The Perks of Parks Through the Lens of Chennai

Recent social distancing guidelines have undoubtedly deepened local appreciation for public spaces as places of respite from otherwise hectic lives. For many, green public spaces (namely parks) have provided a low-risk avenue to connect with nature, meet others in a distanced capacity, and engage in other welfare-enhancing activities. The structures of a capitalist economy may not always see value in providing and protecting green public spaces over developing more commercial spaces, since capital-focused city planners may tend to prioritize economic advancement even at the expense of community wellbeing. In the US, for instance, there are economic and racial disparities in urban access to public green space. This reaffirms the importance of equitable planning of public parks. In their article, researchers Marlyne Sahakian and Manisha Anantharaman demonstrate how green public spaces satisfy a host of human needs by interviewing green space users in Chennai, India. 

Cities in the global South often utilize urban spaces to “project an image of modern, world-class cities” through industrialization and contemporary construction, and therefore tend to de-emphasize the importance of preserving green spaces. Chennai exemplifies this trend: It has the lowest percentage (15%) of green spaces in comparison to all other metropolitan cities in India (Sahakian and Anantharaman 2020). The researchers examine the practice of “visiting the park” through the lens of consumption of space. They assess how such space is “consumed” to satisfy the consumer’s needs, and what human needs are satisfied in this consumption. The conclusion reached is that green public spaces answer a greater multitude of human needs, or at least satisfy human needs with greater accessibility for a greater population, than commercial centers can. 

The researchers conducted interviews with 40 local participants across three parks in Chennai to explore how people of different classes and castes interact with green public spaces, and the different ways in which they derive utility from these places. Most participants agreed that the foremost need that the park satisfied was that of interacting with a livable environment, which connects to coexisting with nature through amenities such as clean air and shady trees. Second, participants felt that the park satisfied a vital need in providing a space for them to engage in personally valuable activities, from laborious exercise to idly passing the time. Further, another important need that participants felt parks satisfied was providing a space for them to actively participate in their community, whether by meeting with friends, playing organized sports, or other activities fostering interpersonal belonging. Thus, green public spaces provide locals with access to “privacy, recreation, relaxation, and livelihood.”

In terms of planning, green public spaces provide respite from urban heat islands by dotting industrial areas with cool, green escapes. They aid urban planners in achieving cooler microclimates using fewer resources. Recognizing this, the researchers implore city planners in Chennai to place a greater value on creating more green spaces as opposed to creating more commercial spaces. This also has universal applications, since global warming capitalizes on existing urban heat islands, disproportionately exposing lower income communities to hotter microclimates than wealthier communities, who have greater access to green spaces and parks. 

However, this is not to say that parks offer a classless congregating space with equal access for all social groups. Elite groups have greater influence over park planning, and are able to establish rules governing who is and is not permitted to enjoy the public space, and in what ways. In Chennai, as the researchers noted, park rules bar vendors from entering the park and only allow them to sell goods outside the park. Additionally, upper caste park interviewees showed disdain for children from neighboring slums playing cricket in the park, but did however admit that such young people did deserve public green spaces to carry out such activities (perhaps echoing the NIMBY-ism ideology ever present in America). Parks in Chennai, and certainly more broadly, can serve to reproduce the societal systems that restrict park-goers in their daily lives.

Beyond just recreation and exercise, parks also play a pivotal role in community-building, and foster spaces where diversely identifying social groups can coexist. It is thus imperative that city planners consider the unique dynamics of neighboring communities, especially its most vulnerable areas, in their park expansion to ensure that parks do not simply reproduce oppressive societal structures and perpetuate classist divides. Although commercial spaces may provide higher personal profits for some, green spaces have greater potential to satisfy diverse needs for various groups of people, and at lower costs.

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Sahakian, Marlyne, and Manisha Anantharaman. 2020. “What Space for Public Parks in Sustainable Consumption Corridors? Conceptual Reflections on Need Satisfaction through Social Practices.” Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 16, no. 1: 128–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1788697.