Can you put a price on a walk in the park?

Well, no, not exactly. However, you can use a variety of data and metrics to figure out the value that parks and other public green spaces bring to society. And this can inform decisions on investment, maintenance and development of services.

At Vivid, we were commissioned by the GLA, National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund to complete the most comprehensive study ever into the economic value of London’s public parks. As it turns out, London’s public green spaces bring at least £5 billion worth of value each year. That is £27 of value for every £1 spent by tax payers, equivalent to all the Council Tax paid in London.

Our figures were calculated by looking at the monetary value of public green spaces in relation to people’s physical and mental health, recreation and amenity, together with services of carbon and temperature regulation.

Our team of economists have formulated credible estimates that Londoners avoid £950 million a year in health costs thanks to accessible public green space. Parks create opportunities for people to exercise, socialise, relax and enjoy being part of the community. In doing so, people improve their physical and mental health. This total cost is made up of £580 million per year by being in better physical health and £370 million from better mental health.

But why is putting a monetary value on green spaces worth doing?

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, economists were preoccupied by how natural resources and their potential scarcity (such as the amount of productive agricultural land and coal reserves) would impact on the economy and humanity. The most famous example of this is the work by Thomas Malthus, who predicted that population growth would eventually lead to critical scarcity in resources. However, the crisis warnings didn’t materialise as technology improved, and economists spent less time studying problems related to the management and maintenance of natural assets.

More recently, the concept of natural capital has put the appropriate management of nature back on the agenda, and in urban areas, it relates to top policy priorities such as health and wellbeing. Green spaces are essential urban infrastructure that should be placed at the forefront of urban management and planning.

Until now, the value of green space was missing from the accounts of those who manage them. This puts good decision making at risk given competing demands on public budgets. These credible estimates of real economic value will help London Boroughs, the GLA and developers to make better decisions for the future wellbeing of residents and put the city’s environment at the forefront of policy making.