Green Spaces

Revitalizing Cities Through Soil Health, Green Spaces, and Nature-Based Remediation
Investing in soil health, urban parks, and nature-based solutions for brownfield remediation is essential for creating resilient cities, restoring ecosystems, and improving community well-being.

Not a Walk in the Park: What It Really Takes to Build Green Spaces
Park creation can take decades of perseverance to overcome financial, regulatory, and social hurdles, but the end result for the local community is more than worth it.

Why Social Infrastructure Matters
The pandemic highlighted the importance of parks and public spaces for maintaining both the physical and mental health of urban residents.

How Green Schoolyards Benefit Kids, Cities, and the Climate
Transforming asphalt schoolyards into green spaces with porous surfaces can improve the well-being of students and neighbors and contribute to more effective stormwater management in urban areas.

The Benefits of Walking in Urban Green Spaces
A new study by researchers in Virginia found that walking in a quiet urban setting with shade and greenery can significantly improve mood and reduce stress.

How Pollinators Fight Warming Cities
Researchers are starting to understand how urban bee populations can support healthy green spaces and reduce the urban heat island effect.

Documenting L.A.'s Reclaimed Industrial Sites
Community activists across the city have fought to clean up, preserve, and enhance former industrial sites as parks, community gardens, and green spaces.

Boston Leaders Want A Dog Park in Every Neighborhood
City leaders want to build more off-leash dog parks, partly as a response to the trend of "pandemic puppies" that has led to a sharp spike in urban dog ownership.

The Undeniable Link Between Redlining and Extreme Heat in American Cities
The country’s history of racist and segregationist housing policies is affecting vulnerable low-income communities of color that are bearing the brunt of climate change impacts.

Staying Healthy During the Pandemic
Local parks and green spaces that enable safe social distancing have never been more important to people living in cities. The Trust for Public Land has released a new report showing their importance and the challenges they are facing.

Report: New York City Public Parks Under Stress Due to Budget Cuts and Lack of Private Funding
The private non-profit organizations that support half of New York City's public parks anticipate up to a 60% decrease in funding at a time when people rely on parks more than ever before.

Lessons in Equitable Urban River Restoration
As more cities "daylight" the rivers and waterways formerly interred underground to culverts and stormdrains, a process for ensuring community leadership and equitable outcomes is also coming to light.

Urban Planning Insights From Your Inner Child (or Your Actual Child)
Los Angeles County park planner and parent Clement Lau writes about how 'playing' and parenting has given him insight into the urban environment that he applies in his profession.

Op-Ed: Tech Can Enhance Parks
In the traditional view, nature and digital technology clash. But for many people, tech can offer ways to better engage with parks.

Public Transit May Boost Mental Health
A new study based on an analysis of the residents of Turin, Italy, a city of over 900,000, reveals that walkable access to public transit and urban services benefits mental health, particularly for women and seniors.

Seattle Eco-District Fosters Green Development
In a bid to knit sustainability into large-scale community development, Seattle's Capitol Hill EcoDistrict is exploring several avenues toward greener land use.

Urban Green Spaces Will Make You Happier than Winning the Lottery
A new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology finds that moving to a more-green area can have a long-lasting positive effect on mental health, unlike the short-term jolt from pay rises, promotions or winning the lottery.
Studying the Psychology of Sacred Green Spaces
Over 20 years, the TKF Foundation has funded the creation of dozens of “green refuges from the stresses of modern life”. With $4.5 million in funding for six new projects, they’re out to prove the physical and psychological benefits of such spaces.
Nature Essential to Counteract Modern Life
Richard Louv says we're drowning in a "sea of circuitry" and in desperate need to reconnect with greenery and nature in our living spaces to sooth our souls.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Bakersfield
Standridge Inc.
City of Brookings
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service