Urban Green Space and Its Impact on Human Health.

Michelle C Kondo,Thomas Mckeon,Jaime M Fluehr,Charles C Branas

doi:10.3390/ijerph15030445

Abstract

Background: Over half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and this proportion is expected to increase. While there have been numerous reviews of empirical studies on the link between nature and human health, very few have focused on the urban context, and most have examined almost exclusively cross-sectional research. This review is a first step toward assessing the possibility of causal relationships between nature and health in urban settings. Methods: Through systematic review of published literature, we explored the association between urban green space and human health. Results: We found consistent negative association between urban green space exposure and mortality, heart rate, and violence, and positive association with attention, mood, and physical activity. Results were mixed, or no association was found, in studies of urban green space exposure and general health, weight status, depression, and stress (via cortisol concentration). The number of studies was too low to generalize about birth outcomes, blood pressure, heart rate variability, cancer, diabetes, or respiratory symptoms. Conclusions: More studies using rigorous study design are needed to make generalizations, and meta-analyses, of these and other health outcomes possible. These findings may assist urban managers, organizations, and communities in their efforts to increase new or preserve existing green space.

Highlights

There have been numerous reviews of empirical studies on the link between exposure to natural green space and human health [1–4]. These reviews have focused on various topics, including children [5], mental health [6], and violence [7]. Very few of these reviews have focused on studies that explicitly relate to urban green space, as opposed to nature in any form, despite the fact that over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion is expected to increase to two-thirds by 2050 [8]
A prior review has provided a general overview of ways in which urban green space is associated with health [9], incorporating almost exclusively cross-sectional research, which has left many unanswered questions regarding the existence of any possible causal relationships between nature and health in urban settings
The purpose of this review is to systematically review studies evaluating the association between urban green space and human health

Summary

Introduction

There have been numerous reviews of empirical studies on the link between exposure to natural green space and human health [1–4]. A prior review has provided a general overview of ways in which urban green space is associated with health [9], incorporating almost exclusively cross-sectional research, which has left many unanswered questions regarding the existence of any possible causal relationships between nature and health in urban settings. Given these gaps in knowledge, this review focuses on studies that have taken experimental, quasi-experimental, or longitudinal approaches. Conclusions: More studies using rigorous study design are needed to make generalizations, and meta-analyses, of these and other health outcomes possible These findings may assist urban managers, organizations, and communities in their efforts to increase new or preserve existing green space. All of these studies except Gidlow et al [58] measured heart rate (HR), and all four studies measured heart rate variability (HRV)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion