Access to Nature in a Post Covid-19 World: Opportunities for Green Infrastructure Financing, Distribution and Equitability in Urban Planning

Abstract

Covid-19 changed the way many people viewed and interacted with the natural environment. In the UK, a series of national lockdowns limited the number of places that individuals could use to support their mental and physical health. Parks, gardens, canals and other ”green infrastructure” (GI) resources remained open and were repositioned as “essential infrastructure” supporting well-being. However, the quality, functionality and location of GI in urban areas illustrated a disparity in distribution that meant that in many cases communities with higher ethnic diversity, lower income and greater health inequality suffered from insufficient access. This paper provides commentary on these issues, reflecting on how planners, urban designers and environmental organizations are positioning GI in decision-making to address inequality. Through a discussion of access and quality in an era of austerity funding, this paper proposes potential pathways to equitable environmental planning that address historical and contemporary disenfranchisement with the natural environment in urban areas.

Mental Health of Young Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Roles of Employment Precarity, Screen Time, and Contact with Nature

“…Consistent with a growing body of other research, our results suggest that investment in green infrastructure is important for supporting young people’s mental health “in place” during lockdowns [ 33 , 70 ]. A UK-based study reported that not having access to a private outdoor space during the pandemic was associated with greater psychological distress [ 20 ], while other studies have highlighted the mental health benefits offered by domestic gardens for both young and older individuals during lockdowns [ 35 , 37 , 71 ].…”

“…Mobility and other restrictions at different points during the pandemic have also meant that peoples’ immediate physical surroundings are likely to have greater influence on mental health [ 31 ]. In particular, having access to public urban greenspaces [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] and private outdoor spaces [ 35 , 36 ], living in greener neighbourhoods [ 20 , 37 , 38 ], and having ‘natural’ views from home [ 36 , 37 , 39 ] have been linked with better mental health across a range of populations during the pandemic. Beyond access and incidental exposure to nature, purposive time spent in nature during the COVID-19 pandemic has also been linked with better mental health [ 17 , 20 , 26 , 31 , 34 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ].…”

COVID-19, the Built Environment, and Health

“…An ecological study of 135 urbanized U.S. counties found that more countylevel greenspace was associated with lower racial disparities in infection (Lu et al 2021). This finding aligns with earlier evidence of an equigenic impact of greenspace (Mitchell and Popham 2008;Rigolon et al 2021) and supports the value of greenspace as a strategy for health equity in the pandemic recovery (Geary et al 2021;Mell and Whitten 2021).…”

Nature’s contributions in coping with a pandemic in the 21st century: A narrative review of evidence during COVID-19

“…Private gardens acted as a safe green space without the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus while maintaining social distancing guidelines (Poortinga et al 2021;Shoari et al, 2020;Pan et al, 2021). This conclusion highlights the potential inequities in nature contact during lockdown because a larger share of the socioeconomically deprived population may not have had private or community gardens (Mell and Whitten, 2021;Natural England, 2020). Implications of our findings on environmental and social justice are further discussed in Section…”

“…With the increasing risk of future zoonotic pandemics (Quammen, 2012), public health officials, urban planners, and policymakers need to rethink the importance of nature in increasing resilience and adaptive capacity for future emergencies (Mell and Whitten, 2021;Moglia et al, 2021). This review therefore concludes with a discussion of how nature exposure might be considered as a coping mechanism against future pandemics and epidemics to promote public health.…”