The Therapeutic Garden

Research is increasingly showing the necessity of a daily connection with nature for public health. In his impassioned book The Therapeutic Garden, Donald Norfolk relates the history of therapeutic green spaces, mentioning that the term paradise comes from the Persian for ‘walled garden’. Norfolk also details the social value of Thomas More’s Utopia, and how town planners were influenced by Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow in providing town parks and designs to make verdant livable towns such as Welwyn. Even the utilitarian Victorians were moved to make beautiful city parks for the urbanized masses, which not only served the purpose of ameliorating air pollution, but reduced crime and promoted wellbeing and social cohesion.