We Need Green

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Shawn Kummet
Kevin Brooks
English 326
 Why do people need green spaces in their neighborhoods?
As a student in landscape architect we go over many projects that detail taking a piece of land and
converting it to a nice green area, with all kinds of trees, shrubs, and open lawn, that people can
enjoy through the year. I personally like the designed green areas over others, but other people could
argue that these areas could be made into parking lots to hold all the cars in the area or they could fill
the space up with various building to accommodate all the people. This paper is going to illustrate why
it is important to have these open green spaces around the neighborhoods for individual’s
physical health, mental health, and just their overall well being. I will also compare a couple different
parks around the country and illustrate the good and bad things about the parks. After reading this
paper you will have a better understand of why I chose to do this topic and why it is important to look
at when designing a neighborhood.
The number of obese people in America has been going up rapidly thought the past couple years. This is
not only an issue for adults though, the number of obese kids is also going up and about 60 percent of kids
are obese. The fact is that obese kids generally are less active compared to other kids. If we are able
to reduce these numbers when they are kids the better they will be when they are adults because studies
show that 40 percent of children and 70 percent of adolescents become obese adults. When an obese
kid reaches the age of six years old, the chances of becoming an obese adult is over 50 percent. These
stats were found online at http://obesity.ygoy.com/overweight-chidren-in-america-childhood-obesity-sta-
tistics/. I’m not saying it is always their fault, but one way to reduce those numbers is by just having the
kids get outside and get a little exercise. If the places that they live don’t have these open spaces for
the kids and adult to get out and move around where will they go to be active and have the ability to be a
healthy individual?

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When people are able to be around these green spaces it just enhances their overall health and well being.
Recent studies in the Netherlands and Japan show that people with easy access to green spaces had
better health and lower mortality rates. The funny thing about these green spaces is that people do not
even need to always be walking through them to have an impact on their health. For example if people are
able to just look out a window it has been shown that it can lower blood pressure and anxiety levels for
those people. A study done at Texas A&M by Roger Ullrich this and that patients had a faster healing time
when he examined how window views from a hospital room effected recovery times in surgical patients. The
good thing about these green spaces is that it does not only benefit the people in the area, but it also
improves the environment in the area. City greenery cleans and cools the air for improved quality of life. A
study in Chicago determined that the city’s trees filtered 234 tons of particulate pollution and cleansed the
air of 98 tons of nitrogen dioxide, 93 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 17 tons of carbon monoxide. Vegetated
areas also provide relief from the “heat island effect” caused by
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the heat-trapping quality of asphalt, concrete, and building
materials. Air under a tree’s canopy can be as much as 5 – 10°
Fahrenheit cooler compared to full sun, with the underlying
pavement up to 36° Fahrenheit cooler (1). Now days you can
turn on the TV or listen to the radio and you will probably hear
something about going green, and one way to help out is to
improve the greenery in the neighborhood. It does not only
help the individual’s health in the area, but as shown it has a big
impact on the environment.
These green spaces have even more benefit when it comes
to the people of the neighborhood like the mental benefits.
When people are given these green spaces they have the
opportunity to let out stress and get some fresh air when
they go to these spaces and just relax. Studies have
shown that stressed individuals feel better after exposure
to natural scenes. These spaces also give the individual’s
the ability to meet new people and get involved in the

neighborhood, as well as reducing instances of aggression

and violence. When people are around these green spaces
their ability to concentrate goes up (1). A study done by
Frances Kuo of the University of Illinois studied 28 identical
high-rise public housing projects and found that people living
near green spaces showed a stronger sense of community,
coped better with everyday stress and hardship, were less
aggressive and less violent, performed better on tests of
concentration, and managed problems more effectively.

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There are also the social benefits that these green spaces can bring to the individuals. These
spaces have the ability to reduce crime a study done in Chicago shows. The study was done
on 98 vegetated and un-vegetated to see which one had more crimes done because people
generally thought that enclosed areas would have the high number of crimes, but the study
showed that the vegetated spaces crime rate was cut in half. These spaces also had a less
litter and less graffiti. The green areas also help safer driving by creating these medians and
other areas that slow the drivers down and make them see what is going on around them.
These also improve the walk ability for the people in the area and encourage people to get out
and enjoy the neighborhood in a different way. They
17 also have the ability to define a neighborhood which
can bring in more people and improve the conditions.
In a survey done shoppers were will to spend 9-12
percent more when they were in a well vegetated
area compared to an un-landscaped area. These
green spaces also increase workplace productivity
and morale among the workers. Studies have shown
that workers with views of nature feel more relaxed
overall.
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This paper was not written to make people go out and just start throwing parks
around the neighborhoods just because somebody said that they are needed.
Not every park designed is always going to be successful, there is going to be
some research needed in that area to see what and where they would be needed.
The biggest thing though is that it comes down to the individual’s to get out and
use these areas to get the maximum effect the spaces have to offer. One
example of a park that is well used throughout the year and is located in colder
climate is Central Park located in New York, New York. This park is
successful because it allows for all people to enjoy the area from the young to
19 the old. This park is also a really large park, but not all have to be in order to
be successful. Central Park ranks among the world’s outstanding public places
because of its influential original design, and its current management. Since its
inception, Central Park’s much-imitated design has accommodated a variety of
activities for New Yorkers, and the vision of Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert
Vaux has proven timeless in that it is still highly suitable for today’s park users
(4).

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Another park that is very successful is Prospect Park located in

Brooklyn, New York. Some reasons why this park is successful is
because it has space which accommodates almost any pastime.
Its distinguishing features include woodlands and streams, ponds,
picnic areas, playing fields, a children’s zoo, a bandshell, and
the world-renowned Long Meadow, an undulating lawn stretching
across the entire west end of the park, bordered by trees and a
ravine. Rather than separating uses into active or passive areas,
the design of the Meadow allows for all to occur together. Along
with sports such as organized baseball, pick-up soccer and
volleyball, it welcomes quiet picnics and people-watching along its
shady borders and on the grassy hills that provide perfect vantage 23
points. All these activities are well-integrated into one of Olmsted
and Vaux’s finest landscapes (5). This information and other good
examples as well as some parks that may not be so successful can
be found at http://www.pps.org/ (3).

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When communities are out looking at what they could do to help improved what they already got I would suggest that
they look into incorporating these green space because all the benefits that they have for the people. These benefits
have a wide range from the individual’s mental, physical, and social health benefits. These spaces do not just benefit
the individuals though. It also really helps the environment in the area. These green spaces have a huge impact on the
surrounding area and the individuals involved, that is why when designing these neighborhoods these spaces are highly
need. So when you get the opportunity to put in some greenery, new buildings, or parking areas, take a second look
because the green spaces are not wasting the space and will pay off in the end.

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 Work Sited
1. http://ag.udel.edu/UDBG/sl/humanwellness/Human_Benefits.pdf

2. http://obesity.ygoy.com/overweight-chidren-in-america-childhood-obesity-statistics/

3. http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/september2004/september2004_best_worst

4. http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=1

5. http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=21

Images Sited
6. http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200707/r163150_600877.jpg

7. http://abqstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/encanto-park-waterfall.jpg

8. http://www.thelmagazine.com/images/blogimages/2009/09/24/1253805133-lentspacevandal.jpg

9. http://www.travelguidelondon.co.uk/pictures/green-park.jpg

10. http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2009/02/large_AANEWARK.JPG

11. http://www.torontocondoprojects.com/images/projectImages/master_plan.jpg

12. http://fthats.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/central-park-new-york-wallpaper.jpg

13. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/family-vacations-central-park.jpg
 Images Sited Continued
14. http://centralpark-ny.us/pix/centpkpix2.jpg

15. http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/prospect-park-boathouse-1109.jpg

16. http://www.urban75.org/photos/newyork/images/brooklyn-prospect-06.jpg

17. http://photoblog.twincityphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/people.jpg

18. http://valhallabrandywine.com/discover/images/uploads/detail_masterplan.jpg

19. http://wirednewyork.com/aol/images/aol_time_warner_central_park_wollman_31march02.jpg

20. http://www.jazzhostels.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/nyc-central-park.jpg

21. http://www.magazineusa.com/images_st2/ny_city/m1g_central_park.jpg

22. http://bkboyeez.com/__oneclick_uploads/2009/04/prospectpark_brooklyn_nethermead.jpg

23. http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/05/05/alg_prospect-park.jpg

24. http://www.edelweissdesign.com/images/elmstreet.jpg