A University of Northampton (UON) academic’s commitment to support Northampton residents’ health and wellbeing continues with new green space footfall findings.
As part of Northampton’s Active Quarter, Associate Professor Dr Declan Ryan has been working closely with community groups and other stakeholders to help more people enjoy local green spaces and waterways.
For his latest project, Declan has been monitoring how often people use 17 local parks, walks, waterways and woods across the town.
Using smartphone GPS, during 2025 he recorded 3.7 million single visits across these sites. The top five visited are:
- Abington Park – 429,926
- The Racecourse – 402,561
- Delapre Park – 391,802
- Sixfields Reservoir – 390,574
- Grand Union Canal and River Nene in Northampton – 359,881.
The data shows where people already enjoy spending time outdoors and where improvements could make spaces easier to access.
Declan says: “Access to outdoor spaces plays an important and well-documented role in supporting physical activity, mental health, and social connection, areas I am deeply interested in exploring.
“Sadly, funding for green spaces continues to reduce, even though investment could return up to seven times its original value in health and wellbeing benefits for people.
“This important footfall data, alongside our growing insights about accessibility improvements that people want to see, can focus attention on projects that improve access, increase visitors, and in turn, support the health and wellbeing of our communities.”
Find out more about Declan’s latest research.
Photo: Kirsty Edmonds.
Declan’s research was made possible by internal funding from the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange (KEE) team. Funding and support from the KEE team can develop pilot data for larger, external grant applications, foster collaboration and public engagement, assist with bridging funding, or help create ‘spin-out’ businesses and other entrepreneurial ventures.