Image credit: PPH
In Europe the recommendation is that every household should be within 500m of an arm of the green network, allowing access to green with a 45 minute walk. The 10 minute walk to the park in the USA is an initiative to provide green space within a 10 minute walk of every citizen. The City of Melbourne, Australia, sets the maximum distance to a park at 300m in their Open Space Strategy. City planning and policy is critical to ensuring accessibility to high quality green space for all citizens. Green space should be functional, attractive, varied, inviting, and well maintained.
City planning and policy is critical to ensuring accessibility to high quality green space for all citizens. Green space should be functional, attractive, varied, inviting, and well.
Children between the ages of 6 and 11 are the most dependent on their direct living environment for fulfilment of their daily outdoor physical activity. Provide formal and/or informal play areas for these age groups at the local level to encourage more outdoor play. Safe routes to play areas are important as well as safe transitions between street and play areas. Prevent children from running into the street and keep play areas highly visible.
The elderly and people with a lower socio-economic status have less opportunities to seek green elsewhere. Green in the vicinity of their home is essential
Include parks in the rehabilitation of declining neighbourhoods. Remove a housing block and replace it with a pocket park, involving the residents in the process. This, in combination with planned improvements to the remaining buildings, creates a more liveable neighbourhood for the community.
Develop ample parks and usable green spaces within walking distance of all residents.
Type of park | Distance from house | Size of Park |
---|---|---|
pocket park | 200 m (4 min. walk) | 0.01 ha - 1 ha |
neighbourhood park | 400 m (6 min. walk) | 1 ha - 6 ha |
community park | 800 m (12 min. walk) | 6 ha - 18 ha |
large urban park | 1600 m (20 min. walk) | 18 ha - 200 ha |
city wide park | 3200 m (up to 30 min. walk) | >200 ha |