By Tendai Makaripe
Zimbabwean people value the time they spend in city parks, whether walking a dog, thorough soul searching or having a picnic. Along with these expected leisure amenities, parks can also provide measurable health benefits, from providing direct contact with nature and a cleaner environment, to opportunities for physical activity and social interaction.
They are necessities, providing recreation, inspiration, and essential respite from the city’s blare and bustle.
Parks must be available to all of a city’s residents-especially those who do not have the resources to escape to the countryside.
As population shifted to the suburbs after the independence of Zimbabwe, the vision of maintaining and developing parks for all faded with time. Many cities lost the resources to create new parks.
The time has come for Zimbabweans to rededicate themselves to the vision of breathing life into our parks.
Fortunately, Zimbabwe has young people who want to see a change in the country’s parks. Miss Global Zimbabwe finalist 2013, Modesta Mupondi is embarking on a project to help restore the once eloquent and cosmetic status of Harare which had made it gain the “sunshine city” status.
“City parks and open space improve our physical and psychological health, strengthen our communities, and make our cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work.
But too few Zimbabweans are able to enjoy these benefits”
Mupondi, a town planner by profession believes the parks would improve public health, relieve the stresses of urban life, and create a democratizing public space where rich and poor would mix on equal terms.
The 25 year old is in line to meet the mayor of Harare regarding her vision. She has targeted parks in the city which she claims need to have their benches and scenery improved. Chief on her list is Africa U nity Square which has lost its touch over past years resulting in people neglecting it and feeling ashamed to be spotted around it.
“Human beings have a genetic tendency to seek connections with other living things. That should not be taken away from them at all costs. So I am pushing for the renovationing of our parks which have now lost shape,” said the soft spoken model.
A review of ten years of medical records showed that patients with tree views had shorter hospitalizations, less need for painkillers, and fewer negative comments in the nurses’ notes, compared with patients with brick-wall views.
Health studies have also shown that contact with nature with plants, with animals, with pleasing landscapes, and with wilderness offers a range of medical benefits.
These include lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, enhanced survival after a heart attack, more rapid recovery from surgery, fewer minor medical complaints, and lower self-reported stress. In children with attention disorders and in teens with behavioral disorders, contact with nature has resulted in significant improvement.
The benefits of having functional parks extend to psychological health. The concept that plants have a role in mental health is well established according to a review of previous studies by Howard Frumkin in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“Horticultural therapy evolved as a form of mental health treatment, based on the therapeutic effects of gardening. It is also used today in community-based programs, geriatrics programs, prisons, developmental disabilities programs, and special education,” wrote Frumkin.
It is up to the city fathers to embrace this brilliant idea by Mupindu and help restore the once glamorous status of our beloved capital city. We need change in our parks!
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