{"id":47172,"date":"2020-04-16T11:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=47172"},"modified":"2020-04-14T14:55:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T13:55:39","slug":"connected-green-spaces-in-cities-pay-real-dividends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/04\/16\/connected-green-spaces-in-cities-pay-real-dividends\/","title":{"rendered":"Connected green spaces in cities pay real dividends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><i>Nick Chapman writes about the benefits of <\/i>urban green spaces. This article is part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/building-healthy-communities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Building Healthy Communities<\/a> collection.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cEverybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The environmentalist, author and philosopher John Muir\u2019s evocative words celebrate the health benefits of wild open spaces epitomised by Yosemite National Park in Sierra Nevada, United States, which he campaigned to establish in the 1890s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More than a century later, with over 50% of the world\u2019s population now living in cities, the health value of urban green spaces, such as parks, community gardens or urban forests, is also well recognised. A body of evidence demonstrates that \u201caccess to safe, high quality green space benefits individuals across the lifespan, enhancing their physical, mental, social and spiritual health and wellbeing\u201d.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>2<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This has been recognised by the United Nations (UN) in its New Urban Agenda, published in 2016 to support implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Agenda sets out a new global standard for sustainable urban development and highlights the need for well-connected and well-distributed networks of green spaces \u201cto improve physical and mental health, urban liveability and to enhance resilience to environmental risks\u201d.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>3<\/sup><\/span><b><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good access to urban green spaces is just as important as the green spaces themselves. If the only way to get to a green space is by car, the value to the broader community can be severely compromised. Green spaces need to be easily accessible on foot, by bike, or affordable public transport. This can be achieved by urban greenways &#8211; a series of green public spaces connected by a network of well-designed walking and cycle paths, local \u2018green streets\u2019 or public transport routes. In Sydney, Australia for example, this emerging network is called the Green Grid.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>4<\/sup><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Globally, urban greenways play an important role in delivering connected, healthy, resilient, liveable cities. They represent \u201cunique \u2018corridors of benefits that have attracted a great deal of attention from urban planners and recreation practitioners\u201d.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>5<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Greenways typically incorporate a mix of vegetation, green space, walking and cycle paths and wind their way to and through parks in established urban areas. They are often defined by a waterway or public transport route, such as a tram line. Many include public art and gathering places and connect directly to local centres or transport hubs. If designed and managed well, they provide a valuable alternative to car transit, easy access to a range of green spaces and support healthy, active, connected neighbourhoods. Planners advocate for multi-use urban greenways to \u201cenhance urban form, promote conservation of habitat and biodiversity, provide opportunities for fitness, recreation, and transportation, promote economic development, and increase the sustainability of communities\u201d.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>6<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Bangkok, Thailand, most of the 2,400 kms of canals are \u201cunderused or trashed due to massive urban intensification and chronic car congestion\u201d.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>7<\/sup><\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To combat this damaging trend,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">local residents, businesses, university and government stakeholders joined forces to establish the C3 project in Bangkok\u2019s Bang Mot Canal Area.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>8<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Canal paths are being transformed into dedicated walking and cycling routes which connect foreshore sites used for a range of community purposes including public art, cultural events and growing and selling food. With a US $3million to US $5million budget, an existing 5km section of canal path is being repurposed for cycling and walking and an additional 7km canal section has been earmarked as a walking and cycling link to the Wutthakat mass transit station.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As in the above example, Greenway projects are often initiated by community volunteers, which can generate high levels of community participation and ownership of outcomes. A major challenge for the community is to secure adequate government support and funding, which can take years to achieve.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For example, in Sydney, Australia, the Cooks River to Iron Cove GreenWay<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a six kilometre multi-purpose active transport and urban environmental corridor connecting the Parramatta River and the Cooks River, two of Sydney\u2019s main urban waterways.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>9<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The GreenWay also supports a range of formal and informal recreation areas (eg sporting ovals, dog parks), community bush care, arts and culture sites. It is used as an outdoor classroom to teach students from 22 local primary schools about urban sustainability challenges in the 21<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Local residents and sustainable living activists first identified the potential for this multi-purpose green corridor in the late 1990\u2019s and started establishing community bush care sites along its length. After 20\u2019s years of lobbying and community action by the four councils and the local community, in 2018 the state government finally allocated $23 million to complete the GreenWay by 2022.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>10<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The corridor is also identified as the highest priority Green Grid project in the state government\u2019s Eastern Sydney District Plan.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><sup>11<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the opportunities created by greenways, their planning and development often takes many years to complete. This is due to a range of factors including the complexities of multiple land ownership, inconsistent political support and poor collaboration amongst government stakeholders.\u00a0 Experience shows that it can be very challenging to fund, design and implement a multi-purpose green corridor in a contested, car dominated urban environment subject to increasing land values.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, as urban challenges increase in the 21st century due to population growth and climate change, it is likely that the importance of urban greenways will become increasingly apparent. They offer a valuable alternative to car transit, enhance access to existing green spaces, strengthen community resilience, increase urban biodiversity and support measurable community health outcomes. They often enjoy high levels of community participation which enhance their social and cultural appeal. Political and funding support for the development of urban greenways is crucial in order to fulfil the UN\u2019s New Urban Agenda in cities across the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/04\/Nick-Chapman2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-47176\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/04\/Nick-Chapman2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"139\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a>Nick Chapman<\/strong> was GreenWay Place Manager at the Inner West Council for 7 years and has recently taken up the role of Resilience Specialist at Willoughby Council on Sydney\u2019s Lower North Shore. He is an adjunct Senior Lecturer at the City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales and teaches urban sustainability at the University of Technology Sydney<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Competing interests:<\/strong> none declared.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Muir, J, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Yosemite<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 1912., The Century Co., New York<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Townsend M., Henderson-Wilson C., Warner E. and Weiss L., School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, 2015, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Healthy Parks Healthy People: the state of the evidence, Parks Victoria<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Douglas O., Lennon M, Scott M., Green space benefits for health and wellbeing: a life course approach for urban planning, design and management.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Cities Journal <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2017;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 66:52-62\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Greater Sydney Commission. Objective 32. The Green Grid links parks, open spaces, bushland and walking and cycling paths. In: Greater Sydney Region Plan. A Metropolis of Three Cities \u2013 connecting people. 2018. 168-169. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greater.sydney\/metropolis-of-three-cities\/sustainability\/city-its-landscape\/green-grid-links-parks-open-spaces\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.greater.sydney\/metropolis-of-three-cities\/sustainability\/city-its-landscape\/green-grid-links-parks-open-spaces<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(accessed 4 March 2020)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Samuel K. Urban Greenway Use and Benefits in Diverse Cities: A Tale of Two Trails. Thesis 2016. DOI: 10.13140\/RG.2.1.4898.6480.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lindsey G., Man J., Payton S., Dickson K., (2004) Property Values, Recreation Values, and Urban Greenways, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Journal of Park and Recreation Administration <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2004; 22:69-90\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pers. Communication. November 2018, Kornsupha Nitvimol, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">3C Project. Canal Cycling Community. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.3cproject.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">www.3cproject.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (accessed 4 March 2020)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inner West Council. Welcome to the GreenWay. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.greenway.org.au\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">www.greenway.org.au<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (accessed 4 March 2020)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your say Inner West. Sharing the Inner West. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/yoursay.innerwest.nsw.gov.au\/greenway\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/yoursay.innerwest.nsw.gov.au\/greenway<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Greater Sydney Commission. Planning Priority E17. Increasing urban tree canopy cover and delivering Green Grid Connections. In: Outer Greater Sydney 2056. Eastern City District Plan \u2013 connecting communities. 2018. pp.107 \u2013 111. <\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff;font-size: 1rem\" href=\"https:\/\/gsc-public-1.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/eastern-district-plan-0618.pdf\">https:\/\/gsc-public-1.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/eastern-district-plan-0618.pdf<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (accessed 4 March 2020)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nick Chapman writes about the benefits of urban green spaces. This article is part of the Building Healthy Communities collection. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/04\/16\/connected-green-spaces-in-cities-pay-real-dividends\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Connected green spaces in cities pay real dividends - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/04\/16\/connected-green-spaces-in-cities-pay-real-dividends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Connected green spaces in cities pay real dividends - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nick Chapman writes about the benefits of urban green spaces. 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This article is part of the Building Healthy Communities collection. 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