(c) Hannah Bella
A new app was launched at the Festival of Nature this year to encourage Bristol visitors and locals to find and explore green spaces throughout the city.
The Bristol Parkhive app has been developed by Bristol UWE and Bristol Parks Forum volunteers alongside Calvium, the award-winning Bristol-based app building company, to not only showcase Bristol’s parks and green spaces, but to actively enable Bristol visitors and locals to find and explore them within the city.
Through the use of the app, the user will be able to find out more about local walking routes, features, wildlife and much more in the outdoor spaces in their local areas. They will also be able to view and upload photos of local parks and thousands of people have already done that, so the app is packed with great content even before launch. One of the key elements of the app is that it enables people to search for parks which match specific characteristic, for example a space with a play-area or nature reserve.
Sam Thomson, director of civic and cultural engagement, Bristol UWE says:
“Bristol is blessed with an abundance of beautiful green spaces, but often people are unaware of them or not using them to their full potential and this app aims to help change that. Only five years ago more than 60 of our green spaces were threatened with ‘disposal’, often due to what was described as a lack of use. By creating a database of all of our parks, making them really visible and showing them at their best through a photo gallery, we hope to encourage their use and protect them for future generations.
“We’ve already had numerous enquiries from other local authorities who are eager to develop something similar, as people can see that it really is a valuable tool that could have a lasting impact on urban green spaces.”
For more information on Bristol Parkhive visit www.bristolparkhive.com
