Time for ‘Green’ during COVID-19? Inequities in Green and Blue Space Access, Visitation and Felt Benefits

Astell-Burt, Thomas; Feng, Xiaoqi

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052757

Cited by 94 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This is because a large area of green space noticeably reduces sources of stress, such as noise levels [ 56 , 57 ], air dust pollution [ 41 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ] and gases, including carbon dioxide [ 62 , 63 ], which in turn leads to an improvement in air quality conditions in that area. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of green-blue spaces as areas that can also mitigate the negative effects of social isolation on mental health [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green-Blue Spaces and Population Density versus COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Poland

Ciupa

Suligowski

2021

IJERPH

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In the last year, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, scientific papers have appeared in which the authors are trying to identify factors (including environmental) favoring the spread of this disease. This paper presents the spatial differentiation in the total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths during the full year (March 2020–March 2021) of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Poland versus green-blue spaces (green—i.a., forests, orchards, meadows and pastures, recreational and rest areas, biologically active arable land; blue—lakes and artificial water reservoirs, rivers, ecological areas and internal waters) and population density. The analysis covers 380 counties, including 66 cities. This study used daily reports on the progress of the pandemic in Poland published by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Poland and unique, detailed data on 24 types of land use available in the Statistics Poland database. Statistical relationships were determined between the above-mentioned environmental variables and the variables characterizing COVID-19 (cases and deaths). Various basic types of regression models were analysed. The optimal model was selected, and the determination coefficient, significance level and the values of the parameters of these relationships, together with the estimation error, were calculated. The obtained results indicated that the higher the number of green-blue spaces in individual counties, the lower the total number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. These relationships were described by logarithmic and homographic models. In turn, an increase in the population density caused an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths, according to the power model. These results can be used in the current analysis of the spread of the pandemic, including the location of potential outbreaks. In turn, the developed models can be used as a tool in forecasting the development of the pandemic and making decisions about the implementation of preventive measures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green-Blue Spaces and Population Density versus COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Poland

Ciupa

Suligowski

2021

IJERPH

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“…Rogers et al (2020) found that people without garden access engaged in less vigorous physical activities than people with gardens during lockdown. Other studies indicated that the level of physical activity increased with more visits to public green spaces (Ugolini et al, 2021;Astell-Burt and Feng 2021). Interestingly, Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) found people who usually were active (> 150 min of physical exercise per week) spent more minutes per week engaging in outdoor physical activity in nature than less active respondents.…”

Section: Physical Activity and General Physical Healthmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Several of these same studies also tested for differences in nature exposure and associations with health by gender/sex, finding no differences in most analyses. The Australian survey mentioned above found that men spent less time in natural areas during lockdown but they also reported that these areas provided more solace, respite, and feelings of social connection than women (Astell-Burt & Feng, 2021). The April 2020 U.K. survey found the opposite, however; women reported that green space benefited their health more during the lockdown than before the lockdown relative to men (Burnett et al, 2021).…”

Section: Variations In Nature Contact Changes and Nature-health Associations By Sociodemographic Economic And Racial/ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Only one of these (Burnett et al, 2021) showed that lower-SES groups benefited more from nature exposure than higher-SES groups in regard to mental health; the remaining five studies reported mixed findings or no difference between SES groups in regard to the health correlates of nature exposure they tested. Survey data from a nationally representative sample of Australians in October 2020 indicated that people who reported more difficult financial situations spent less time in natural environments and felt less that these spaces helped them socially connect more than people with better financial situations; however, no differences in the extent to which natural environments offered solace and respite were observed between income, educational achievement, or self-reported financial situation levels (Astell-Burt & Feng, 2021). Similarly, no differences in nature exposure duration or frequency were identified by levels of neighborhood deprivation among survey responses collected between April and July, 2020, mostly from the UK (Robinson et al, 2021).…”

Section: Variations In Nature Contact Changes and Nature-health Associations By Sociodemographic Economic And Racial/ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After duplicate removal we identified 688 articles. Among these studies, we selected those focused on following three topics aligned with our research objectives: (i) identifying the ways nature contact has changed during lockdowns (e.g., Geng et al, 2021;Venter et al, 2020;Ugolini et al, 2020;; (ii) examining the associations between nature contact, mental health, well-being, and COVID-19 transmission/mortality rate (e.g., Ribeiro et al, 2021;Dzhambov et al, 2020;Liu, 2020;You and Pan, 2020;Russette et al, 2021); and (iii) exploring how these associations vary by sociodemographic, economic, and racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Lu et al, 2021;Burnett et al, 2021;Astell-Burt and Feng, 2021;Tomasso et al, 2021). The majority of these studies were published from samples in North America, Europe and East Asia, and mostly focused on adult populations.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Identified Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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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Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

et al. 2022

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1. In light of global climate change and the biodiversity crisis, making cities more resilient through an adjusted design of urban green and blue spaces is crucial.Nature-based solutions help address these challenges while providing opportunities for nature experiences, and providing cultural ecosystem services that support public health. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated stressors highlighted the interrelated socio-ecological services provided by nature-based solutions like urban green and blue spaces.2. This pan-European study therefore aimed to enhance the socio-ecological understanding of green and blue spaces to support their design and management. Using an online survey, green and blue space preferences, usage, and pandemic-related changes in greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were examined.3. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were associated with respondents' (N = 584 from 15 countries) geographical location, dominant type of neighbourhood greenspace and greenspace availability during the pandemic, but not greenspace perceptions or sociodemographic background. 4. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were generally high; however, Southern Europeans reported lower greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies both before and during the pandemic than Northern Europeans. Many Southern Europeans also reported having few neighbourhood greenspaces and low greenspace availability during the pandemic. 5. The most common outdoor recreational activity among respondents before the pandemic was walking or running with the most frequently stated purpose of time spent outdoors being restorative in nature (i.e. relaxing or calming down).Most Europeans had positive perceptions of green and blue spaces with preferences for structurally diverse and natural or unmanaged green elements.6. This highlights the importance of accessible green and blue spaces both in everyday life and during times of crisis. Stakeholders, their preferences, and regional and cultural differences should be included in the co-design of urban green and blue spaces to maximize their potential for both people and nature.

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Time for ‘Green’ during COVID-19? Inequities in Green and Blue Space Access, Visitation and Felt Benefits

Cited by 94 publications

References 37 publications

Green-Blue Spaces and Population Density versus COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Poland

Green-Blue Spaces and Population Density versus COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Poland

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

Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

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