PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Eagles.
The Phillie Phanatic.
Our street signs.
Even a river!
Yes, in Philadelphia, green is everywhere. Especially outdoors.
The city boasts over 10,000 acres of green space, which accounts for nearly 11% of its total land.
So yes, green is very much woven into Philadelphia’s DNA.
“Philadelphia is tremendously green,” said Maura McCarthy, Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization devoted to improving Philadelphia’s parks. “The iconic nature of Philadelphia as a green city really started out right at its inception.
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That’s because William Penn, when he founded Philadelphia in the 1680s, envisioned a “green country town.”
He wanted parks and squares to safeguard the city against the risk of fire, which ravaged his hometown during the Great Fire of London in 1666.
These days, Philadelphia faces an entirely different threat: gun violence.
Kathryn Ott Lovell, the commissioner of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, believes green spaces can be part of the solution.
“It’s really critical,” she said shortly after attending the recent groundbreaking for a $3.5 million project to renovate Fotterall Square in North Philadelphia.
Just a few days earlier, during a gunfight at Mill Creek Recreation Center, a Parks & Recreation worker was killed. The employee was an innocent bystander.
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“We’ve made such significant investments in parks, playgrounds, and public spaces throughout our neighborhoods that need it most, where there hasn’t been historic investment in green space,” Ott Lovell said.
Green spaces offer plenty of other perks as well, says McCarthy.
She pointed to positive environmental ripple effects, like protecting waterways and mitigating air quality concerns amidst climate change.
McCarthy also cited physical and mental wellness benefits, which became increasingly apparent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when, as McCarthy put it, “everything was closed for a long time, except parks.”
Parks are just one of the factors that influence what the color green has come to represent.
“Green symbolizes verdant landscapes,” said Dr. Girija Kaimal, an art therapist who serves as Interim Chair and Assistant Dean at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. “Green symbolizes life. Green symbolizes agriculture. Green symbolizes growth, living beings.”
Kaimal traces associations with green back to the days of hunters and gatherers. Open, green landscapes rarely had barriers, she said, which subsequently fostered a sense of safety and security - two feelings Philadelphians could use more of.
“There’s research showing that [people] who have access to natural surroundings and green spaces have lower stress levels and improved health outcomes,” Kaimal said.
All the more reason for the city to embrace its greenness.