Most people can vividly recall their childhood years: running around with friends in playgrounds, chasing one another in games of catch or playing hide-and-seek while their parents sat on nearby benches, enjoying the fresh air and getting to know one another. It is unfortunate that, due to recent urban developments, people nowadays are increasingly having to accept the loss of these spaces, as playgrounds, parks, and other areas of public land are continuously being demolished to make way for housing and commercial developments. What threat does this pose to us? What can the state do to mitigate this problem?
To begin with, I would like to say that the gradual disappearance of open public spaces affects both our physical and mental health. In the contemporary world, taking away parks from our daily life means that we will have less space for walking, running, and playing sports, as this is the most common way the space is used by adults. Moreover, not having a place where you can calmly take a stroll pushes people to adopt a more sedentary life, which is directly linked to the depletion of our physical well-being. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that this change particularly affects children. Playgrounds are places where young people go to spend their leisure time with their friends, cheerfully spending time outdoors instead of staying at home playing on their electronic devices.
Furthermore, parks are not only a place for physical development it is a location where people interact, get to know to each other share their interests. Removing them can make communities less connected.
After reading the aforementioned information, you might get a question: what can the government do in this situation? How are they supposed to help? The state can easily enforce laws to protect the existing green spaces by restricting developers from building on certain areas. Another alternative solution is to require a minimum amount of open space in every new development so that people can have space to interact. If a development genuinely needs to use public land, developers could be asked to create an equivalent public space somewhere else.
Overall it can be clearly seen that the loss of public space affects both our physical and mental stability and their sences of community. However, governments can help to prevent this by protecting existing public areas and requiring new developments to incorporate sufficient parks and recreational spaces.