A new study has found that only 15 per cent of Bahraini households have access to a park within 400 metres of walking distance ... with plans afoot to expand the number of green spaces as part of a strategic planning exercise.
It also shows that most parks in the kingdom have less than 30 per cent green cover. Green cover and open spaces provide natural cooling of air and surfaces and support water management in urban areas, experts suggest.
The preliminary findings are part of a nationwide assessment being carried out by the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) Bahrain, in partnership with the Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry and Budaiya Hub.
It aims to improve community usage and well-being, as well as to support future plans of outdoor spaces.
It focuses on three areas:
- accessibility
- comfort
- green cover
“The assessment will derive key recommendations to improve accessibility and quality of public spaces in Bahrain,” UN-Habitat Bahrain head Dr Fernanda Lonardoni said in a statement. “As part of the initial findings, it recommends increasing the allocation of land to parks to foster greater community well-being, social cohesion and environmental sustainability and to create more urban communities in Bahrain,” she added.
A total of 30 volunteers have made onsite visits to 154 parks in the kingdom.
They collected data through a customised questionnaire to gather information on physical facilities, accessibility and ecological aspects and usage patterns of the parks. “Parks and green public spaces are an important aspect of urban life in Bahrain,” Dr Lonardoni said, adding that improved accessibility could contribute to enhancing the environment as well as improve physical and mental health in the community.
Budaiya Hub’s Find Us at the Park project lead Narjes Khalil believes that studies of this nature will add to the growing realisation that outdoor areas need to be enhanced and added to.
“We are proud to have been able to mobilise volunteers through our Find Us at the Park project to support the national assessment. As a community-driven hub, we are committed to enhancing the comfort and green cover of parks across the kingdom, and we look forward to the improvements that can be made to Bahrain’s public spaces,” she added.
The assessment is part of a broader spectrum of projects by UN-Habitat Bahrain, in collaboration with Bahrain’s government, to improve sustainable urban development, promote and transform urban systems and enhance public and green spaces.
Results will be completed by the end of this year and will include design solutions for public space development involving the community.
The UN-Habitat Bahrain and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a comprehensive strategy last month to boost the role of local public nurseries in support of Bahrain’s National Afforestation Plan and incentivise community engagement in urban greening.
The insights gathered during the mission will lead to a set of strategic recommendations to enhance the supply chain system and identify the most effective contributions of public nurseries to the National Afforestation Plan.
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