Community nature spaces

While those with access to immersive nature experiences nearby sought retreat into wooded spaces or comparably less crowded and more expansive nature spaces, those without similar access turned in unprecedented levels to shared nature spaces within the dense urban landscape. Often, this included community gardens, pocket parks, or other small-scale nature interventions. For those without mobility or without private nature spaces, these spaces provided primary social and health support. A long-term approach to ensuring nature spaces are available across cities requires considering a multi-scaled approach that both plans for access to larger city parks, regional wooded areas, and a diversity of nature spaces at the doorstep. Based on experiences from the pandemic, a recipe for creating community nature spaces, with a particular emphasis on community gardens, includes, at a minimum, a few essential ingredients: (1) community-led design to create belonging and local self-determination; (2) land security; (3) infrastructure support; (4) proximity to homes to enable walkability; and (5) time in the form of work-life balance and scheduling flexibility .