Parks

NEXT.cc’s Parks Journeys is under construction. Please share photos and locations of your favorite parks and any important links!Parks are green spaces in the communities in which we live. Within walking distance from our homes, they provide spaces for relaxation, appreciation, and socialization. They are as important as the homes in which we live. Everyone needs parks of different types to spend time outdoors, meet with friends, people watch, attend events like music in the park, play a game of softball or soccer, or just even take a walk in the trees. In many ways, Earth’s nature was an endless park until cities began to settle. While some cities based their development on green squares (like Savannah), Greenways (like Barcelona) or London with its large park areas, New York with its Central Park and squares. Today cities realize that people need parks. Parks can be realized in vacant lots, along the riversides or lake edges, under freeways, and even replace single-story parking lots with indigenous plantings! Parks provide habitats for insects, animals, and indigenous plants. The EU Green Cities legislation asks for 40% of our cities to be porous land filled with parks, indigenous grasslands, wetlands, and forests. Moving toward blue/green cities will change some of our “concrete jungles” into more hospitable environments for all. Parks programs provide for restoring natural habits, renaturing urban areas, and planting and conserving wetlands, grasslands, and forests.