Parks a smart investment for a green recovery, says report

The Parks Alliance has published a new report which makes the business case for parks, why they matter and why they are a ‘smart investment’.

Parks have suffered from years of underfunding and there remain gross inequalities in access to quality green spaces across the country. During the coronavirus-enforced lockdown parks were quite rightly championed by politicians and scientists as critical to people’s physical and mental wellbeing and people flocked to their local parks to take exercise, relax or just see their neighbours at a safe distance.

The Making Parks Count paper illustrates how parks in England deliver over £6.6 billion of health, climate change and environmental benefits each year including £2.2 billion in avoided health costs alone and worth £140 per year for each urban resident. In fact, for every £1 spent on parks in England an estimated £7 in additional value for health and wellbeing and the environment is generated.

The government is committed to a post pandemic green recovery that is science-led, clean and resilient and will create employment in the industries of the future while ensuring we address the linked challenges of public health, climate change, and biodiversity. Although finalised just before the pandemic struck, Making Parks Count underlines how parks are uniquely placed to tackle these 21st century challenges and provide a significant return for any investment made to kick start the economy post coronavirus or as part of a comprehensive Green Recovery.

Matthew Bradbury, chair of the Parks Alliance, said: “Making Parks Count makes the case for parks. This is the first time that research and evidence of the proven benefits of parks in England has been brought together and a value placed on them at a national level. In doing we have exposed the magnitude of the true value of parks for decision makers in local and central government and across health and environment sectors. This shows why parks are a smart investment. Over the last decade the quality of some parks has fallen, the amount of urban green space reduced and opportunities for seizing these benefits lost. Ensuring parks are part of kick starting the economy and the subsequent green recovery provides an opportunity to turn this around.”