Full Resource - City of Edmonton

Student Resource
Green Spaces in the City
Green spaces, especially neighbourhood parks,
are important to many people in the city. Green
spaces include these groomed parks, but also
trails, schoolyards, skating rinks, playgrounds,
boulevards and skate parks!
Think
Ahead to
Make It Real
How green is your school
What about your neighbourhood
Green spaces provide people with places to get
together, play and relax. They are natural habitats
for many different plant and animal species. And
you may not know that green spaces not only
provide oxygen, but can actually help cool the
air through transpiration and evaporation on hot
summer days. Green spaces protect the land by
preventing soil erosion and reduce or soften noise
levels in the city.
Green spaces can also encourage people to get
involved with their neighbours and other city
residents! Studies have found that people who live
near common, or public, green spaces have more contact
with their neighbours. Because of this increased contact,
people are more interested in, and concerned about,
supporting each other. They also pay more attention
to how these places look and to problems like litter.
The City of Edmonton’s parks are public green spaces.
This means that everyone in the city can use them.
These public green spaces are shared by community
leagues, schools and school districts, sports organizations
and even entertainment groups.
What do you think are the most
important benefits of green spaces in
the city Discuss these “think alouds”
with your group:
Green spaces benefit the most people when....
If there were no green spaces in the city....
If I could create a new green space,
I would....
Many individual citizens also take responsibility for these
spaces that everyone uses. They volunteer to pick up litter,
make sure they share trails with others and pick up after
their pets.
Make A Better City 113