If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it's that people love parks

As horizons shrank, we took stock. At first, a sense of panic set in: nowhere to go, nothing to do…

Then we all went to the park, and we realized something: we need greenery – we crave it.

Whether we’re in Colombia or Korea, America or Australia, urban parks are places where we can find calm amid the chaos. They can also (more often than we may realize) conceal intriguing hidden histories, and can tell us something about modern life in our frenzied world, too.

With fondness and humour, travel writer Tom Chesshyre recalls 50 of his favourite urban parks from across the world, in a love letter to the green escapes that bring us joy in our cities.