Call to Action

For the first time in history, the majority of the world’s population now lives in cities. Urban parks and green spaces of all kinds are now the primary contact point for people everywhere to come together with nature, and to use nature to help meet the most urgent challenges of our time. Yet most city green spaces are still grossly under-funded, under-supported, and disconnected from the very communities that need them most.
Royal Parks, UK
Around the world, in a largely untold story, the urban parks movement is mobilizing tens of millions of people to help city parks and green spaces improve the lives of the world’s people in urgent, new, and lasting ways. Investment in parks and green spaces has proven to have sweeping benefits for communities, including public health and fitness improvements and obesity reduction, strengthened child development and expeditionary learning, expanded crime reduction, job creation, green infrastructure advancement, leveraged expansion of surrounding housing and businesses, new civic pride and community engagement, and community-based efforts to counter the climate crisis.

On the eve of the world’s equinox on September 19, 2009, the 2nd annual World Parks Day, we call upon people all over the world to join hands in showing their support for urban parks and green spaces, and to share photos, videos, and stories from a single day around the globe, documenting Parks for Life: the simple, powerful ways that investing in parks can help the lives of billions of people.