| Most of us are familiar with a local park. |
| We spend time there, play there, and have some of our best memories in these places. |
| But what is a park? |
| Basically, it can be defined as a natural, or at least semi-natural, piece of land, |
| planted with a variety of trees, bushes, and flowers, |
| protected and reserved for the enjoyment of all citizens. |
| There are usually regulations about the sorts of behaviour that can take place within. |
| And sometimes there are facilities such as children's playgrounds, |
| or fields for ball games and other sorts of activities. |
| For this reason, if there is grass, it is kept short, |
| and this also discourages the breeding of insect pests. |
| A well-maintained park actually needs a lot of people to look after it, |
| and more so if the park showcases special plants, |
| flowers, or trees, in which case it is called a 'botanic garden'. |
| In complete contrast, if the park is big and remote enough, |
| it is sometimes designated as a wilderness park, |
| to be left completely alone and untouched, |
| protected from all development in order to allow wild species, |
| both plant and animal, to live undisturbed. |
| But it is the urban park - the sort of park that most people are familiar with, |
| that I want to talk about now. |
| These preserve natural landscapes for the pleasure of the urban population, |
| most commonly just for passive recreation |
| in other words, allowing people just to observe the trees, and lie in the grass, |
| and such passive recreation is certainly needed. |
| Continuing on the subject of parks, |
| it might surprise you to know that once there were none. |
| A thousand years ago, there was no need, |
| since there were already extensive open spaces, |
| forests, and wilderness surrounding most cities and towns - for example, in Europe. |
| These dark dank forests were large and even dangerous, |
| full of wild animals and with the potentially fatal result of getting lost. |
| Hence, fairy tales evolved about witches living in these areas, |
| and the wolves and bears, which could threaten young children. |
| However, with the rapidly increasing human population, |
| the original wilderness and natural open spaces were intruded upon. |
| Forests were cut down as populations spread, |
| and with them, urban pollution and further deforestation. |
| But it was only with the advent of the Industrial Revolution |
| that people realised natural areas needed to be preserved, |
| to give the populace access to the sort of nature that was fast disappearing |
| due to the uncontrolled development and demand for resources. |
| The first park, expressly designed for that purpose, |
| is usually considered to be Princes Park in Liverpool. |
| This was in 1841, on land donated to the public by a rich iron merchant. |
| With such a generous donation (worth about £50,000), |
| the council decided to invest £5,000 of its own money in making it look good. |
| Consequently, they hired a landscape designer, Joseph Paxton, |
| who designed twisting turning pathways among shade-giving trees, |
| all based around a central lake. |
| In many ways, it became the prototype for all later large parks, |
| including the famous Central Park in New York. |
| But, if we were to pick the park that most people are familiar with, |
| it would be the much smaller neighbourhood park. |
| These can be tiny, but, by being in the midst of extensive development and dense populations, |
| they are increasingly seen as a refuge, |
| where one can get a glimpse of true nature. |
| Many psychologists now maintain that this glimpse is necessary, |
| for ultimately, as a species, we have an innate affinity for nature, |
| and the concrete urban zoo clashes with our inner being. |
| This has seen the rejuvenation of many urban parks that were once left to decay, |
| for example, in New York or London, |
| and indeed, some cities, such as Melbourne, |
| are known all over the world for their abundance of carefully maintained parks, |
| including a world famous botanic garden. |