Parks and green spaces provide around £25.6 billion of 'welfare value' annually to the health and wellbeing of adults in England and Wales each year, a study claims.
Researchers at the University of Exeter have developed a new tool that calculates the economic value of outdoor recreational spaces, based on factors such as their ease of accessibility and cost of making a visit.
According to their findings, Hyde Park in London, Sutton Park in Birmingham and Blaise Castle in Bristol are the top three most valuable recreation sites across England and Wales.
Hyde Park is by far the most valuable recreation space, with an estimated worth of £24.1 million, the researchers reveal.
Also in the top 10 are Southampton Common, Croxteth Hall in Liverpool, Bute Park in Cardiff and Greenwich Park in London.
According to their findings, Hyde Park in London, Sutton Park in Birmingham and Blaise Castle in Bristol are the top three most valuable recreation sites across England and Wales.
Parks and green spaces provide around £25.6 billion of ‘welfare value’ annually to the health and wellbeing of adults in England and Wales each year, according to researchers. Pictured, the most valuable recreation site, Hyde Park in London
Green spaces have already been proven to improve mental health, but researchers highlighted the drastic cuts to the finances of local authorities towards green spaces.
'The size of that benefit stands in stark contrast to the deep cuts in green space budgets across UK councils, cuts that threaten to condemn our green spaces to neglect and disrepair,' said Professor Brett Day at the University of Exeter Business School.
'The huge surge in use of green space during the Covid-19 pandemic shows us just how much importance people put on being able to spend time in nature.
'As we lurch from that calamity into a cost of living crisis that is forcing households to cut spending on recreation activities, the need for good quality, open access green space is more pressing than ever.
'The great contribution of this study is that it puts a figure to the value of our green spaces – £25.6 billion a year.'
The researchers developed the Outdoor Recreation Valuation Tool (ORVal) to assess the value provided by each park, wood, riverside walk, country path and beach across England and Wales.
ORVal takes into account factors such as ease of access by car or on foot, the quality and diversity of the environment in each green space and the socioeconomic characteristics of nearby residents.
It also identifies which residents enjoy the benefits of each green space and when they do so – either in spring or summer, for example.
Key drivers of recreation include the proximity of the site, ease of travel, whether the park is a mix of grass and woodland, and the availability of car parks and children's play areas.
Availability maps showing hectares of managed grass (left) and rivers and lakes (right) accessible across England and Wales
The top 10 most valuable green spaces was topped by Hyde Park with an estimated welfare value of £24.1 million – but individuals in London actually make the lowest number of visits to green space across all regions.
Second-placed Sutton Park in Birmingham had a high estimated welfare value of £15.6 million, followed by Blaise Castle Estate in Bristol with an expected value of nearly
