As most of us slog out a nine-to-five day in grey concrete office blocks, the most green we are likely to see is the tasteful peppermint walls of the canteen.

This poor grey-green balance is not just bad for the environment, as more and more wildlife habitats are tarmaced over, it is also bad for our health.

This is one of the reasons the BBC Breathing Places project is giving away £4 million in lottery funding to help people turn their decaying urban junkyards into beautiful green spaces.

Breathing Places is a three-year campaign to encourage people to transform unused and unloved areas into lush spaces for both wildlife and people to enjoy.

Eleanor Fell is from BBC Learning South East. She says: "Wildlife still exists in urban areas. It needs those small oases to survive. If you don't have your window boxes, small parks and green patches your city will feel very dead. It loses the sense of vitality and life."

A recent study showed our modern cities are becoming even more unhealthy places to live than the old traditionally polluted industrial towns, both physically and mentally.

Dr Joe Hinds is a researcher in social psychology with an interest in the natural environment at the University of Sussex.

He says: "Some researchers have found that people who live in rural areas have significantly better mental health than urban residents. It has even been reported that inner city environments with a greater level of greenness' tend to have fewer violent crimes compared to less green areas."

And it is not only humans who suffer the ill effects of our everspreading towns and cities.

In Sussex, over the past 50 years, we have seen a great drop in the variety and frequency of wildlife such as bluebells, greater-spotted woodpeckers, yellow-horned poppy and sea kale, to name a few.

We are not doing too badly in Brighton and Hove, however.

Brighton and Hove City Council manages 2,354 acres of parks and green spaces, 45 playgrounds, 2,300 allotments and 229 sports pitches, greens and courts.

This year sees us appointed one of 15 Breathing Places Cities across the country, where the BBC will engage in a "year of action" which will include putting 500 bird boxes up and taking part in exciting activities with schools.

Eleanor says: "We are in discussion with the council at the moment to find a suitable place to give a makeover to and there will be lots of things people can get involved with. We want to get the whole city on board."

Breathing Places is currently waiting to find out if any Sussex projects will be benefiting from the massive lottery grant.

Eleanor says: "One of my favourite projects is in Hastings at Summerfields Wood. A group was given funding to build a spiral path circling in the tree tops so people can experience what it's like further up in the woods. It's even accessible to wheelchairs and buggies."

The importance of what is called "urban greening" is so great Joe Hinds says it should be an essential part of town planning and rejuvenation, commenting that it is common to find people want to escape the intensity of their day-to-day lives in the calm and quiet respite of natural spaces.

He says: "There is a growing body of research which suggests areas perceived as natural have a variety of psychological benefits. People are drawn to the sounds, smells and space and the more sensuous or softer visual stimuli offered by natural landscapes."

For eco-warrior types, there is an exciting knock-on effect from all this greening.

Joe says: "A very important and welcome result of more exposure to the natural environment is people's environmental attitude improves.

As people discover the psychological benefits, the more they are willing to do for the environment."

The start of the year of action for wildlife will be marked by the Springwatch festival at Stanmer Park on June 10 from 10am to 4pm.

Expect the CBeebies handing out official Springwatch Spotters kits for children, bug-hotel building and wildlife-tracking challenges.

With the kids taken care of, grown ups can relax with a pint of local beer on the Beer Bus and plenty of food from the Sussex Farmers' Market.