Background
1.1 The vital importance of parks and other urban green spaces in enhancing the urban
environment and the quality of city life has been recognised in both the Urban Taskforce
Report1 and the Urban White Paper2. This Report sets out the findings of research carried
out to inform the work of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce, set up to advise the
government on proposals for improving the quality of urban parks, play areas and green
spaces. It reflects the need for additional research identified in both the Urban White Paper
and the report by the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee of the
House of Commons on Town and Country Parks in 1999. The Department for Transport,
Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) commissioned the work in April 2001 and
appointed the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield to carry out the
research.