SUMMARY
Introduction
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
report and the Urban White Paper. 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. The brief
divided the research into two strands, which ran in parallel.