Open spaces, parks, playgrounds pay dividends
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Modern society places increasing importance to the availability of good quality recreational amenities, which is seen as beneficial to the physical and mental health and quality of life. The provision of recreational facilities is also believed to contribute to a reduction in crime and truancy and to the development of stable communities. Recreational amenities include indoor and outdoor sports and leisure facilities, children’s playground and open spaces. Sport and leisure facilities should be provided to the public.
The strict development control process provides opportunities to create new public open spaces, which should include active recreational facilities, such as sports pitches, in addition to areas for passive recreation and children’s play. In addition to providing for recreation, open spaces provide visual breaks between and within residential areas and, in addition, can contribute to the development of green chains or networks, which allow for walking and cycling. Private playgrounds and institutional lands can also contribute to the city’s open space network.
Urban trees and landscapes are assets that require the expenditure of resources—labour, energy, and even water—for their proper management. The question that might be asked, “What is the value of the benefits that are provided by trees? Or perhaps what does society get in return?” What is the value of shade provided by trees that drop temperatures, reduce air conditioner use and reduce carbon emissions? The savings could be between 12 to 15 per cent per annum. Manchester University’s Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in the Urban Environment Project has found increasing green space in cities by 10 per cent reduces surface temperatures by 4°C due to water evaporating into the air from trees and other vegetation (Fisher 2007). The presence of shady trees can increase the useful life of blacktop pavement by at least 30 per cent, which can be of considerable value in the hot climate of Dhaka.
Mature trees have a significant place in urban landscapes and they must be managed to ensure that they remain healthy and fulfill the full potential of their lifespan. Trees and roadside ecosystems are assets that fix carbon, provide shade, filter air and protect from wind, just to mention a few of the obvious benefits. Are these benefits properly considered for road related projects where a balance of safety, cost and the environment has to be achieved?
Parks, playgrounds and open spaces help keep people fit and healthy. All people need physical activity to maintain fitness. Physical activity increases strength, flexibility, endurance, and relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety, improves mood, and enhances psychological well-being. For children, playing is learning which also helps kids develop muscle strength and coordination, language, cognitive thinking, and reasoning abilities. Despite the importance of parks, many of us do not have adequate access to parks and open spaces. Present automobile-dependent patterns of development can discourage health promoting physical activity, such as walking.
Ideally, all households should have access to each level of open space within the hierarchy at an acceptable distance. New public space should contribute to the development of a public domain, which, through the provision of improved opportunities for social interaction and children’s playground, is favourable to the development of communities. New developments contribute to the open space network by the provision of private and public open space. Development control standards should be used to ensure the provision of public open space.
It can be difficult for the government to weigh the ultimate value of creating a park or conserving an open space. Benefits, however, are usually long term and may seem vague when compared to costs. The economic benefits of a park or conservation effort should be considered as an added incentive to the people. Expenditures for parks and land conservation are best understood not as a cost but as an investment that will pay dividends--including economic ones—long into the future. In this regard, policy formulation is necessary:
• Educating the public and decision makers about the economic value of protecting open space.
• Raising political and financial support for more open space preservation.
• Promoting policy changes that will favour open space protection.
• Reframing the dialogue about open space as a benefit, not just an expense.
..........................................
The write, an enginer, can be reached at e-mail: shafiq@iidfc.com
The strict development control process provides opportunities to create new public open spaces, which should include active recreational facilities, such as sports pitches, in addition to areas for passive recreation and children’s play. In addition to providing for recreation, open spaces provide visual breaks between and within residential areas and, in addition, can contribute to the development of green chains or networks, which allow for walking and cycling. Private playgrounds and institutional lands can also contribute to the city’s open space network.
Urban trees and landscapes are assets that require the expenditure of resources—labour, energy, and even water—for their proper management. The question that might be asked, “What is the value of the benefits that are provided by trees? Or perhaps what does society get in return?” What is the value of shade provided by trees that drop temperatures, reduce air conditioner use and reduce carbon emissions? The savings could be between 12 to 15 per cent per annum. Manchester University’s Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in the Urban Environment Project has found increasing green space in cities by 10 per cent reduces surface temperatures by 4°C due to water evaporating into the air from trees and other vegetation (Fisher 2007). The presence of shady trees can increase the useful life of blacktop pavement by at least 30 per cent, which can be of considerable value in the hot climate of Dhaka.
Mature trees have a significant place in urban landscapes and they must be managed to ensure that they remain healthy and fulfill the full potential of their lifespan. Trees and roadside ecosystems are assets that fix carbon, provide shade, filter air and protect from wind, just to mention a few of the obvious benefits. Are these benefits properly considered for road related projects where a balance of safety, cost and the environment has to be achieved?
Parks, playgrounds and open spaces help keep people fit and healthy. All people need physical activity to maintain fitness. Physical activity increases strength, flexibility, endurance, and relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety, improves mood, and enhances psychological well-being. For children, playing is learning which also helps kids develop muscle strength and coordination, language, cognitive thinking, and reasoning abilities. Despite the importance of parks, many of us do not have adequate access to parks and open spaces. Present automobile-dependent patterns of development can discourage health promoting physical activity, such as walking.
Ideally, all households should have access to each level of open space within the hierarchy at an acceptable distance. New public space should contribute to the development of a public domain, which, through the provision of improved opportunities for social interaction and children’s playground, is favourable to the development of communities. New developments contribute to the open space network by the provision of private and public open space. Development control standards should be used to ensure the provision of public open space.
It can be difficult for the government to weigh the ultimate value of creating a park or conserving an open space. Benefits, however, are usually long term and may seem vague when compared to costs. The economic benefits of a park or conservation effort should be considered as an added incentive to the people. Expenditures for parks and land conservation are best understood not as a cost but as an investment that will pay dividends--including economic ones—long into the future. In this regard, policy formulation is necessary:
• Educating the public and decision makers about the economic value of protecting open space.
• Raising political and financial support for more open space preservation.
• Promoting policy changes that will favour open space protection.
• Reframing the dialogue about open space as a benefit, not just an expense.
..........................................
The write, an enginer, can be reached at e-mail: shafiq@iidfc.com