Why parks could be considered the most important part of the city
Ella Winbolt, a student from Bath Spa University’s Journalism & Publishing BA course writes inspired by Sydney Gardens in Bath.
People, especially those who live in cities, often take the green spaces they have for granted; using them regularly but not appreciating just how beneficial they are to the city and to the people who live there. With physical and mental health benefits including improving short term memory and the importance to the city itself by reducing crime, parks are extremely important in urban environments. An example of a city park that provide all of these important benefits is Sydney Gardens in Bath, which is currently undergoing its Park Restoration Project.
The health benefits
By spending some time of your day at your city’s green space, you will be greatly benefiting from the mental and physical advantages that the outdoors has to offer. These include reducing stress, blood pressure and anxiety, improving eyesight and sleep, boosting creativity and focus and it can also help fight depression. The vitamin D that you get from the sunlight is good for your immune system which means you have improved immunity from diseases, health blog Better You reports.
The benefits of a natural setting to the body and mind is what inspired the Japanese practice, ‘Shinrin Yoku’ also known as ‘Forest bathing’. This relaxation process is where by simply being calm and quiet amongst the trees, observing nature around you whilst breathing deeply, can help de-stress and boost health and well-being in a natural way.
Importance to cities
Parks aren’t just important to the people themselves, they’re also crucial to the city. Green spaces such as Sydney Gardens could be described as the ‘lungs’ of the city as the trees and vegetation produce oxygen which helps to fight against pollution, control temperatures and humidity. They also block out traffic noise to make the parks a peaceful place in the busy urban environment. Parks also encourage biodiversity in cities, they act as an oasis for wildlife such as birds, squirrels and foxes, who make the parks their home. Park volunteer and Bath Natural History walk leader Lucy Starling, has recently made a podcast about learning birdsong in Sydney Gardens. You can listen to the podcast here.
Parks also create a sense of community; they offer as social places for people to meet and are often the venues for cultural and recreational events. Sydney Gardens for example, has been known to hold firework displays and concerts. The increased community engagement caused from green spaces has a knock on effect of creating a safer city. Thought to attract deviant behaviour, studies have shown that cities with parks have a reduced crime rate as people in those communities protect and look out for each other.
Lastly, one of the key roles which parks provide to cities is tourism. Parks can offer as an attraction and encourage visitors to the city. Some famous parks which are seen as attractions include, Hyde Park in London, known for its famous Achilles Statue and the Serpentine Bridge and the most famous of all, Central Park in New York, which attracts a massive 25 million visitors each year.
Sydney Gardens
Sydney Gardens is an excellent example of why green spaces are important to cities. Not only because of the health and social benefits it provides to the people and visitors of Bath, but also because of it’s historical importance which makes the park a tourist attraction. Situated behind the Holburne Museum, it’s one of the few remaining eighteenth-century pleasure gardens in the UK and the oldest park in Bath. Sydney Gardens has been visited by members of the Royal family over the years and, of course, the famous author Jane Austen who lived directly opposite.
Due to the beloved park’s importance to the city, Sydney Gardens has recently begun it’s £3.4 million makeover, funding awarded to them from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The park restoration project is using the funding to restore some of the historic buildings such as The Loggia and aims to be completed by March 2022.
The restoration project shows the amount of effort and funding that is being put into the park by the B&NES Council to keep it loved by local residents and to prevent it from becoming run down and unused. This highlights its importance to the city of Bath and the significant role that parks play in urban environments. Bringing health and physical benefits to its people, and economical and social benefits to the city.
Any views expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily representative of the Sydney Gardens Project team. Although every effort has been made to ensure that all articles are factually correct at the time of writing, we trust that our authors have thoroughly researched their articles.
