One Step in the Right Direction

                                                    (Picture of King George the V Park in POS)

Green Peace

Tall trees dance, winds sing past

Harmonic melodica, rain greets earth from universe part

Tall tees dance.

The fountain flows, in a winding groove a torrential chain

From a top a mountain, down the green plains

The fountain flows.

Nature in harmony, in contentment love of green picturesque

Birds sing, animals count mates nature's own peace in brick 

Nature in harmony.

Green peace, heaven as stars wink and moon so bright up the sky

Sun's yellow rays strike, greet flowers and dance this day.

Green peace! 

                                                             -Charles Jagongo Ogola

This poem just explains the experience of green spaces if they are left to be!

In the last 8 blog posts I looked at unsustainable impacts that cities may be having on the environment and society. But it is very important for me to point out populations, cities and countries are becoming aware of their actions and trying to find ways to curb it. So two blog posts will be dedicated to green aspects of cities. Firstly, I would like to begin this approach with green spaces in the city. Plants play an important role in moderating the impacts of human activities in cities such as absorbing emissions (Hall and Barrett 2012). There are a variety of green spaces present in cities around the world. They are of different sizes, shapes, and types and may include lone plants dotting the city landscape, household gardens, parks or sports fields.  

Green spaces have a variety of benefits that don’t only do well for the environment but they normally give a better standard of living to most people.  Firstly, green spaces provide a habitat for various animals such as: birds, insects, fishes and so on. Also, trees, shrubs and turf filter carbon dioxide, smoke, dust and some other pollutants from the air hence improving air quality in the city. One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air, which is equal to the car emission of 11 000 miles. Improving air quality will obviously slow down global warming because the greenhouse gases are being absorbed and so not circulating in the atmosphere to contribute to the heating but it also improves life for some since, respiratory diseases associated with dust and smoke would be reduced due it not being in the atmosphere in abundance. Also, green spaces can provide shade to those in parks or when walking along streets or pathways. The trees reduce heat build-up by shading heat-absorbing surfaces such as: concrete and tarmac hence reducing the urban heat island effect. Soil erosion is reduced since the trees keep the soil in tact and so there is no removal with rainfall thereby keeping soil particles out of waterways. Water quality is also improved when the plants are taken proper care of chemicals such as nitrates and phosphorus are kept out of waterways by proper landscaping so the environment in those eco-systems are not altered.  Lastly, there is more groundwater retention by soils when rain falls so there is fewer run-offs therefore less flooding to disturb waterway ecosystems and also human populations.

There are various other benefits of green spaces to society besides the fact that respiratory diseases are reduced with the reduction in the amount of dust etc in the atmosphere. Green spaces can foster social contact interaction between adults and children alike. Green spaces promote safer neighborhoods. When residents have more vested interests in a place, their participation in community vigilance increases, and they will watch to make sure it’s not being misused or damaged. These areas provide a better quality of life, one very similar to the countryside but still with amenities that the city offers so they are getting the best of both worlds. Green spaces attract businesses, create jobs and raise property value.

It also strengthens social bonds in places where it is needed. They also provide various opportunities for recreational activities such as: gardening, art, riding bicycles and children playing a variety of games with each other.

There has been a distinction made between two types of green spaces in cities and they are: pedigreed landscapes of formally planned, manicured civic spaces such as: gardens and boulevards and then there is fortuitous, unplanned landscape of the city’s forgotten and neglected cities (Hall and Barrett 2012). There are problems associated with the pedigreed landscapes and they include: theses areas reflect universal settings so they don’t represent the culture of an area or country and also the species allowed to thrive in these areas are limited for both plants and animals since those not wanted is removed and so the diversity is small. These factors listed basically go against some of the reasoning given for benefits of green spaces so what is the point of them? The fortuitous landscapes however, are more ecologically friendly and supports diversity of different species with natural forces at work.

Large urban parks such as Central Park in New York are celebrated and highly valued landscapes but they may have negative impacts on cities (Hall and Barrett 2012). There are a few large sized parks in Port-of-Spain (not as large as Central Park) and they are not connected so species cannot move from area to another. This movement of species between areas is one of the most beneficial characteristics of green spaces and without it the maximum benefits are not achieved. This can be fixed if green corridors or foothpaths are established to allow the species to migrate from one area to another and also we can these paths. The Emperor Valley Zoo in POS has the Botantic Gardens nested in it and this is a large green space but the amount of people that go there increases the amount of traffic significantly especially during vacation time and the benefits of this area may be reduced due to this high traffic volume. Also, some green areas may be associated with crime or violence. The Queen’s Park Savannah, also in POS is another major green space in Trinidad but there is poor lighting at night and no proper police patrol or mobile stations set up nearby so safety of those using this area to exercise or relax is greatly threatened.

Well I have mentioned some of the green spaces already present in POS but there are plans by the POS City Council to establish a green space on 23acres of land in Westmoorings. POS Mayor Louis Lee Sing said with the over development of west POS, insufficient attention was being paid to the establishment of green spaces (De Souza 2013). This idea came about due to the clustering in west POS and so instead of using the land for housing it would be used to create an open space with a play park for children, benches and walking spaces on the property also, the abandoned wells would be good museum artifacts. The proposed name for this green space is West Park Savannah.

As with everything there are both positives and negatives but to get the best results possible a balance must be struck. So to ensure green spaces are sustainable, do their jobs and benefit everyone in the right way the situation must be considered and the right decisions must be made.   

References:

De Souza, Janelle. 2013. Mayor Land for Green Space. Newsday Newspapers. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,171898.html

Hall and Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. 4th Edition. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.