The following is the email that I sent to Vancouver City Council regarding Jericho Lands Public Hearing on April 15th.
Dear Mayor Sim and Councillors,
I am writing as a resident of Vancouver’s westside and a researcher specializing in nature and human health to express my concern about the proposed Jericho Lands development and its potential impact on Jericho Park, an irreplaceable, free public health resource for Vancouver residents.
Over the past four years, I have conducted two major studies—my doctoral research and the Silent Trails project with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks—focused on identifying and evaluating urban park trails that provide measurable therapeutic benefits. Through a combination of environmental monitoring, vegetation surveys, and participant physiological and psychological data, I assessed numerous parks and trails across the region. I specifically chose Jericho Park as one of my study sites because the City of Vancouver identified it as a biodiversity hotspot with unique ecological value (https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/biodiversity-strategy.pdf).
My doctoral research, a randomized crossover clinical trial (the gold standard in evidence-based health research) conducted over four seasons in four Metro Vancouver parks, demonstrated that Jericho Park’s forest trails are one of the few places in Vancouver where environmental conditions—such as plant diversity, quiet soundscapes, and natural light—are present at a level that supports measurable mental and physical health benefits. This is different from jogging or dog walking. It’s access to spaces where people can experience stress reduction, improved mood, and deeper nature connection, which require specific environmental qualities. These features are increasingly uncommon within the city as noise pollution rises and greenspace declines at double the national average. Once altered by surrounding development, they are unlikely to be recovered.
These findings are particularly significant given that one in five Vancouver residents reports experiencing extreme daily stress or has a mood or anxiety disorder. Additionally, a growing disconnection from nature is linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and cardiovascular disease.
Jericho Park’s Health Benefits
My research identified the following specific health outcomes among participants at Jericho Park:
– Cardiovascular improvements indicated lower physiological stress levels.
– Enhanced mood and decreased depression, especially among older adults.
– The strongest connection to nature among study sites.
– Greater vegetation diversity was associated with improved mood and lower depression scores.
– The oldest average participants (63 years) and the highest proportion of long-term residents among the sites underscore its significance for aging populations.
What’s At Risk
“Each time I do this, I look forward to it and feel much better afterward—mentally, emotionally and physically.” – Study Participant
The proposed development threatens the conditions that make Jericho Park effective as a therapeutic space. If the forest becomes noisy from construction and urbanization, shadowed by tall buildings, and/or overused, biodiversity will be impacted. It will undermine the park’s public health value, and that impact must be measured and made transparent to the community that relies on it for their health and well-being.
Request to Council
To protect Jericho Park’s public health value, I urge Council to:
– Conduct a health and environmental impact assessment before approving further development phases.
– Implement buffer zones and building height limits near park boundaries to protect forest microclimates.
– Require acoustic and visual impact studies to preserve the sensory qualities essential to the park’s therapeutic effects.
Preserving Jericho Park’s soundscape, biodiversity, and accessibility is a cost-effective public health strategy and a critical component of equitable urban planning. We cannot normalize the idea that we must “escape the city” to experience the benefits of nature.
As Vancouver continues to face rising urban stress and climate challenges, I ask the Council to protect Jericho Park’s role in the city’s commitment to public health. I’m available to support the next steps or provide additional data points.