GOAL 21: Create and preserve more walking trails, parks and ball fields near where people live.
INDICATOR: Acreage of park land or greenspace per person
Why is this important?
Publicly owned open land, or greenspace, is a good indicator of a region's ability to balance growth and development with environmental sustainability and sound regional planning. Community greenspace usually takes the form of parks, community ball fields and recreational trails.
How are we doing?
The region continues to expand the amount of acreage devoted to parks, greenspace and open land as municipalities, counties, non-governmental organizations (the Georgia Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, the Nature Conservancy and others), and state and federal agencies work together to advocate greenspace protection or acquire and manage designated areas for public use.
In 2003, the Atlanta region counted just over 50,000 acres of greenspace or just under 15 acres for every 1,000 people. Although there is no consistent method of tallying local government acquisitions of greenspace throughout the region, a number of acquisitions were announced by various entities in 2004; the next ARC greenspace survey is slated for late 2005-2006.
Environmental Sustainability
