Sustainable Cities and Forest Therapy: The Influence of Urban Parks in Developing Eco-Sustainable Living Environments for Future Cities

Abstract

Cities are facing many essential challenges in terms of creating eco-sustainable living environments, developing sustainable urbanism and achieving sustainable urban form in future city development. One of these challenges is how to solve problems of unsustainable geographical expansion patterns and ineffective urban designing and planning methods that have increased the number of slums areas, unsuitable delivery of basic services inefficient resource use and poverty. The paper explores the influence of urban parks in developing future cities’ eco-sustainable living environments. It argues achieving sustainable urban form today requires a reorientation of the search for new design strategies to respond to the variety of cities’ urban forms and urban context challenges. It debates that managing the heavy dependence on ecosystem services is the main challenge for today’s cities, which results in the depletion of natural resources and biodiversity and the efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change while prioritising public health and quality of life. The research aims to investigate how to achieve sustainable urban form in future cities, as well as to address how to enhance eco-sustainable living environment issues in relation to design and planning. It develops an argument around the topics of city forest therapy, eco-sustainable living environments, sustainable urban form, and the role of urban parks in sustainable cities, and urban parks in Manchester City. The paper adopts mixed research methods to analyse and assess several urban parks around Manchester City. The outcomes of this research endeavoured to understand the impact of urban parks in promoting Manchester City’s urban context eco-sustainable living environments. It also explores the influence of urban parks in developing cities’ forest therapy and creating eco-sustainable living environments in the city’s urban context.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.33.2024.1