Making urban green space more accessible can improve mental and physical health for all of us while lowering the cost of public health, and increasing the productivity of workers.
With 86% of the people in the United States living in urban or suburban areas, provision of and access to urban green space is more important than ever. Photo: © Nancy Rommes.
There has long been a perceived link between green space and health. That perception is one of the driving forces for the urban parks movement in North America and Europe in the 1880’s.
As the urbanization of society has continued, and the public’s distance from natural areas has increased, concern has arisen that lack of exposure to nature has physical and mental health consequences. That concern has been borne out by a large and accumulating body of scientific evidence that is summarized in recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Joni Mitchell.
The report affirms that provision of green space to urban areas has “health promotion potential” by lessening the incidence and impact of non-communicable diseases, such as mental illness, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Lessening the incidence of these disease would not only improve societal health and well-being, it would help lower the cost of health care and improve the productivity of workers. This realization has revived interest in urban green space and provides the rationale for its funding.
So, what is green space?
United States Environmental Protection Agency defines green space “as all vegetated land, including agriculture, lawns, forests, wetlands, and gardens. Barren land and impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt are excluded.”
Other countries have different definitions, but one key factor affecting the health benefit efficacy of green space is whether it is accessible. Not surprisingly, populations with the greatest socioeconomic deprivation have the poorest indicators of health and well-being and may have the most to gain from green space. But that same population has the worst access to it.
How does exposure to green space improve health?
The basis for understanding this is the biophilia hypothesis. It postulates that humans have an innate affinity for the natural environment in which they evolved. Non-threatening natural stimuli are relaxing, so exposure to nature generates a parasympathetic nervous system response leading to lower heart rate and blood pressure, lowered stress (as measured by cortisol), and an enhanced sense of well-being (among other things).
Green space may be more important now than ever.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in individual anxiety and loneliness while restricting opportunities for social engagement, exercise, and travel. Walking in a local park or garden, sitting on a bench in a vegetated portion of town, even tending to a small plant in the garden, can all bring some relief—decreasing some of our stress and improving our outlook and physical health.
The WHO report concluded with the following statement (emphasis mine):
The evidence shows that urban green space has health benefits, particularly for economically deprived communities, children, pregnant women and senior citizens. It is therefore essential that all populations have adequate access to green space, with particular priority placed on provision for disadvantaged communities. While details of urban green space design and management have to be sensitive to local geographical and cultural conditions, the need for green space and its value for health and well‐being is universal.
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