Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany

Abstract

Water is one of the most important landscape elements. In settled areas, planners rediscovered urban blue in the form of rivers as a soft location factor in post-industrial times. Although the recognition of the need for recreational or 'healthy' places like urban green or urban blue in cities is increasing, current urban planning is mostly conducted without taking beneficial health issues into account. In this paper an extended concept of therapeutic landscapes is used to analyse two promenades on the river Rhine in the centres of two German cities (Cologne and Düsseldorf). A complex of qualitative and quantitative methods from diverse disciplines is applied to obtain a multi-dimensional image of salutogenic health processes. The results show that the promenades are favourite places to spend leisure time and to engage in recreational activities, in addition to providing restoration from everyday stresses. Water is a strong predictor of preference and positive perceptive experiences in urban environments. Users of the promenades also report strong emotional attachments to the place. Urban blue space may be interpreted as a therapeutic landscape in various ways. The study forms a contribution to planning issues, particularly considering benefits for human health, and enhances current research concerning therapeutic landscapes.

BlueHealth: a study programme protocol for mapping and quantifying the potential benefits to public health and well-being from Europe's blue spaces

“…However, innovative design and planning can promote health by ensuring that the co-benefits are captured and governance processes should be designed with this broader perspective in mind. For example, given people’s preferences for blue spaces and their willingness to visit them, 38 90 the evidence suggests that the population uptake of blue infrastructure initiatives that encourage, for instance, greater levels of active recreation, will be particularly high, and thus important for disease prevention and health promotion. The precise conditions of governance needed for such initiatives to be effective are as yet unclear.…”

“…Preliminary evidence suggests that several pathways may account for the positive relationship between health and well-being and exposure to blue space. First, people feel happier 38 40 and less stressed 41 in blue space settings than in other outdoor locations (replicated under laboratory conditions 42 ). Second, those living near blue spaces spend more time in them than those living further away.…”

“…Epidemiological evidence suggests that people living near—or having views of—the coast are generally healthier, 21 35 experience fewer symptoms of mental distress 36 37 and are more satisfied with their lives 38 than those living inland. Longitudinal evidence suggests that mental and physical health are typically better in people for periods spent living closer to the sea.…”

Urbanity and Urbanization: An Interdisciplinary Review Combining Cultural and Physical Approaches

“…Furthermore, a significantly negative relationship between the amount of green space and the stress level of people living in a certain neighborhood has been detected; this relation is particularly relevant for deprived communities [80]. Positive psychological effects have been verified not only for urban green, but also for urban blue areas, e.g., river promenades, which are associated with positive perceptive experiences in urban environments [81].…”

Urban Aquatic Ecosystems: the good, the bad and the ugly

“…The role of urban waterbodies in providing important regulating and cultural ecosystem services (in addition to the provisioning services identified above) is also increasingly recognised. For example, urban aquatic environments can provide psychological benefits, promoting reflection, relaxation, the feeling of freedom and even playing a spiritual role (Karmanov and Hamel, 2008;Voelker and Kistemann, 2013), in a comparable manner to green spaces (White et al, 2010). Consequently, there has been increased interest in restoring urban waterbodies, driven in part by legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive and Habitats Directive in Europe, the Clean Water Act in the US and policy frameworks in Australia (Findlay and Taylor, 2006).…”