Current Issues and Trends

Parks and recreation organizations are often at the forefront of local government’s response to various environmental and social concerns. For example, parks can be used to fight global warming within cities. Because the surfaces that make up cities such as roads, windows, and walls reflect heat, they create a microcosm of overall global warming. Parks help combat that effect through natural shade and evapotranspiration, which is when plants release water vapor during their natural photosynthesis cycle which has a cooling effect. Parks can also help cool down cities by increasing breeze patterns. The warmer air over city pavement creates lower pressure zones, and the cooler air from parks will move to fill it, creating a cooling breeze. The urban heat effect also increases precipitation over cities. While precipitation does cool and cleans the air; excessive precipitation can increase the risk of flooding. So urban parks also decrease the risk of urban flooding. Trees and other vegetation within parks can also act as carbon and pollution sinks. A study by Project Evergreen showed that only 50 square feet of vegetated turf produced enough oxygen for a family of four. Another study showed that trees also remove substantial amounts of particulates, nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

Parks and recreation organizations also address social concerns that face local governments as well. Aging populations present a special problem for local governments in terms of how to provide the services that population prefers, and parks and recreation departments are the first to cater to changing populations. Parks and recreation organizations can also be used to promote positive lifestyle changes. For example, the Commit to Health initiative spearheaded by the NPRA educated children on healthy eating choices, including the introduction of different fruits and vegetables, new, healthier cooking methods, and the downsides of sugary beverages. Children then took this knowledge home to their families, and encouraged their parents to provide more fruits and vegetables, cook in more healthy ways, and to exercise more. Therefore, parks and recreation organizations can benefit communities in more ways than simply providing spaces for recreation and intramural sports.