Building Social Resilience Through Parks and Common Recreational Spaces

Abstract

There is an increasing body of research that validates the connection between the quality of the physical environment and human health. In particular, the provision of public parks that are easily accessible to city dwellers is considered highly valuable. Green open spaces, in addition to their environmental benefits, have the potential to increase people’s physical activity levels. With apt designs, parks offer a multi-sensorial environment that stimulates and improves mental health. These multi-tasking spaces also bring about social benefits; they provide opportunities for users of urban parks to interact with other users, and for users to become attached to the area (place attachment). Social interaction and place attachment are thought to contribute toward social cohesion, a collective identity and community support. These are all characteristics of resilient cities. Singapore’s National Parks Board has undertaken a series of research studies in collaboration with medical professionals, that seek to understand these important aspects of social resilience in cities.