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More can be done 'to make cities greener'

03 January 2009

More money needs to be put into increasing the amount of accessible green areas in towns and cities, it has been suggested.

GreenSpace, a registered charity which works to improve parks and green spaces, says that in recent years funding of this kind has been reduced.

David Tibbatts, general manager, claims that there has also been a loss of park keepers which also puts people off enjoying outdoor public spaces.

"In many more cases it isn't the quantity of green space that is the problem, but the quality and accessibility of the space," he said.

"Many of the features and facilities that encourage visits and support healthy activities (tennis courts, pitches, play areas, cycle and footpaths, have either been lost completely or are declining in standard as parks budgets have been squeezed for many years."

He added that poor urban design was also to blame for the difficulty which many local people have in accessing parks as "pedestrians play second fiddle to car drivers".

Medical journal The Lancet, found that populations that are exposed to the greenest environments also have the lowest levels of health inequality related to income deprivation.