Human Dimensions of Urban Blue and Green Infrastructure during a Pandemic. Case Study of Moscow (Russia) and Perth (Australia)

Dushkova, Diana; Ignatieva, Maria; Hughes, Michael; Konstantinova, Anastasia; Vasenev, Viacheslav; Dovletyarova, Elvira A.

doi:10.3390/su13084148

Cited by 50 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…Given that a substantial proportion of our sample either had no access to traditional urban greenspaces such as parks (15%) during the first wave of the pandemic or rarely visited a formal greenspace (less than once a week−20%, never−17%; Table 1B), the role of open and informal spaces within residential neighbourhoods seems more relevant than ever before. Regional differences (economic regions and population density) in access to greenspaces as seen in our study (Figure 3), and parallel studies (e.g., Dushkova et al, 2021) further accentuate the need to consider alternatives. Planning for green-street elements could be beneficial for a multitude of outdoor activities at present, and in the long run.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Nevertheless, to ensure social distancing, some cities decided to temporally or partially close urban parks, playgrounds and sports grounds for the public, leading to an increased pressure on other open spaces such as squares and streets. This situation highlighted the unequal distribution of and access to urban parks and gardens in cities during the pandemic (Shoari et al, 2020;Dushkova et al, 2021). Vice versa, home gardening showed an increase in its popularity, and both physical and mental health benefits are associated (Corley et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Streetscapes as Surrogate Greenspaces During COVID-19?

Fischer

Gopal

2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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In 2020, the spread of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) globally led to severe crisis, disruption and hardship in both private and public life. In such times of distress, access to urban greenspaces is essential for physical and mental wellbeing. However, globally implemented lockdowns deprived many people of freely visiting greenspaces. Inequality in access to urban greenspaces was apparent at global scales. Consequently, many people took to streets for outdoor activities due to its easy accessibility. We, therefore, aimed to study the usage and relevance of streetscapes for outdoor activities during a crisis. We hypothesised that streetscapes supported diverse outdoor activities, functioning as surrogate urban greenspaces. We distributed an online questionnaire to over 400 international respondents. Our results clearly showed that people used streetscapes during this period for a variety of activities, many of which were also reported as their main physical activity. Walking was the most frequent activity in streetscapes globally, and independent from sociocultural characteristics. Other activities reported such as jogging and cycling also aligned generally with main physical activities of people, but differed between countries and people's sociocultural background. In summary, more than one third of respondents from lower-income countries reported not having had access to a greenspace, whereas 8% reported the same in high-income countries. Our results highlight the important role of streetscapes in facilitating people's regular physical activities during the pandemic. Recognising streetscapes as important public outdoor spaces within residential neighbourhoods could help counteract the inequality in greenspace access, an issue that seems more relevant than ever before.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streetscapes as Surrogate Greenspaces During COVID-19?

Fischer

Gopal

2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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“…Thus, the potential benefits of parks are not realized equitably across all segments of society (Jennings et al, 2016). As research in countries such as Russia and Australia has shown (Dushkova et al, 2021), disparities in urban park use and access might be magnified in the era of COVID-19. Preexisting disparities, coupled with inequitable access to parks (a critical health promoting resource) during the pandemic, could exacerbate suffering and negative health outcomes in socially vulnerable populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Park Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are Socially Vulnerable Communities Disproportionately Impacted?

Larson

Zhang

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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The COVID-19 pandemic altered human behavior around the world. To maintain mental and physical health during periods of lockdown and quarantine, people often engaged in outdoor, physically distanced activities such as visits to parks and greenspace. However, research tracking outdoor recreation patterns during the pandemic has yielded inconsistent results, and few studies have explored the impacts of COVID-19 on park use across diverse neighborhoods. We used a mixed methods approach to examine changes in park use patterns in cities across North Carolina, USA, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on impacts in socially vulnerable communities (based on racial/ethnic composition and socioeconomic status). First, we surveyed a demographically representative sample of 611 urban residents during August 2020 to assess their use of outdoor park spaces before and during the pandemic. Second, we used cell phone location (i.e., geo-tracking) data to document changes in park visits within 605 socioeconomically diverse urban census tracts before (July 2019) and during (July 2020) the pandemic. Data from both methods revealed urban park use declined during the pandemic; 56% of survey respondents said they stopped or reduced park use, and geo-tracked park visits dropped by 15%. Park users also became more homogenous, with visits increasing the most for past park visitors and declining the most in socially vulnerable communities and among individuals who were BIPOC or lower-income. Our results raise concerns about urban park use during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest pre-existing health disparities in socially vulnerable communities might be exacerbated by inequitable access and utilization of parks and greenspace.

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“…During the lockdown, both the opportunity and capability of nature contact have been modified; however, the actual contact with nature may have been greatly influenced by personal motivations. The common positive, motivating factors for modified nature contact in terms of outdoor nature visits during lockdown included physically exercising, relaxing in nature, taking children outdoors, walking the dog, and meeting friends and family (Ugolini et al, 2020;Heo et al, 2021;Dushkova et al, 2021;Xie et al, 2020). In contrast, demotivating factors included over-crowding/distance concerns, lack of facilities (e.g., toilets in parks), not being able to meet with people outdoors, and difficulty accessing safe, publicly open green spaces in addition to the governmental rules to movement restrictions (O'Brien and Forster, 2021;Shoari et al, 2020).…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Labib¹,

Browning²,

Rigolon³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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While COVID-19 lockdowns have slowed coronavirus transmission, such structural measures also have unintended consequences on mental and physical health. Growing evidence shows that exposure to the natural environment (e.g., blue-green spaces) can improve human health and wellbeing. In this narrative review, we synthesized the evidence about nature’s contributions to health and wellbeing during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that during lockdowns, people experienced multiple types of nature, including both outdoors and indoors. Frequency of visits to outdoor natural areas (i.e., public parks) depended on lockdown severity and socio-cultural contexts. Other forms of nature exposure, such as spending time in private gardens and viewing outdoor greenery from windows, may have increased. The majority of the evidence suggests nature exposure during lockdowns was associated with less depression, anxiety, stress, and more happiness and life satisfaction. Additionally, nature exposure was correlated with less physical inactivity and fewer sleep disturbances. Evidence was mixed regarding associations between nature exposure and COVID-related health outcomes, while nature visits might be associated with greater rates of COVID-19 transmission and mortality when proper social distancing measures were not maintained. Findings on whether nature exposure during lockdowns helped ameliorate health inequities by, for example, impacting the health of lower-socioeconomic populations more than their higher-socioeconomic counterparts, were mixed. Based on these findings, we argue that nature exposure may have buffered the negative mental and behavioral impacts of lockdowns during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery and resilience during the current and future public health crises might be improved with nature-based solutions, interventions, designs, and governance.

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Human Dimensions of Urban Blue and Green Infrastructure during a Pandemic. Case Study of Moscow (Russia) and Perth (Australia)

Cited by 50 publications

References 45 publications

Streetscapes as Surrogate Greenspaces During COVID-19?

Streetscapes as Surrogate Greenspaces During COVID-19?

Urban Park Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are Socially Vulnerable Communities Disproportionately Impacted?

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

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