Parks can cool neighbourhoods and cut pollution hundreds of metres beyond their boundaries, study finds

In a study published in City and Environment Interactions, researchers used high-frequency monitoring to assess how parks influence air temperature, particle pollution and noise levels.   

The team carried out tests in and around Stoke Park, the largest park in Guildford, Surrey, consisting of 52 hectares of grassland, trees and gardens. The findings showed that PM₁₀ pollution levels – airborne particles and liquid droplets that are 10 micrometres or less in diameter – were more than 11 per cent lower inside the park during the morning compared with nearby built-up areas. Morning temperatures were also reduced by 6.5 per cent.  

Throughout the day, temperatures inside the park consistently stayed several degrees cooler, with neighbouring areas feeling the effects. For every 100 metres travelled away from the park edge into built-up streets, temperatures warmed by more than half a degree, up to 300 metres beyond the park boundary. 

Noise pollution also dropped steadily with distance from roads, decreasing by 5.41 decibels (dB) inside park areas – enough for most people to perceive a noticeable difference in noise.

The study also showed that tree-shaded and grassland areas significantly improved thermal comfort. Tree cover and grassland reduced Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) – a measure of how hot conditions feel to the human body – by as much as 8.5 °C compared with nearby built-up streets. 

The research provides an integrated, fine-scale assessment of how urban parks perform under real-world summer conditions. The findings have direct implications for urban planning and policy, offering new evidence on the effectiveness of parks in mitigating urban heat, pollution and noise while helping cities become more climate resilient. 

This work was conducted as part of the NERC-FAPESP GreenCities project and builds on the extensive research led by Professor Kumar’s GCARE team through UKRI-funded initiatives, including the RECLAIM Network Plus and GP4Streets projects. 

[ENDS] 

Notes to editors 

• Professor Prashant Kumar is available for interview; please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange. 
• The full paper can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590252026001145?via%3Dihub 

Reference 

Khalili, S., Jones, L., Sebastian Pfautsch, S., Kumar, P., 2026. Quantifying the benefits of parks for mitigating heat, air and noise pollution to inform climate-resilient planning. City and Environment Interactions, 31, 100407. Online link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2026.100407