When you hear the word park, what do you see? What scenery are you picturing? Picnic sets? Playgrounds? Commercial aesthetic lighting? Or plants? Well, those are generally correct things about parks, (if you answered dinosaurs, you’re thinking of Jurassic Park). A park is a large portion of land, usually assigned for public use, with the aforementioned features, and more.
There are also smaller-sized ones that are usually regulated by private owners, and there are some with more advanced features, like aquarium tanks, gyms, and planetariums. All in all, parks provide people with places to play sports, unwind, or attend social events. Nowadays, urban parks are commonly dwindling in numbers. However, they still have a huge impact on the community, the economy, and the planet.
If your local area does not have one, here are the following benefits that you are missing out on:
Parks help with your health and wellness
The physical and psychological wellness of the residents of an area needs to be one of the major factors to consider when assessing any element of metropolitan style. If your town is designed or being redesigned to be more about business centers, malls, and more business establishments, it means that your local leaders are not aware of how green areas are helping the residents.
See, people who live in places with parks are generally healthier. Physically active, mentally positive, and are part of the community. Just for the reason that parks and green ways give an area where people can most likely exercise and be around nature without having to deal with car traffic, is already enough. It provides people with an option. If you need to exercise, but cannot afford the gym, hit the park. If you want to think, but do not want to be left alone, hit the park. If you want to spend quality time with your kids, hit the park.
Being under the sun and with nature, somehow gives human beings a relaxing time. One theory behind this is that human beings naturally seek and also prefer places that seem lush and abundant, as those would have been prime areas for finding food before Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution hit.
Hanging out in parks around other individuals, and joining in community projects can also be fulfilling. See, parks do not just assist with the health of a person and benefits the community, it also gives people a sense of purpose and belongingness.
Parks help fight global warming.
All populated areas need to take care of the issue of air pollution. Industrial pollution from building and construction, water pollution from factories, and daily human wastes are all contributing to the planet’s inevitable destruction. In cities where the population is booming, air pollution can easily come to be a major problem. Keep in mind that the more people there are, the more pollution they leave after their way.
Now having public parks are good for the atmosphere to counter air pollution. Since they passively get rid of harmful toxins (CO2) from the air, hence reducing the temperature. Trees and plants remove dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide trapped in the ozone layer, causing the greenhouse effect. Along with a straight filtering system of the air, trees assist in lowering the temperature, making sure that the whole neighborhood gets cool and clean air to breathe.
Parks help with the economy.
Whenever you are looking for new prospects for houses, don’t you find homes near a local park more appealing? That’s the point. Parks attract people, not just visitors, but also homeowners.
If your local government opens up a residential area near a park, expect a surge of inquiries and reservations. The reason will be the same one tourists have for paying more for a beach view. Lastly, imagine your area to have more developed green lands for parks and better road systems for recreational modes of transportation. That means your local town has a progressive residential place for all, and wouldn’t that be enough reason for more people to flock in and move to your city, bringing more business, and money? See, you also need to look at the bigger picture here.
Parks make people that happier and healthier. Its greeneries also help clean the air, and it increases the economic value of the neighborhood, just as a house with more features has a higher resell value. Public parks are for the people, and they are vital to any city that wants to be sustainable, safe, as well as successful.
