PROMOTING EXERCISE AND SPORTS THROUGH LANDSCAPE

As someone who regularly plays various sports and is currently studying landscape architecture, I wanted to briefly explore the link between the two as both are increasingly important in today’s climate and something that I am passionate about exploring in future designs. I personally feel very strongly about promoting a healthy lifestyle and sports to people of all ages and how we could use landscapes to utilise the use of outdoor spaces for exercise. I believe there should always be an element of making exercise fun and accessible to people in landscapes as this is a way that design can be used to benefit the people that use it. Not only would this benefit individuals physical and mental health but also be highly beneficial to the environment to reduce the carbon footprint. 

Cycling has become more and more popular with the addition of many cycle lanes around the UK. I still feel that we have a long way to go in promoting the use of cycling instead of driving to reduce our carbon footprint and making cycling more accessible and safer, especially on the roads. Many people may feel like they cannot cycle on the roads due to safety such as being young in age, landscapes such as parks can make cycling more accessible to those younger age groups as it is much safer. In parks, cycle lanes and more appealing routes could be added to make it easier and engaging with the individuals that use parks. If there is a particularly beautiful landscape to go along with a cycle then people are more likely to use them and want to cycle to experience the route, especially if it tailors to cyclists. The addition of more bike storage areas that feel safe for people to leave their bikes there could promote people to cycle as they wouldn't have to worry about their bike . 

By creating engaging and beautiful landscapes, people might be more likely to want to run more in these landscapes which promotes a healthier lifestyle. Running is a simple exercise that can be done on various different routes and can be done by all ages. Proper lighting is key to make people feel safer on their run if they are running in the dark which is very common due to people's work schedules.Also, having outdoor gym equipment in landscapes makes it more accessible for people who might not usually be able to afford the gym to use the space to do this. With the cost of living crisis increasing daily, this could be a way that landscapes could benefit people and allow them to enjoy the gy and practise a healthier lifestyle without the costs. I also think it is important to have nice quality tennis courts, basketball courts and skateparks to allow accessibility to these sports to local communities. 

 

These are just a few of my views of landscape and exercise and I will make sure to add elements of this to my future designs as I love sports especially tennis and running and I love landscapes and I feel that I could benefit others by using these passions to create designs in the future.