How Green Schoolyards Benefit Kids, Cities, and the Climate

Transforming asphalt schoolyards into green spaces with porous surfaces can improve the well-being of students and neighbors and contribute to more effective stormwater management in urban areas.

1 minute read

January 30, 2023, 9:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction

View of concrete schoolyard in New York City through fence

Beton.7 / Schoolyard in New York City

Schoolyards could be the next frontier for green infrastructure in urban areas, according to an article by Marianne Dhenin in Next City.

In dense urban areas such as New York City, building a new park can be an expensive undertaking. But redesigning existing schoolyards to be more green and ‘spongy’ can help with stormwater drainage, improve air quality, and bring green spaces to park-poor neighborhoods, closing the equity gap that leaves 100 million Americans with little or no access to nearby parks. “According to TPL, in 2022, at least 73 of the nation’s 100 largest cities opened schoolyards after hours to the general public, up from just 44 cities in 2018.”

The benefits of greener schoolyards extend to students, too. “Studies have linked vegetation in schoolyards to better school-wide academic performance, even after controlling for significant confounding factors like student poverty and minority status.”

Organizations including the Trust for Public Land (TPL) are working with schools around the country to develop their own schoolyard greening projects, and a bill introduced in the Senate last year would direct federal funding to the cause.