Appreciating park life

PUBLIC PARKS are one of the few free outdoor facilities that cater in different ways for all ages, and for the interests and …

PUBLIC PARKS are one of the few free outdoor facilities that cater in different ways for all ages, and for the interests and activities of most people. In an age of increasingly sedentary life styles, easy access to the many acres of green space helps people to achieve a better and healthier work life balance, and at no personal cost.

Adults can use parks as centres for active recreation, walking, cycling and jogging, or for passive enjoyment, sitting and watching nature’s seasonal changes unfold. And for children, parks are a playground that provide a great learning experience about nature and the general environment. With the arrival of summer time later this month, and the increase in daylight hours, public parks will remain open longer, and cater for many more visitors. At a time when financial constraints have squeezed family budgets and reduced the spending power of many, public parks were never more necessary. And they have never proved more popular.

Ireland is well served by the number and quality of its public parks. These have adapted quickly to meet the changing needs of users. In recent years, exercise areas for dogs and cycling trails for cyclists are some of the newer facilities that have been introduced. These have greatly increased the overall attraction of parks and boosted the number of visitors. Dublin city council has just adopted a plan to provide free Wi-Fi in some parks in the capital later this year. Three years ago the council built Ireland’s first sustainable city park, Fr Collins park at Donaghmede in Dublin, which is powered by wind.

The social, health and environmental benefits of public parks are becoming ever more apparent and more appreciated. In city centre areas, they help bolster a sense of community, they raise awareness of the environment and they improve the health of those who use the park to engage in some form of physical activity. In the 19th century, public parks were introduced as a means of ameliorating the harsh conditions that prevailed in urban areas, in what was an increasingly industrialised sociey with rapidly rising populations. High levels of air pollution, a lack of green open spaces, and no public recreational facilities then greatly contributed to poor health and ensured people lived shorter lives. Today, the vital importance of public parks is fully recognised. Their greatest use and public benefit lies in bolstering the social health of communities and in helping regular users to live healthier, and longer, lives.