Green spaces, or parks and open spaces, are important in people’s lives. It offers the body and mind a place to relax and rejuvenate.

Recently, Senator Sonny Angara recommended that more parks and open spaces be developed as a means to strengthen mental health.  The remark may not have been noted by many as significant but the suggestion actually reflects a pile of research findings showing that those green spaces support good mental health.

The senator, during a hearing of the 2024 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said that the government agency should expand its projects involving the development of parks, recreational spaces and open spaces. It is well known that sitting or walking amid nature benefits the body and relaxes the mind, thus contributing to good mental health.  During the Covid pandemic, people who lived near nature or open spaces had lower levels of stress, studies revealed.

Many organizations related to health, medicine and recreation have cited the same benefits of open spaces and parks.  Two of them – the Center for Disease Control and the National Recreation and Parks Association, both in the U.S. – cite large studies that confirm this.

“Several studies have confirmed that separation from nature is detrimental to human development, health and wellbeing, and that regular contact with nature is required for good mental health”( NRPA).

The same organization, which is also involved in studying the effects of green and open spaces to health, also stated this finding: “Physician-diagnosed depression was 33 percent higher in the residential areas with the fewest green spaces, compared to the neighborhoods with the most.”

Japanese studies on the effects of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing or nature therapy, show one of its direct benefits to health as the “reduction of blood pressure after only 15 minutes of forest therapy.”

Mental health cannot and should not be ignored.  At least 3.6 million Filipinos are suffering from mental, neurological, and substance use disorders, according to data from the Department of Health (DOH).

Urbanization and tight living spaces are factors that contribute to stress that can affect mental health. According to a United Nations report, today, 55 percent of the world’s population live in urban areas, and that will increase by 68 percent in 2050. 

Although mental health demands a long term solution, the development of parks and open spaces in urban planning “will go a long way in improving the physical and mental well-being of our people, particularly those who reside in highly-urbanized areas,” the senator said.

Green and open spaces can make people less confined and will encourage them to go out more, engage in physical activities and interact with people, or socialize, which contributes to good mental health.

If a simple walk through green space can have positive mental health effects, how much more can a day in the park?

Thus, the suggestion of Sen. Angara that DPWH expand its program to develop more parks and open spaces is actually significant and needs more support from the citizens.
Let’s help encourage government to develop more green spaces in our communities.  Let’s start by proposing to our barangay officers to embark on a project to develop an open space instead of another basketball court.