Public space creates health
Health is determined by many factors. People tend to be healthier when they have economic stability, live in quality housing and have access to public space and safe, connected communities. In 2020, the NYC Health Department held a series of community conversations with residents and local stakeholders across 26 neighborhoods. New Yorkers shared personal stories about their priorities for building healthier neighborhoods, healthier childhoods and more. This is one part of a three-part series on how housing, economic stability and public space create health.
For most New Yorkers, their backyard isn’t typically a fenced-in lawn or a private patio—it’s the city. Our public space is our streets, sidewalks, parks, pools, waterfront, plazas, subways, beaches, and other places that are open to all. These spaces help us get from point A to point B and offer opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, be active, play, connect with others, and just be.
At its best, NYC public space is clean, safe, pleasant, accessible to everyone and promotes health and well-being for all.
Public space that is designed to reflect community priorities advances equity for all residents, and supports health and well-being.
When streets are designed with everybody in mind—regardless of their age, type of transportation, or mobility—we all benefit.
Covering 8,000 miles, streets make up most of the public space in NYC. Cars and other motor vehicles dominate these many miles of public space. Fifty-five percent of New York City households do not have a car and only 41% of adults report having driven a car in the past 30 days. People in vehicles use most of the space on the roads but people outside of vehicles have the most roadway deaths. More pedestrians die in road crashes than drivers or passengers in New York City each year. In addition, each year there are more than 8,000 emergency department visits for pedestrian injuries. There have been fewer injuries where New York City redesigned streets.
Redesigning streets for safety is a key part of Vision Zero, New York City’s effort to eliminate roadway deaths and serious injuries. As part of Vision Zero, pedestrian safety initiatives like Safe Streets for Seniors study crash data, conduct outreach, and develop ways to increase safety for all road users.
Designing streets for people walking and biking—not just driving—can improve safety.
In areas with more bike safety infrastructure (including bike lanes and protected bike lanes), we see more people traveling by bike and lower rates of bike injuries. This is the case in Manhattan, which has more than double the number of bike lanes as Brooklyn and a correspondingly lower rate of bicycle injury ED visits. Boroughs have similar percentages of bike commuters.
New Yorkers own fewer cars than people in many other U.S. cities. That means our streets and sidewalks provide a special opportunity (and responsibility) to make active forms of transit like walking, biking, and e-biking more dependable, functional, and appealing. The Active Design Guidelines provide evidence-informed strategies to promote health through the design of the built environment. The guidelines help designers and planners think about the best way to design streets and the public realm to make it easy, safe, and comfortable to cycle, walk, and use other forms of active transit to get around. This includes infrastructure like protected bike lanes and well-maintained sidewalks, which provide all New Yorkers, regardless of identity or ability, connections and access to the city’s plazas, parks, and other open spaces. The guidelines align and build upon design guidelines and ongoing initiatives at NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and NYC Parks. The NYC Pedestrian Mobility Plan incorporates pedestrian needs into different street types to create a more comfortable and convenient experience. The NYCStreetsPlan addresses street safety through inspections, and additional, better-protected bike lanes.
Lowering levels of air, noise and light pollution from roadway and commercial activity help us stay healthy in our shared environment.
Neighborhoods closest to highways are impacted by increased noise and air pollution and experience long-term consequences from the fracturing of communities that resulted from highway construction. Community-informed impact studies on highways like the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) and the Cross Bronx Expressway (CBE) will work to mitigate the degree of these negative effects. They aim to increase connectivity and resource access for those living close to a highway while reducing exposure to noise and pollution.
Though New York City’s air quality is overall improving, air quality can vary between neighborhoods due to a variety of factors, such as traffic levels, heating oil use, tree canopy and local green space. All neighborhoods can benefit from strategic car-free zones, which may look like greenways for bicycle and pedestrian access, and more trees along roadways, since trees clean the air. Policies that reduce vehicle traffic can reduce noise, light and air pollution, and encourage active transit.
Maintaining public space is critical to ensuring that all New Yorkers can use it.
Clean, well-maintained, and attractive public space is essential to maximize the benefits to public health. Broken equipment and seating, and cracked and uneven sidewalks can make public spaces feel unsafe; trash, pests, and unsanitary items on the streets and in parks can spread disease. This can discourage neighborhood residents from playing in these spaces, impacting their mental health. Parks also need to be well-maintained, and have enough waste bins, public restrooms, and water fountains to support activities like fitness classes, sports and community events. The NYC Parks, Transportation, and Sanitation Departments work together to find and resolve maintenance issues. Residents can call 311 to report unresolved maintenance issues.
Public space should be designed with all New Yorkers in mind.
Seven percent of New Yorkers have a disability that affects their ability to walk. Smooth and even sidewalks, paths and streets, well-placed pedestrian ramps (including curb extensions from the sidewalk into the street), and elevators are necessary for all New Yorkers to use public space safely and efficiently. NYC’s Department of Transportation is working on upgrading and installing pedestrian ramps to make pedestrian space safer and more accessible for all sidewalk users.
Public space has countless benefits and should be inclusive for all. Outdoor physical activity and socialization have been shown to increase brain function, boost confidence and self-esteem, and lower stress in adolescents. Where trees, grass, and shrubs are found, outdoor temperatures are cooler, helping fight the urban heat island effect and making streets and public space more comfortable. Public space designed with gender inclusion in mind helps create a welcoming and safe environment for everyone that visits. Lighting, sight lines, signage, available facilities and other amenities can be designed to meet the needs of visitors of all ages, interests and abilities.
Designing public space for people also means creating parks, pools, and other recreation areas that everyone can access. In most NYC neighborhoods, residents live within walking distance (within a half a mile) to a park. But in some neighborhoods, residents still don’t have this level of access to public space.
As of 2023, 84.6% of New Yorkers live within walking distance to a park. Resources are being directed to increasing the number of New Yorkers that live in walking distance to a park through the Walk to a Park Initiative. Park access is hugely beneficial to everyone, but not everyone feels equally comfortable using this form of public space and many report harassment based on race or housing status.
Feeling safe in public space helps people enjoy and use it.
Whether people perceive their neighborhood as safe can affect how comfortable they feel spending time outside, using parks and using active transit. Perceptions of safety can also affect residents’ mental well-being. People who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are much less likely to perceive their neighborhoods as safe than people who live in low-poverty neighborhoods. Disinvestment can create unsafe conditions over time, which can connect to these perceptions.
NYC’s public spaces are the building blocks of our city and our lives.
Prioritizing community engagement in the planning and development of public spaces is critical to their success. Such engagement builds trust and accountability and is an essential part of environmental justice work because it makes sure that spaces reflect meaningful priorities, lived experiences and local culture.
Additional resources:
To hear more from New Yorkers about how they view public space and health, listen to recordings from the community conversations:
Alexander Thompson/NYC & Company
Published on:
August 19, 2024