What are Urban Green Spaces? And why are they essential for your wellbeing?

Life is always moving in the cities, the bustling streets, and the murmur of urban life, choke us mentally. In the middle of all these, green spaces seems to be nothing less than a sanctuary. Urban green spaces can be anything from parks, gardens, rooftop green galleries etc., they don't act like just an extra decor to the surroundings but also play a pivotal role in our mental, physical well-being.

What Mental and Physical benefits do Urban Green Spaces have?

It is not a new discovery that people living in cities deal with anxiety and stress. These modern ailments can be cured with green spaces which act like antidotes.

Stress Reduction

Many researches have shown that spending at least 20 minutes in a park, whether jogging, watching birds, or just sitting idly, evidently reduces stress. The sound of the birds, the branches swaying slowly with the breeze, and the calmness of the green shades add a therapeutic value to our chaotic minds.

Improving Physical Health

You will see people in the park of the field doing physical activities, some doing jogging, cycling, yoga, or even casual strolling. Sometimes even though people don't even go with the intention to do those, however, these green spaces somehow encourage us. These activities improve our cardiovascular health, boost our fitness, and also fight against obesity if this is done regularly.

Immunity Booster

What good has done to someone sitting inside a mundane cubicle in some 20th-storied office building, except it pays your bills, but, what about your immune system? Spending time in such green spaces, we expose ourselves to nature, light, and fresh air, which all play vividly to maintain vitamin D levels, and actively check the inflammation within the body. So next time you feel stressed, go for a stroll to your nearby park it will surely uplift your mood.

Not only us, cities need green spaces too

Urban green spaces selflessly support our cities in many ways, they are called the "lungs of the city".

Improving Air Quality

We all know how trees absorb carbon dioxide and suck away the pollutants that are harmful to us, they all act like air purifiers without any charge. Air pollution is a serious challenge in urban space, this is where green spaces help in mitigating the problem. so plant as many trees as possible, cause you will be helping yourself only by doing that.

Reducing Heat Island

Concrete structures are the villains that create these urban heat islands, as they absorb a lot of heat within them, which increases the temperature of the locality. To reduce such effect of those heat pockets green spaces are the only effective way out. They also provide shade for people to get that little relief during intense summer heat.

Supporting Biodiversity

Having you ever seen flock of birds spending their time on or around those concrete buildings? Trees are the place where you going to find them. This is not a hard thing to understand that green spaces, trees, and plants play a good role for birds, pollinators, and also other animals, that's like maintaining a habitat for those city dwellers who aren't humans. Green spaces whether small or big support varied ecosystems both macro and micro and that too within the cities.

Social Benefits of green spaces

Urban green spaces work selflessly towards the community as well.

Bringing communities together

These green spaces act like natural stages where people from different backgrounds and places can come and interact, build relationships, talk about their experiences, etc. Community engagements like picnics, local programs, sessions, etc bring individuals together, this creates a sense of collectiveness. and togetherness.

Eliminates social isolation

Such social gatherings serve the purpose for someone to feel included. People sharing experiences, and interacting face-to-face with each other pulls us out from the digital shackles. This eliminates the feeling of isolation and loneliness. So go for such engagements next time you see them happening around, it will be a plus for your social well-being.

urban green spaces adds economic value

Increases property value

Any real estate buyer seeks open spaces in front of their bedroom window or a view of greenery from their drawing room balcony. Properties near parks or such green spaces get their value increased. This greenery adds to the living experience and also pours some aesthetic appeal as well.

Support to local businesses

You will always see a park surrounded by local vendors, stalls, or small markets, you might even locate cafes installed facing the park, all because such spaces are tourist attractions. So in a way, urban green spaces support and boost the local business's economy.

The benefits of green spaces are not only limited to these there are plenty, but we often fail to realize them, cause we don't actively try to preserve them. We collectively need to take care of them so that these spaces can live within the cities and add up to life.

So why not join communities for planting trees, and keeping the spaces clean, you can also take a small step by installing a tiny garden on your balcony!

Urban green spaces are not just recreational places they are a need, protecting and supporting such spaces will not only make the city greener, but it also helps the city to breathe.