strike a balance between open space, development, and other objectives. Unless these decision-makers are better equipped, the city may risk losing one of its most valued assets - it world-renowned parks system.
In response to the lack of information available on the economic value of parks in San Francisco, Neighborhood Parks Council is writing a report which will explain the importance of measuring the value of parks, estimate the impact parks have on property values in San Francisco, explore the role parks can play in economic development, and provide recommendations on how the city can maximize the economic value of its parks system. The report, Do Parks Make Cents?, will be available at the end of July 2007.
The following is a list of resources on the economic benefits of parks:
- Dr. John Crompton Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University
- Bibliography of Economic Impacts of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
- Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails and Greenway Corridors a resource book; Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance, National Park Service
- Embrace Open Space
- Urban Parks: The New Return on Investment speech from The Public Land Trust's Will Rogers
- NPC Green Envy Report
- Creating A Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse
- Energy (under construction)
- Vacation Homes: Seeking Birds Not Birdies discusses a possible emerging trend indicating a preference for homes near natural areas over golf courses?
- National standards for open space: 10 acres per 1,000 residents is set by the National Recreation and Park Association
- International standards for open space
- Small Parks Could Cool Big Cities
- Parks for Livable Cities: Lessons from a Radical Mayor [Enrique Penalosa]