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Report Examines Health and Social Benefits of Urban Green Spaces | 14 Jul 2010

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has published a report investigating how urban green spaces can help tackle inequality and improve health.

The report 'Community green: using local spaces to tackle inequality and improve health, investigates the relationship between urban green space, inequality, ethnicity, health and wellbeing. It is the largest study of its kind in England.

Examining the impact of the quality of local green spaces on the health and wellbeing of people in six deprived and ethnically diverse areas, it shows that providing good quality local green space is an effective way to tackle inequality.

Key findings include:

1. Green space is a public resource with a proven track record in improving people's health, but too many local green spaces remain unused.
2. People's concerns about safety affect their use of local green space and vary by ethnicity.
3. Improving the quality of spaces will encourage more active use and exercise.
4. Local people are best placed to know what they want from green spaces.
5. The full report can be downloaded at http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/community-green