Creating Safe Park Environments
to Enhance Community Wellness
People seek out parks because they provide
contact with the natural environment and a social
environment which offers opportunities for meeting
with friends, watching others and being seen –
all of which help to establish a feeling of comfort
and security.
Well-designed and well-used parks and recreation
areas are a great asset for local communities. But that
asset can quickly become a liability
when parks become unsafe and as
a result, lose their value and benefit
to the community. Keeping park and
recreation facilities safe is a key to
community wellness and has a direct
relationship to their usage rate.
Research by The Citizens’ Taskforce
on the Use and Security of Central
Park found that there was a direct
relationship between the level of park use and the
perception of security: the larger the number of
visitors involved in positive activities, the more likely
that anti-social behavior was deterred. The taskforce
linked recreational programs with improved security
by suggesting that an emphasis on expanded
recreation initiatives will encourage greater use and
ultimately create a safer park environment.
The Solution to Park Safety: More than Design
Addressing the issue of safety in parks and open
space is a complex task. The problem cannot be
solved by design alone or by any one single action.
What is required to create and maintain safer park
spaces is an integrative strategy involving design,
programming, maintenance and citizen involvement.
The key finding in park safety research shows that
there is a connection between park and reccreation
use and safety: where people use parks in a positive
way and in substantial numbers, all people feel more
secure.
The factors that explain these findings emphasize the
importance of greenery in improving community and
personal wellness. Time spent in natural surroundings
relieves mental fatigue, which in turn relieves