The outdoors have regained popularity as a peaceful refuge with recent safety measures amplifying this sentiment and bringing greater attention to the value of our parks and neighborhood public realm. As communities move toward the ‘new-normal’, a significant portion of the population will seek to hold on to the restorative powers of spending time in the sunshine, breathing in fresh air and being surrounded by nature as an explicit shift towards healthier living and holistic wellness resounds.

As communities slowly inch toward the ‘new-normal’, a significant portion of the population will seek to hold on to these healthy principles as part of their everyday life. While some may make it a point to eat lunch outside more often and others are drawn to outdoor spaces as their new gym or place of recreation, there has been an explicit shift towards healthier living with holistic wellness at its core.

Putting healthy living at the center of housing and neighborhood design, cities will look at revamping older parks or turning vacant land into pocket parks and social plazas. Well-defined outdoor spaces not only need to be multifaceted, experience-focused and user-centric, but intentionally bring positive health benefits and a total well-being lifestyle to residents. This requires a collective shift in our thinking where public realm and infrastructure are as important as immunizations; pocket parks, trails and gardens are as beneficial as prescriptions; and friends and neighbors are more important than Fitbits. With a flexible and exciting approach to environmental design, users will have the choice between a personal experience or one that creates a healthy sense of togetherness in reconnecting us to nature.

Communities have been increasingly moving outdoors over the past few decades and that trend is now accelerating as people develop new preferences and usage for open spaces. The parks of tomorrow will be those that anticipate the new outdoor-friendly movement and respond with wellness enhancements that make those places more welcoming and rewarding than ever before. As partners in building a ‘well’ world, let’s keep the momentum moving forward.