Urban green spaces: How to bring nature into our cities

Humans are increasingly moving away from rural areas to live in urban environments. Since 2009, the number of people living in urban centers has surpassed the number in rural areas. This pattern only seems to be continuing, with a mass exodus away from the farm and towards the skyscraper. As populations have shifted toward urban areas, people have become more separated from the natural environment.

Despite the apparent disconnect between cities and nature, people who live in cities remain dependent on the natural environment. Aside from relying on plants and animals for the air we breathe and the food we eat, humans also seem to have an inherent need to be in nature. If you’ve ever felt the need to get out of town, away from the buzz of the city streets, and instead surround yourself with the quiet calm of a remote walk in the woods, you’ve felt this pull.

If people are moving to cities but still have the need to connect with nature, is there a way to bring nature to them? Urban green spaces may be the answer! These spaces bridge the gap between urban and natural environments. Urban green spaces can be public parks, community gardens, walking trails, plantings, or any open space that tends to be natural or ‘green’.

Although increasing urbanization across the globe has led to our modern desire for urban green spaces, this concept is anything but new. The ancient Romans had a term for urban green spaces – ‘rus in urbe,’ or ‘the country in the city’ – and they recognized the benefits of having nature inside a more built environment.

Urban green spaces provide a variety of benefits to both people and nature. Green spaces serve as places for recreation, whether this is in the form of soccer fields, walking trails, or paddle boating on lakes. The physical and mental health benefits of being in and living near urban green spaces have been well documented. Some green spaces also serve educational needs and offer nature walks, interpretive programs, or summer camp activities for children. These areas often serve as important gathering places that help build community bonds within neighborhoods. The presence of ‘nearby nature’ has a substantial positive impact on the lives of city-dwellers in notable ways. 

Additionally, urban nature works to help increase the quality of life for people in much more subtle capacities. For example, green spaces help mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on natural ecosystems. Soil and plant life in urban green spaces can store carbon. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, but when carbon is stored in plants and soil, it is not released into the atmosphere.

When natural landscapes are converted into large metropolitan areas, the amount of impervious surfaces – built areas that are water resistant – increases dramatically, which has far-reaching consequences. If water can’t be absorbed into the ground, it can lead to flooding and erosion. Concrete, asphalt, and dark buildings also contribute to an ‘urban heat island,’ which means that the temperatures in cities are generally warmer than in their surrounding rural environment. Urban green spaces help combat all of these problems. Plants absorb water, and their roots hold onto soil and prevent erosion, inhibiting flooding and stabilizing the landscape. Green spaces also regulate temperatures and have a cooling effect, which can counteract the increased temperatures of the urban heat island.

In addition to the subtle ways urban green spaces improve the quality of life for people, they also have a positive impact on urban wildlife. These spaces can help sustain native populations of birds, plants, and other animals, and native plants also create valuable pollinator habitat. 

We need to promote, protect, and preserve our urban green spaces, not only to maintain our connection to nature, but also to ensure that the benefits we get from these spaces continue to exist. The next time you’re walking along a green walkway or heading to your local park, take a moment to think about all the work that green space is doing for us and how we can work to make sure these spaces remain in our cities.

Edited by Lana Ruck and Jennifer Sieben