Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health

Berg, A.E. van den; Maas, Jolanda; Verheij, Robert; Groenewegen, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.002

Cited by 853 publications

(494 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This is validated by respondents stating that their spiritual experience would not be enhanced if the garden was larger, had a greater variety of plants, or contained certain tree species or amenities. This is contradictory to other studies illustrating that benefits received from urban green spaces increased with increasing area [11,62]. This maybe a consequence of most of the gardens in our sample being quite small (the largest being 0.5 ha).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Aesthetic and Spiritual Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Sacred Sites

Lacy¹,

Shackleton

2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions was administered at 30 places of worship (25 with gardens and five without). Respondents identified a wide diversity of ecosystem services provided by gardens, with social ones being more recognized than ecological, and economic services the least. Approximately two-thirds of respondents visited a sacred site garden weekly or more often. The majority of respondents (96%) felt that a garden was necessary because it added to their feelings of connection with God, or helped them relax and so be better able to concentrate, and 54% stated that a garden enhanced their overall spiritual experience. Regression analysis revealed that aesthetic appreciation of a garden was significantly related to woody plant species richness, number and basal area in the garden. On the other hand, spiritual experience was positively related to woody plant basal area, but not species richness nor tree number. Neither size of the garden, nor number of years the respondents had been vising a particular sacred site had any influence on the rated spiritual or aesthetic experiences. These results reveal the widely appreciated ecosystem services provided by urban sacred spaces and their centrality in enhancing spiritual satisfaction for some.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Aesthetic and Spiritual Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Sacred Sites

Lacy¹,

Shackleton

2017

Sustainability

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“…While access to green spaces can foster physical activities and social contacts that are health beneficial, such mechanisms are most likely related to access to large green spaces such as parks (Dadvand et al, 2012a). Our NDVI metrics rather reflect a less polluted, more quiet and generally more appeasing residential environment (van den Berg et al, 2010). The use of 30 m resolution raster data to calculate the average NDVI within small buffers might have led to imprecise exposure estimate in case of irregular greenness patterns due to fragmented land uses, especially for the 50 m buffers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greenness exposure has been associated with reductions in risks of various health outcomes, including self-perceived health (Maas et al, 2006;Mitchell and Popham, 2007), blood pressure (Agyemang et al, 2007) and mortality (Villeneuve et al, 2012). The causal nature of these associations is not established to date (Bowler et al, 2010;Lee and Maheswaran, 2011) and the biological mechanisms potentially in play are not clear, but possible pathways include reduction of exposure to noise, air pollution (Dadvand et al, 2012b) and urban heat (Jenerette et al, 2011), as well as stress relief (Fan et al, 2011;van den Berg et al, 2010). Such an array of modifications might also be beneficial to pregnancy outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green spaces and pregnancy outcomes in Southern California

Olivier

et al. 2013

Health & Place

108

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a b s t r a c tLittle is known about the impacts of green spaces on pregnancy outcomes. The relationship between green space exposure and preeclampsia has never been studied. We used a hospital-based perinatal database including more than 80,000 births to study the relationships between greenness exposure and three pregnancy outcomes: birth weight in term born infants, preterm deliveries and preeclampsia. Greenness was characterized using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within circular buffers surrounding maternal homes. Analyses were conducted using generalized estimating equations, adjusted for potential confounders. We observed an increase in birth weight in term born infants and a reduced risk of preterm births associated with an increase in NDVI. No significant association was observed between greenness and preeclampsia. This study provides modest support for beneficial effects of greenness exposure on pregnancy outcomes and calls for confirmation in other study settings.

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“…64,66,78 However, one quasi-experimental study of a vacant-lot greening program in Philadelphia, PA, found an association between greened vacant lots and increased physical activity. 79 Green exposure has also been shown to prevent and mitigate stress, anxiety, and depression, [80][81][82][83] especially in urban environments. 81,84,85 Access to green views has been associated with improved mental health in general 86 and more specifically has been shown to reduce mental fatigue and improve coping with stressful settings.…”

Section: Urban Greening As Place-based Public Health Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

2015

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Place-based programs are being noticed as key opportunities to prevent disease and promote public health and safety for populations at-large. As one key type of place-based intervention, nature-based and green space strategies can play an especially large role in improving health and safety for dwellers in urban environments such as US legacy cities that lack nature and greenery. In this paper, we describe the current understanding of place-based influences on public health and safety. We focus on nonchemical environmental factors, many of which are related to urban abandonment and blight. We then review findings from studies of nature-based interventions regarding impacts on health, perceptions of safety, and crime. Based on our findings, we suggest that further research in this area will require (1) refined measures of green space, nature, and health and safety for cities, (2) interdisciplinary science and cross-sector policy collaboration, (3) observational studies as well as randomized controlled experiments and natural experiments using appropriate spatial counterfactuals and mixed methods, and (4) return-on-investment calculations of potential economic, social, and health costs and benefits of urban greening initiatives. KEYWORDS Urban nature, Green space, Place-based interventions, Public health, CrimeThere is growing support of place-based programs to help prevent disease and promote public health and safety. [1][2][3][4][5] This movement is largely motivated by increasing findings that public health interventions targeted at individuals or behaviors have limited effect on health and safety outcomes at a population scale. 6 For example, educational programs that promote behavioral change among very specific, targeted population groups may not impact broader societal issues such as the actual contexts within which unhealthy behaviors like tobacco use, lack of exercise, poor diet, distracted driving, and violence occur. 7-9 Moreover, programmatic impact is rarely sustained beyond the small study populations that are targeted. When funding ends, program impact thus also often ends unless, in very rare instances, the program itself somehow becomes institutionalized or part of a larger social norm.Place-based programs rest on increasing evidence that in addition to biological and individual attributes, everyday environments have a potentially strong and Kondo is with the USDA-Forest Service, Northern Research Station,

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Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health

Cited by 853 publications

References 38 publications

Aesthetic and Spiritual Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Sacred Sites

Aesthetic and Spiritual Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Sacred Sites

Green spaces and pregnancy outcomes in Southern California

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

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