The National Park City Foundation (NPCF) calls for support to ‘make London the world’s first National Park City’ describing it as a ‘historic opportunity to improve life in London creating the first national Park City’.
image NPCF website
The NPCF writes
Let’s make London the world’s first National Park City. A city where people and nature are better connected. A city that is rich with wildlife and every child benefits from exploring, playing and learning outdoors. A city where we all enjoy high-quality green spaces, the air is clean to breathe and it’s a pleasure to swim in its rivers. This is a historic opportunity to improve life in London by making the capital #greener, #wilder and #healthier.
The National Park Authorities ensure that our National Parks are valued, enjoyed and protected by working partner organisations, residents and visitors. National Park Authorities have a duty to seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local communities. More than 80% of the UK’s population live in towns and cities. These urban areas now cover 7% of the UK and 10% of England. Think of urban landscapes and what comes to mind are industrial sites, houses, roads and rail lines. But in reality it is a richly woven tapestry of greens and blues made up of gardens, rivers, parks, woodland, nature reserves, canals, meadows, woodland, allotments, streams and lakes. Together with our buildings, these green and blue parts of our cities can be made more valuable, wild and diverse than large parts of our countryside. They can be just as outstanding for their outdoor recreation opportunities and are certainly more accessible. So, why not apply National Park principles to a major city – such as London?
The decision to adopt charitable status has required a revision of some of the elements in the original July 2015 London National Park City proposal. Updates will be posted as the work of the new London National Park City Foundation progresses. The National Park City Foundation is a newly registered charity (Charity no. 1173267) that has been established to help make the London National Park City a success. We are in the process of updating this website to reflect this exciting step forward.
Read the full July 2015 proposal for a Greater London National Park City:
Read the May 2017 update to the proposal, including details of the National Park City Foundation and a change to the political mandate required to make London a National Park City.
See previous NewsBlogs below for background
London: aspiring to be the world’s first ‘National Park City’
