Across Britain, 2.78 million people live further than a ten-minute walk from their nearest park or green space. That’s the finding of the latest Green Space Index which reveals that, despite their vital role in the nation’s wellbeing during lockdown, our much loved local parks are not equally accessible to all.
The Green Space Index was launched by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at an event at Starbank Park in Edinburgh. The event was one of a number of projects with a positive effect on climate change that The Duke and Duchess have visited across Scotland. Urban parks and green spaces boost air quality, support habitats and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Green Space Index is Fields in Trust’s annual barometer of publicly accessible local park and green space provision. First launched in 2019, this third release once again highlights the inequities in provision across Britain. Despite their value for health, wellbeing, community and environment, some parts of Britain have access to half the green space as others – Scots enjoy 38.18 sqm of provision per person whilst for residents in London the figure falls to just 19.53 sqm.