The relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals: A scoping review

Abstract

Urban green space is an important resource to effectively improve the urban environment and human health. A growing body of evidence highlights their positive impact on physical, mental and social health. Less focus has been paid to the social health benefits of urban green space. Designing urban green space to improve the social health of various groups has become a crucial problem, given the lack of uniformity in defining and measuring social health, as well as the varying social health needs of different individuals. This review aims to explore the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals, which is defined as how one gets along with other people, how other people react to him/her, and how one reacts with the social institutions and societal mores. According to the PRISMA extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, 60 articles published between 1998 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results demonstrated that different types of urban green space significantly influenced the social health of individuals. The dimensions of social health of individuals based on urban green space could be divided into four groups: social contacts, social relations, social support and social connections, which were mainly affected by the physical characteristics, perceptions, and usages of urban green space to varying degrees. Socio-demographic characteristics could moderate the strength and orientation of the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals. As the first scoping review to analyze the relationship between urban green space and individual social health, this study not only provides evidence for the social health benefits of urban green space, but also offers information and tools for future research and policymakers.