Exploring the Linkage between the Neighborhood Environment and Mental Health in Guangzhou, China.

Yingzhi Qiu,Yi Liu,Zhigang Li,Yuqi Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph16173206

Abstract

The relationship between the neighborhood environment and mental health has been investigated mostly in developed countries. Yet few studies have systematically examined the impact of the neighborhood-level built-environment and social environment on mental health within different localities in the Chinese context. Based on a household survey and geographical data in Guangzhou, China, this study aimed to explore the linkage between the neighborhood environment and mental health, with a particular focus on aspects of the built-environment that are related to new urbanism or compact cities and contextual social capital, using three geographic delineations. Our findings indicated that built-environment indicators based on a road network buffer had a higher explanatory power towards residents’ mental health than did those based on a circular buffer. The analytical models demonstrated that neighborhood floor-area ratio, building density, and per capita green area were positively correlated with mental health. Neighborhood safety and contextual neighborhood interactions and reciprocity had positive associations with mental health. These findings provide policy makers and urban planners with valuable information on the role of the compact city strategy and the neighborhood social environment to improve the mental health of residents.

Highlights

Mental health refers to a state of well-being in which an individual realizes that his or her own abilities can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to his or her community [1]
We focus on two particular aspects of the built-environment that are related to so-called new urbanism, the compact city and contextual social capital, which have not been sufficiently discussed
The null model showed that the Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) was equal to 21.23%, meaning that 21.23% of the variation in individual mental health came from the neighborhood environment

Summary

Introduction

Mental health refers to a state of well-being in which an individual realizes that his or her own abilities can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to his or her community [1]. The relationship between the urban environment and residents’ mental health has become an emerging multidisciplinary research field of health geography, environmental science, public health, psychology, urban and rural planning, and sociology [2,3,4]. Various empirical studies conducted in western countries have reported significant impacts of neighborhood environmental characteristics on residents’ mental health, such as housing conditions, greenspace, neighborhood social support, etc. People from developing countries are facing greater risks of mental disorders, due to severe poverty, inadequate health facilities, rapid urbanization, and more exposure to environmental hazards [8,9]. In China, problems with mental health have received unprecedented attention from the Chinese government and from residents in recent years, as rapid urbanization has transformed environmental and social conditions in ways that may threaten the mental health of residents [10,11,12].

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