Wellbeing and urban living: nurtured by nature

Taylor, Lucy; Hahs, Amy K.; Hochuli, Dieter F.

doi:10.1007/s11252-017-0702-1

Cited by 46 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Our finding that more greenery correlates positively with mental health and wellbeing corresponds with findings reported elsewhere [6,25,27]. [13] observed that while NDVI was positively associated with wellbeing for two Australian cities, this was not the case for two cities in New Zealand. The latter also corresponds to a Dutch study on psychotic disorders [11].…”

Section: Main Findingssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The outcome measure was respondents' mental wellbeing. To quantify a multi-dimensional construct like subjective psychological wellbeing, we applied the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) [40], which had previously been implemented in greenery studies [8,13]. The questionnaire comprises five items evaluating respondents' mental health-related feelings over the previous two weeks.…”

Section: Mental Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

Wang

Helbich

Yao

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

178

101

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Background: Multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain how greenery in the vicinity of people's homes enhances their mental health and wellbeing. Mediation studies, however, focus on a limited number of mechanisms and rely on remotely sensed greenery measures, which do not accurately capture how neighborhood greenery is perceived on the ground.Objective: To examine: 1) how streetscape and remote sensing-based greenery affect people's mental wellbeing; 2) whether and, if so, to what extent the associations are mediated by physical activity, stress, air quality and noise, and social cohesion; and 3) whether differences in the mediation across the streetscape greenery and NDVI exposure metrics occurred. Methods:We used a population sample from 2016 of 1,029 adult residents of the metropolis of Guangzhou, China. Mental wellbeing was quantified by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5). Two objective greenery measures were extracted at the neighborhood level: 1) streetscape greenery from street view data via a convolutional neural network, and 2) the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat 8 remote sensing images. Single and multiple mediation analyses with multilevel regressions were conducted.Results: Streetscape and NDVI greenery were weakly and positively, but not significantly, correlated. Our regression results revealed that streetscape greenery and NDVI were, individually and jointly, positively associated with mental wellbeing. Significant partial mediators for the streetscape greenery were physical activity, stress, air quality and noise, and social cohesion; together, they explained 62% of the association.For NDVI, only physical activity and social cohesion were significant partial mediators, accounting for 22% of the association. Conclusions: Mental health and wellbeing and both streetscape and satellite-derived greenery seem to be both directly correlated and indirectly mediated. Our findings signify that both greenery measures capture different aspects of natural environments and may contribute to people's wellbeing by means of different mechanisms. 3 Keywords Green space; street view data; deep learning; mediation; mental wellbeing; China Highlights  Mechanisms underlying mental health and wellbeing benefits of greenery are not well established.  Streetscape greenery from street view images and a remote sensing-based vegetation index (NDVI) served as exposure measure. Higher mental wellbeing was correlated with more greenery, independently of the measure. Substantial proportions of greenery-wellbeing associations were explained by mediators; for streetscape greenery, mediation was higher. Different pathways seem to be at play across both greenery measures.

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Section: Main Findingssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Mental Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

Wang

Helbich

Yao

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

178

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The remaining 32 studies assessed outcomes considered to be aspects of mental wellbeing, such as quality of life, life satisfaction, and affect, but did not report both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. The WHO-5 Well-Being Index, used in 2 studies [ 48 , 70 ], asks how frequently individuals have felt “cheerful and in good spirits” and “calm and relaxed”, over the previous 2 weeks, but focusses on hedonic rather than eudaimonic wellbeing [ 84 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review

et al. 2018

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IntroductionThe view that interacting with nature enhances mental wellbeing is commonplace, despite a dearth of evidence or even agreed definitions of ‘nature’. The aim of this review was to systematically appraise the evidence for associations between greenspace and mental wellbeing, stratified by the different ways in which greenspace has been conceptualised in quantitative research.MethodsWe undertook a comprehensive database search and thorough screening of articles which included a measure of greenspace and validated mental wellbeing tool, to capture aspects of hedonic and/or eudaimonic wellbeing. Quality and risk of bias in research were assessed to create grades of evidence. We undertook detailed narrative synthesis of the 50 studies which met the review inclusion criteria, as methodological heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis.ResultsResults of a quality assessment and narrative synthesis suggest associations between different greenspace characteristics and mental wellbeing. We identified six ways in which greenspace was conceptualised and measured: (i) amount of local-area greenspace; (ii) greenspace type; (iii) visits to greenspace; (iv) views of greenspace; (v) greenspace accessibility; and (vi) self-reported connection to nature. There was adequate evidence for associations between the amount of local-area greenspace and life satisfaction (hedonic wellbeing), but not personal flourishing (eudaimonic wellbeing). Evidence for associations between mental wellbeing and visits to greenspace, accessibility, and types of greenspace was limited. There was inadequate evidence for associations with views of greenspace and connectedness to nature. Several studies reported variation in associations between greenspace and wellbeing by life course stage, gender, levels of physically activity or attitudes to nature.ConclusionsGreenspace has positive associations with mental wellbeing (particularly hedonic wellbeing), but the evidence is not currently sufficient or specific enough to guide planning decisions. Further studies are needed, based on dynamic measures of greenspace, reflecting access and uses of greenspace, and measures of both eudaimonic and hedonic mental wellbeing.

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“…Benefits include increased birthweights [31][32][33]; lower mortality levels in greener neighborhoods [34,35], reduced stress levels, indicated by hormones such as cortisol [36,37], reduced heart disease [38], and lower levels of diabetes [39]. Human health benefits are likely to be higher in ecologically richer environments [40,41].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Working out What Works: The Role of Tacit Knowledge Where Urban Greenspace Research, Policy and Practice Intersect

Dobson

Dempsey

2019

Sustainability

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Policymakers and practitioners working in urban greenspace management want to know what kind of interventions are effective in promoting mental wellbeing. In practice, however, they rely on multiple forms of knowledge, often in unwritten form. This paper considers how such knowledge is interpreted and used by a range of stakeholders to identify greenspace interventions to support residents’ health and wellbeing in one UK city. It examines the interface between academic research, policy and practice, drawing on the findings of a three-year study in Sheffield, UK. The Improving Wellbeing through the Urban Nature project investigated the links between ‘urban nature’ and mental health. One strand of the research sought to influence policy and practice, and this article presents findings and reflects on some of the processes of this exercise. It highlights the role of tacit knowledge in practice and its influence on practitioners’ choice of greenspace interventions and the challenges in drawing on such knowledge to influence policy. The findings affirm practice-based knowledge as socially situated, interpretively fashioned and politically weighted. This paper concludes by demonstrating the importance of considering the local context when devising policy prescriptions for greenspace provision and management.

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Wellbeing and urban living: nurtured by nature

Cited by 46 publications

References 40 publications

Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review

Working out What Works: The Role of Tacit Knowledge Where Urban Greenspace Research, Policy and Practice Intersect

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