The Human Perception of Green Spaces (GS) and the Research Pattern in the Last Decade: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The growth of urbanization has reduced the availability of green spaces (GS) and the decrease in these spaces, as well as the difficulty in accessing them, has impacts on human physical and mental health, proven by research that deeply investigates this theme around the world. Thus, understanding the impacts of GS on human perception within the contemporary scenario is of fundamental importance, since the population has been subjected to a high level of stress generated by the high work demand, as well as the quarantine scenario imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on this, the present research aimed to investigate the implications of GS on self-reported well-b eing through the perceptions generated by these environments and for that, a systematic literature review (2010-2020) was carried out, based on selected pre-criteria, which were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis. The results describe and discuss 14 implications of GS for human well-being and mental health, 7 demographic differences verified in the way of perceiving these environments and statistical dependencies in the research pattern of certain study variables in the last decade.