Healthy Habitats

Nearly 80 percent of the American population lives in urban areas. Parks of all sizes play an important role in preserving and supporting healthy environments. A network of parks and open spaces that include protected natural lands, ecological reserves, wetlands, and other green areas is critical to providing healthy habitats for humans, wildlife and plants in these densely built places. Natural landscapes are vital to preserving regional ecosystems amid growing cities. 

Reducing Carbon Footprints

Parks also help create human and energy efficient cities that are the best hope for slowing global warming. Linear parks and open spaces make compact living attractive and feasible. Trail networks link individual parks, making them easier to bike and walk. Old rail lines can be transformed into greenways, and gardens planted on rooftops maximize limited space and curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Every tree helps fight global warming by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By absorbing carbon dioxide and pollutants fueling climate change, parks and green infrastructure offset the warming effects on cities, making them cooler.

Measurable Benefits

Parks’ value is calculated through cleaner air and water that improve public health and reduce infrastructure maintenance costs. Trees, shrubs and vegetation purify the air of gases, ozone, and pollutants that cause respiratory problems and corrode and damage buildings. Tree canopies, garden vegetation, grassy areas, and other green spaces in parks capture and filter rainwater, reducing the amount of oil, salt, and pollutants flowing from roads and lawns into nearby waterways. Parks also conserve vulnerable coastal and flood zone areas, reducing the loss of life from storms and surges.  

When combined with a network of strategically planned waterways, urban green spaces transport and store stormwater runoff that could otherwise overpower city sewer systems causing costly flood damage and environmental pollution. This expanding green infrastructure reduces the cost of managing urban stormwater by minimizing the need to build concrete pipes and holding tanks.



City Parks and Global Warming? by Peter Harnik, Trust for Public Land

New England, Benefits of Urban Open Space, Trust for Public Land

The Role of Great City Parks in Great Outdoors America, Peter Harnik and Ben Welle, Trust for Public Land; Catherine Nagel, City Parks Alliance

Measuring the Economic Value of a City Park System, Trust for Public Land