In July, 2019, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, signed a charter making London the world’s first National Park City. But what does it mean?
The charter, which came about following a grassroots campaign dating back to 2013, is a commitment to work for seven objectives. As well as including commitments to better wildlife trees and flowers and better places, habitats, air, water, sea and land, the charter’s other commitments include those focusing around better lives, health and well-being; better time outdoors, culture, art, playing walking cycling and eating; and better locally grown food and responsible consumption.
It’s all about better connections between people, the urban fabric and nature – as the charter states: “Let’s make a National Park City that is rich with nature and where everyone benefits from exploring, playing and learning outdoors. A city where we all enjoy high quality public and green spaces, where the air is clean to breathe and it’s a pleasure to swim in its waters.”
As part of the initiative, London is home to some 180 volunteer National Park City rangers who participate in a variety of ways to help London meets its commitments under the charter – everything from organising nature walks to running events in a local allotment.
Last year, the National Park City Foundation, the organisation behind the initiative, also launched a new small grants programme to help support work aimed at making London greener – the more than 100 projects funded so far have covered everything from training fruit harvesters to rescue fruit and share it to transforming a 4,000 square metre parcel of vacant land in Colindale into public space.
While London was the world’s first National Park City, others have since followed. They include Adelaide in Australia (2021) and the US city of Chattanooga and the Netherlands city of Breda (2025) while others including Glasgow and Cardiff are on their way to joining.
The landmark London National Park City Festival is being held this coming weekend in Pimlico and features talks, workshops, walks, stalls and food. For more on it (and to get tickets) head here.
For more on London National Park City – and how you can get involved, head to https://nationalparkcity.london.
