When Urban Environment Is Restorative: The Effect of Walking in Suburbs and Forests on Psychological and Physiological Relaxation of Young Polish Adults

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Physical activity, recreation and walks successfully counteract negative symptoms of stress in people, especially in large cities, and have many positive psychological and physiological effects. There are many studies showing that contact with nature plays an important role in the regeneration of the human body. The city is not without green enclaves such as forests, parks or greenery along the streets. However, it is not entirely clear how the different physical characteristics of the urban space affect mood improvement, increase of positive feelings, vitality level, etc. Materials and Methods: In the study, two urban environments (apartment and green suburbs) were used, as well as two forests (coniferous and deciduous) to measure the impact of these environments on human physiological and psychological relaxation during a walk in a randomized experiment. The participants of the experiment were 75 young adult Poles studying in the largest Polish agglomeration, Warsaw. Before each experiment, the physiological and psychological state of the participant was measured indoors (pre-test). Four psychological questionnaires were used in the project (Profile of Mood States; Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; Restorative Outcome Scale; Subjective Vitality Scale), and physiological measurements (heart rate, blood pressure) before and after the short walking program were evaluated. Results: As a result of the analyses, it was shown that both staying in an urban environment with greenery and staying in a forest environment have a positive effect on the physiological and psychological relaxation of the subjects. A short walk in the suburbs was no less attractive than a walk in the forest in fall. The above indicates that various places with urban vegetation can be successfully used for recreation, just as in a forest where forest bathing is practiced. This indicates that different places with urban greenery can be successfully used for recreation, as can the forests where forest bathing is carried out.

Comparative Study of the Restorative Effects of Forest and Urban Videos during COVID-19 Lockdown: Intrinsic and Benchmark Values

“…Interestingly, the short-term psychological benefits deriving from the audio-visual stimulation with forest imagery alone were consistent with the corresponding short-term psychophysical benefits observed after short walks in green suburbs, which were, in turn, comparable with benefits conveyed by similar walks in both coniferous and deciduous forests [ 41 ]. Apparently, phytoncides did not play a role in such walks because they were performed in fall when the deciduous trees were leafless and, thus, largely unable to emit BVOCs.…”

Forest Bathing Always Makes Sense: Blood Pressure-Lowering and Immune System-Balancing Effects in Late Spring and Winter in Central Europe

“…Some works investigated changes evoked by other seasons: Bielinis and colleagues examined psychological effects (the participants filled in psychological questionnaires) in winter [ 73 , 74 ]; Song and co-workers also examined psychological effects and, moreover, showed a lower heart rate due to short walks in urban parks in fall [ 75 ] as well as in winter [ 76 ]. A reduction in blood pressure, but not in pulse rate, was observed following a half-hour walk in a deciduous forest without leaves in fall in a field experiment conducted by Janeczko et al [ 77 ]. As for the seasonal impact on the same participants, Bielinis et al investigated the psychological effects of viewing the landscape for 15 min in spring and winter [ 78 ], while Brooks and colleagues reported on three studies dealing with mood measures in different seasons [ 79 ].…”

The perception of the forest in forestry students: a survey at the University of Florence

“…L'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS) ha definito il benessere psicologico, come "[…] quello stato nel quale l'individuo è in grado di sfruttare le sue capacità cognitive o emozionali per rispondere alle esigenze quotidiane della vita di ogni giorno, stabilire relazioni soddisfacenti e mature con gli altri, adattandosi costruttivamente alle condizioni esterne e ai conflitti interni", e lo ha incluso nel più esteso concetto di salute della persona (Ruini et al 2003). In questo contesto, effetti benefici del contatto con la natura sono osservati nella prevenzione di problemi di salute associati a stress cronico e affaticamento dell'attenzione (Bielinis et al 2019), sul controllo della pressione sanguigna e della frequenza cardiaca, grazie alla riduzione dei livelli di cortisolo (ormone responsabile dello stress) e alla soppressione dell'attività nervosa simpatica (Janeczko 2020). È stato dimostrato l'effetto positivo di un'ora e 45 minuti di camminata nel bosco (forest bathing) sulla salute mentale e sul benessere delle persone trattate in un ospedale psichiatrico per disturbi psicologici (Bielinis et al 2020).…”