London as an urban national park, New Albany as an open air museum.

And then there's the Main Street Deforestation Project. You know -- something New Albany actually grasps.

Why Greater London should be made into an urban national park, by Daniel Raven-Ellison (Guardian Professional)

London is 47% green space. If it became the first national park city issues such as obesity and climate change could be tackled

Last year I visited all 15 of the UK's national parks. I explored windswept tors, hidden gorges, wild waters and enjoyed the view from the top of Britain's highest peaks. During this journey I could see something was missing: a major urban habitat.

Covering up to 7% of the UK, urban areas are recognised by Natural England as a distinct habitat, and by that definition London is truly remarkable. The population of 8.3m shares the city with 13,000 species of wildlife that inhabit the conurbation's 3,000 parks, 30,000 allotments, two national nature reserves, 36 sites of special scientific interest and 142 local nature reserves.

A massive 47% of London is green space, making it one of the greenest cities in the world for its size. It is home to the world's largest urban forest and its 3.8m gardens cover 24% of the capital.