Plants and Green Spaces – their Unique Contribution to Local Communities ` For more information, Please see websites below: ` Organic Edible Schoolyards & Gardening with Children http://scribd.com/doc/239851214 ` Double Food Production from your School Garden with Organic Tech http://scribd.com/doc/239851079 ` Free School Gardening Art Posters http://scribd.com/doc/239851159` ` Increase Food Production with Companion Planting in your School Garden http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ` Healthy Foods Dramatically Improves Student Academic Success http://scribd.com/doc/239851348 ` City Chickens for your Organic School Garden http://scribd.com/doc/239850440 ` Simple Square Foot Gardening for Schools - Teacher Guide http://scribd.com/doc/239851110

1. Plants and Green Spaces –
their unique contribution
to Local Communities
This leaflet outlines some of the research into the beneficial effects of plants
and green spaces on community cohesion, climate change, health and
business. Local authority budgets may be under pressure, but cutting funds
for planting, parks and green spaces could be counter-productive in the mid
to long term. Greening the UK is calling for an imaginative approach to
maintaining planting and greenery in local communities:
Community Cohesion/Big Society
• Parks, gardens, allotments and other green activities provide social capital and
foster community engagement1. Volunteer groups and other local residents could be more
involved in maintenance with support from Councils’ parks departments. This is low cost
and sustainable;
• Involving local residents in decisions on where trees should be planted also encourages
community engagement and liaison and less likelihood of vandalism to newly planted trees
so reducing costs;
• If parks and gardens are not maintained regularly they could incur long-term costs to
rebuild them;
• Buildings with high levels of greenery have experienced 32% fewer crimes2; lower crime
means less expenditure on policing and community liaison in the longer term.
Climate Change & Energy Consumption
• A 10% increase in urban tree coverage will counteract climate change by reducing urban
“heat island” temperatures by 40C over the next 100 years3;
• Plants around buildings save energy, reducing the requirement for air conditioning in
summer by 20-40% and improving insulation in winter4 .
Health
• Providing green space in which to exercise is fundamental to the nation’s health; it
promotes physical fitness and psychological well-being5. An increase
in fitness in just 1% of the UK population is estimated to deliver a social benefit of up to
£1.44bn per year6;
• Significant relief from stress and anxiety can be achieved within 5 minutes when
viewing green landscapes, with positive changes to blood pressure, heart activity, muscle
tension, and brain electrical activity7;
• 20 minutes spent in green settings such as gardens or parks reduces ADHD symptoms8;
• Green space can reduce the incidence and aid the recovery from severe
mental health problems such as depression9,10, perhaps even more effectively than drugs11;
• Air pollution is a significant factor in reducing life expectancy, possibly by as much as
2-3 years12. Increasing urban vegetation is considered to be a key mechanism in improving
urban air quality13.
Economy & Business
• More attractive green space and woodlands improve business prosperity14;
• Green areas reduce employee sick leave by 23%15, improve attention span16, reduce
staff turnover and help attract higher calibre employees17;
• Attractive gardens and the presence of trees increase property values by 5.7%18.

2. References:
1. Alaimo, K. Reischl T.M. and Allen J. (2010). Com-munity
gardening, neighbourhood meetings and social
capital. Journal of Community Psychology, 38:497-514.
2. Kuo, F.E. and Sullivan, W.C. (2001). Environment and
crime in the inner city: does vegetation reduce crime?
Environment and Behaviour, 33: 343-367.
3. Gill, S. E., Handley, J.F., Ennos, A.R. and Pauleit, S.
(2007). Adapting cities for climate change: The role of
the green infrastructure. Journal of Built Environment.
33:115-133.
4. Akbari, H. Pomerantz, M. and Taha, H. (2001) Cool
surfaces and shade trees to reduce energy use and im-prove
air quality in urban areas. Solar Energy, 70:295-
310.
5. Maller, C., Townsend, M., Pryor, A., Brown, P. and
St Leger, L. (2005). Healthy nature healthy people:
‘contact with nature’ as an upstream health promotion
intervention for populations. Health Promotion Interna-tional,
21: 45-54.
6. Crabtree, R., Willis, K. and Osman, L. (2005). Eco-nomic
benefits of accessible green spaces for physical
and mental health: Scoping study. Final Report for the
Forestry Commission. pp56.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FChealth10-2final.
pdf/$FILE/FChealth10-2final.pdf
7. Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito,
E., Miles, M. A., and Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery
during exposure to natural and urban environments.
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11: 201-230.
8. Faber-Taylor, A., Kuo, F.E. and Sullivan W.C. (2001).
Coping with ADD: the surprising connection to green
play settings. Environment and Behaviour, 33: 54-77.
9. Kaplan, R and Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of
Nature: A Psychological Perspective, Cambridge, Cam-bridge
University Press.
10. Kaplan, R. (2001). The nature of the view from
home: Psychological benefits. Environment & Behavior,
33: 507-542.
11. Peacock, J., Hine, R. and Pretty, J. (2007). The
mental health benefits of green exercise activities and
green care. http://www.mind.org.uk/mindweek2007/
report/
12. Künzli, N., Kaiser, R., Medina, S., Studnicka, M.,
Chanel, O., Filliger, P., Herry, M. Horak, F., Puybon-nieux-
Texier, V., Quénel, P., Schneider, J., Seethaler,
R., Vergnaud, J.C. and Sommer H. (2000). Public-health
impact of outdoor and traffic-related air pollu-tion:
a European assessment. The Lancet, 356: 795-
801.
13. Nowak, D.J., Crane, D.E. and Stevens, J.C. (2006).
Air pollution removal by urban trees and shrubs in the
United States Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 4: 115-
123.
14. Wolf, K. (2003) “Public responses to the urban for-est
in inner-city business district”, Journal of Arboricul-ture,
29: 117-126.
15. Bergs, J. (2002). The effect of healthy workplaces
on the well-being and productivity of office workers.
Plants for People Symposium, Reducing Health Com-plaints
at Work, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2002.
16. Wells, N.M. (2000). At home with nature: effects of
“greenness” on children’s cognitive functioning. Envi-ronment
and Behavior, 32:775-795.
17. Whitehouse, S., Varni, J. W., Seid, M., Cooper-Mar-cus,
C., Ensberg, M. J., Jacobs, J. J. and R. S. Mehlen-beck
(2001). Evaluating a children’s hospital garden
environment: Utilization and consumer satisfaction.
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21: 301-314.
18. Tajima, K (2003). New estimates of the demand for
urban Green space: implications for valuing the envi-ronmental
benefits of Boston’s Big dig project. Journal
of Urban Affairs, 25: 641-655.
Greening the UK is the HTA led campaign
to promote the role of plants and open
green spaces in creating environmentally
and socially sustainable communities
Horticultural Trades Association
Horticulture House
19 High Street
Theale
Reading
West Berkshire
RG7 5AH
Tel: 0118 930 3132
Fax: 0118 932 3453
www.the-hta.org.uk