THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARKS AND THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACTS 19 demonstrated, parks and green spaces allow people to build community and strengthen social structures for disaster relief and recovery (Campbell et al. 2016; Slater, Christiana, and Gustat 2020; Wolf and Rozance 2013). Studies reinforce that following a disaster, communities with strong social ties and connectedness demonstrate pathways toward community recovery (Wolf and Rozance 2013). The literature on the connection between green spaces (including parks) and psychological and social disaster resilience is mostly grounded in research on the psychology of environment, research on responses after specific disasters, and research attributing the inherent value of nature as refuge in a general context. A mixed-methods study of New York City parks following Hurricane Sandy demonstrated that although the social and environmental benefits of parks are clear, there is limited understanding of how these benefits affect non–park users following a disaster (Campbell et al. 2016). There may be opportunities to measure some sociocultural impacts, such as spiritual and religious value, aesthetic value, and recreation and ecotourism (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). But there are several other social resilience benefits that are harder to quantify, and the literature has not adequately assessed these measures. For instance, few social impact assessments include a resilience framework, and other metrics often focus on global or community-level benefit instead of individual well-being (Campbell et al 2016).
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