Just last year, Oxford was named the greenest city in England. It does not feel hard to believe at all, as I bike through the city’s Zero emissions zone and read about environmental justice plans in the newspapers regularly. I think it is good that the city is recognized for the initiatives that it has engaged in, but I also think it is important to continue to push further. Being the greenest city means nothing if all of the other cities lack serious environmental justice projects; it is important we celebrate what is going well but never settle—when it comes to the environment, nothing should ever be “good enough” considering the climate we live in and how we are negatively impacting it. In addition to creating new environmental justice initiatives, it is important to maintain the environmental spaces and projects that already exist. 

The amount of greenery and parks in the city happily surprised me when I first arrived. I appreciate the amount of different types of green spaces there are—the deer parks, parks where cows roam, sports fields, a lake, rivers, woods, leafy outdoor areas in cafés etc. These spaces are important for so many reasons, providing great spaces for individuals as well as what philosophers call “third spaces” that provide space for people outside their work and homes to build and foster community.

In the United States right now, third spaces are declining. Their disappearance would be devastating for many reasons, but especially for public health. Without third spaces, people would have fewer places to gather and connect with each other. A place being both outdoors and a third space, both which have positive public health benefits, creates heightened positive influence. With the election coming up, my mind has been on the importance of legal advocacy for outdoor third spaces—I think we could learn a lot from the city of Oxford in this respect.