Disparities in greenspace access during COVID-19 mobility restrictions

Abstract

More than half of the human population lives in cities and therefore predominantly experience nature in urban greenspace, an important contributor to wellbeing. As the world faces a pandemic which threatens the physical and mental health of billions of people, it is crucial to understand that all have the possibility to access nature exposure to alleviate some of these challenges. Here, for the first time, we integrate data from Facebook, Twitter, and Google Search users to show that people looked for greenspace during COVID-19 mobility restrictions but may not have always managed to reach it. We used a longitudinal approach, replicated in three European cities, to assess whether people spent more time in locations with more greenspace, and whether this change in urban density remained for the whole pandemic, pre-vaccine, period. We coupled this human density study with a longitudinal study of web search patterns for Parks and online discussion about urban greenspace. People searched for Parks near them more during the pandemic, particularly when they were allowed to visit them. They discussed in positive terms greenspace particularly more at the start of the pandemic. People spent more time in areas with greenspace when they could and that depended on the level of multiple deprivation of their neighbourhood. Importantly, while people sought greenspace throughout the first 20 months of the pandemic, this preference intensified through the waves of lockdown. Living in an affluent area conferred a greenspace advantage in London and Paris but we find that in Berlin greenspace in more deprived neighbourhoods were used more. Overall, urban greenspace occupied a greater place in people's lives during the pandemic. Whether people could realise greenspace access depended on the deprivation level of the neighbourhood. Public greenspace access should be integrated in national indices of deprivation given its importance for wellbeing.