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Natures Prescription: How Green and Blue Urban Spaces Boost Health.

  • Audrey Bresar

    • Concrete and steel dominate urban centres around the world, and it is easy to forget the profound impact that nature has on our health. As the urban landscape changes and the pressures of modern living grow, ensuring blue (water) and green (vegetation) spaces are prioritized is crucial to our well-being. Access to parks, gardens, ravines, ponds, lakes and other outdoor spaces is an important part of urban life, not because they add beauty and nature but because they help our health. 

    Stanley Park
    Stanley Park, Vancouver

    Over 80% of Canadians live in urban areas; that’s 31,863,601 in 2024. As our cities grow, planners must pay attention to preserving or creating blue and green spaces.

    The connection between nature and human health isn’t a new notion, but as urban sprawl continues and populations increase in the country’s largest cities, the importance of these blue and green spaces to our mental, physical, and emotional well-being is fundamental. 

    What are Blue and Green Spaces?

    According to Public Health Canada, green and blue spaces refer to a variety of public or private spaces that can be natural spaces, open spaces, or engineered spaces. These spaces can include:

    Did You Know?

    Cities like Paris, Seattle, Glasgow, Istanbul, Curitiba, Yangzhou, Kanazawa, Barranquilla, Iloilo, Cape Town and Toronto serve as role models in the UN’s Generation Restoration program that is working with 8 cities globally in supporting urban ecosystem initiatives.

    Impact of Green and Blue Spaces

    Living in the heartbeat of the city means you’re close to employment, shopping, arts, entertainment, and culture. It can be dynamic, a constant whirl, busy with lights, motion and hum of traffic. But it can also be isolating, stressful, and draining. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and other health problems such as heart disease and cognitive decline. Green and blue spaces can heal our emotional, mental, and physical selves. No one wants to live in a concrete world, void of colour, foliage, water and places to connect.

    Toronto park

    When I lived in a condo, my refuge was the green and blue spaces around the city, for my well-being and my children’s. These spaces breathed life into us. We ran, played, explored, and enjoyed being part of a living organism versus the inanimate landscape of our condo. 

    Today, I live in a part of the city where the five-minute drive to the highway can take 30 minutes. My retreat is the urban oasis I created in my yard, complete with a water feature and foliage that helps me recharge away from the din of city living. When I feel like moving, I make my way to a nearby 10 km trail covered with mature trees, gravel paths, and some benign wildlife that takes me along the city’s busiest corridor without one reminder of being smack dab in an urban centre. 

    Green and blues spaces promote and maintain quality of life by: 

    Staying physically active helps prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and the green spaces provide safe areas for activity. During the pandemic, these green spaces helped with mobility for residents without sufficient space or yards to move around in. Green spaces also support “active commuting”, such as walking, cycling, or skating to work like the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

    Green spaces in the cities we live in is essential. Learn more about why and how cities across Canada and the globe are prioritizing your health.
    Rideau Canal, Ottawa
    Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto. Photo courtesy of Friends of Trinity Bellwoods Park

    Green space serves as community gathering spots that enhance social interactions and contribute to community pride and a sense of belonging.  These spaces allow residents to gather and connect after a long day. Green space serves as a community gathering spot that builds and strengthens community ties. Trinity Bellwoods Park in the heart of Toronto is an excellent example of strengthening community ties, as the surrounding area is densely populated and has little green space. 

    During Covid-19 we saw the benefits of green and blue spaces. Confinement in homes, feelings of isolation, and restricted mobility contributed to the overall stress many people were experiencing.  Individuals used these spaces for fresh air, physical exercise, social interaction (6 feet apart), and a break from the uncertainty of what lay ahead. They helped foster community bonding and underscored the importance of green space as vital to our mental and physical health and resilience. 

    Green Spaces in Canadian Cities

    Ideally, green space should be a close walk from those living in urban centres for convenience and accessibility. Golf courses, school yards, and even beautiful tree-filled cemeteries count as spaces that improve health and well-being. Look around your neighbourhoods for these spaces and trade the concrete for grass or water for a few moments.

    You can find some fantastic green spaces across Canada that can help you relax, reset, and reconnect. 

    Despite Toronto being the largest city in Canada, the city has some beautiful green and blue spaces to enjoy. Cool off at:

    In Vancouver, take advantage of nature’s playground at:

    A Montreal, rajeunissez-vous à:

    In Calgary, use the rugged terrain for physical well-being at:

    In Regina, connect with friends at:

    In Winnipeg, escape from the rat race at:

    In Halifax, go for a walk or run at:

    In St. John’s, make memories with friends at:

    In Charlottetown, slow down and enjoy the beauty at:

    In Frederickton, get your step count in at:

    In the Yukon, NWT, Inuvut, relax in nature at:

    Canada has committed to creating six new urban parks by 2025 in Edmonton, Halifax, Saskatoon, Victoria, Windsor and Winnipeg, with an additional nine by 2030. If you live in these cities, look for these new spaces to bring you out of the grey and into the green!

    Green and blue spaces contribute to mental, physical, and social health. As our cities become more dense, more concrete, and more rushed, creating places of respite is crucial. While our cities continue to grow, we must balance the grey with the green and blue. A healthy environment is the foundation of a healthy society. 

    Humber Bay Park West Toronto

    ~Read more from The Health Insider~

    The information provided on TheHealthInsider.ca is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. TheHealthInsider.ca advises consulting a medical professional or healthcare provider when seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.

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