Urban Green Space and Health

Access to parks, street trees, and other vegetated areas within cities has measurable effects on residents' physical and mental health, from reducing stress hormones and encouraging physical activity to buffering exposure to air pollutants and urban heat. Researchers in this area draw on epidemiology, toxicology, and ecology to understand how the quantity, quality, and distribution of green space translate into population-level health outcomes — and who benefits most or least depending on where they live. A central unresolved question is how much biodiversity within urban green spaces is needed to produce meaningful health benefits, given that a manicured lawn and a species-rich meadow occupy the same land but differ enormously in ecological function. There is also growing attention to environmental justice: green space is unevenly distributed across income and racial lines, and understanding how to close that gap without displacing vulnerable communities remains an active and contested area of research.

Works

74,977

Total citations

1,136,632

Keywords

Urban Green SpacePublic HealthEnvironmental JusticeNature ContactBiodiversity ConservationMental Wellbeing