[AUDIO SCRIPTS UNIT 2 GOOD TIMES GOOD FEELINGS PART B]

Host: OK class, let's welcome our guest speaker Mark Johnson. Mark works for the
city government. He manages the parks department.
Guest Speaker: Thanks. Thanks a lot. Hello, I'm Mark Johnson. It's nice to meet you
all. I’m here today to talk to you about some of the benefits of city parks. First, I have
a question for you, though. Who go to River Park?
Female Student: I do. I walk through the park every day.
Male Student: I sometimes go there on the weekends. In fact, last Sunday, I went to a
really good concert there.
Guest Speaker: Great, at least some of you are enjoying the parks, and the probably
getting some benefits from your time there. I want to, I'd like to go into more detail
now and talk about some recent research on the benefits of parks and other green
spaces. First, one of the most common reasons people go to parks is for exercise. Yes?
You have question?
Male Student: I often see people relaxing at the park not exercising. I didn’t realize
there is exercise equipment at Riverpark. What kind of exercise do people usually do
there?
Guest Speaker: Actually, the most important type of exercise for most people doesn’t
require any equipment. It’s walking, especially in park. Recently, research in the
Netherlands and Japan found that people who live near parks-in other words, people
who had good green places to walk not just city sidewalks - were healthier than other
people.
Male Student: That's interesting! Why are they healthier?
Guest Speaker: Well, people who walk in a park or other place with grass and trees
are less likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure and they’re also less likely to
be overweight. Patients in hospital near parks get well more quickly to just being able
to see trees and plants is healthy. And in addition to the health benefits, parks provide
social benefits as well. A recent study in Chicago showed that crime falls when there
are more green spaces. The study looked at 98 apartment buildings and found that
crime was 50 percent lower around buildings that had lots of trees and green spaces.
Female Student: Why don’t we have more parks then? Are there any drawbacks?
Guest Speaker: I'm sorry? I missed that.
Female Student: I said, what are the drawbacks or the disadvantages to building more
parks?
Guest Speaker: Good question! The chief disadvantages is cost, parks cost money.
Cities have to buy land, and build walkways and play areas; and they have to pay
people to take care of the parks. But here's the thing: We know now that having nice
places where people can spend their free time is very important. It leads to healthier
happier people. And healthier, happier people have fewer problems. So cities don't
have to spend as much money on things such as police and medical care. So investing
money in parks save city’s money and other areas.
Male Student: I have a question. You mentioned some health and social benefits, I
assume there are environmental benefits to parks as well, right?
Guest Speaker: Yes, I’m glad you mentioned that. Parks have also been shown to
lead to cooler cities with better air quality.
Host: Thank you. This is really interesting information about parks. I think there may
still be questions. Do you have time to answer a few more?