Some interesting information is out on the topic of green space in neighborhoods and the impact they have on community safety. The report, “How Cities Use Parks to Create Safer Neighborhoods,” offers the following:
“For those concerned that green spaces may foster crime and illegal activity, evidence now exists that the opposite may be true. These are the findings of scientists at the Human-Environment Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studied green space alongside public housing in Chicago. Other researchers who are conducting similar studies across the country are finding similar results.”
Key Point #1:
Time spent in nature immediately adjacent to home helps people to relieve mental fatigue, reducing aggression.
Key Point #2:
Green residential spaces are gathering places where neighbors form social ties that produce stronger, safer neighborhoods.
Key Point #3:
Barren spaces are more frightening to people and are more crime prone than parks landscaped with greenery and open vistas.
Key Point #4:
In order to make the best use of greenery and open space, it must be positively incorporated into a community’s design.
Curious? Have clients that might find this a factor in their home search? The entire report is available here:
https://www.planning.org/cityparks/briefingpapers/saferneighborhoods.htm
