City Parks, Lethal or Life-Giving?
Last night, we watched a career-ending movie by director M. Night Shyamalan: The Happening. (Note: if you plan to watch this movie, stop right here, though the movie telegraphs the plot with far more clarity than I will.) What happens is nature goes on a rampage, releasing toxins that make human beings commit suicide by doing stupid things, like lying down in the path of the very tool we use to keep nature in check: a lawnmower. The violence begins in our city parks, where nature, encircled by the press of urban life, strikes back. What bothered me more than a man being turned into garden mulch was the overriding philosophy of nature having a malevolent dark side, a world view that went out with the Middle Ages. So this morning, it is with relief that I read a report from BBC News that even a small amount of greenery near our homes — a park, a garden — will prove not lethal, but life giving. Using records of 366,000 people who died over four years, scientists reported that even tiny green spaces in the areas in which they lived made a big difference in diminishing their risk of fatal diseases.
David Tibbatts, from GreenSpace, a charity which promotes parks in urban areas, said that they were threatened by “decades of decline” in some areas. “The study confirms what we have been saying for many years – parks are important for health and everyone should have access to high quality, beautiful and vibrant green spaces. “Unfortunately, despite the benefits green spaces bring to communities, our research has shown a decline in park services that has spread across more than 30 years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7714950.stm
Charlie Kulander