People living in urban areas with more green space tend to report greater wellbeing than city dwellers that don’t have parks, gardens, or other green space nearby, said research from the University of Exeter Medical School’s European Centre for Environment & Human Health.
By examining data from a national survey that followed UK households over time, Dr Mathew White and colleagues at the European Centre have found that individuals reported less mental distress and higher life satisfaction when they were living in greener areas.
Importantly, this association held even after the researchers accounted for changes over time in participants’ income, employment, marital status, physical health, and housing type.
“We’ve found that living in an urban area with relatively high levels of green space can have a significantly positive impact on wellbeing, roughly equal to a third of the impact of being married.”
The results show that even when stacked up against other factors that contribute to life satisfaction, living in a greener area has a significant effect.
These kinds of comparisons are important for policymakers when trying to decide how to invest scarce public resources, such as for park development or upkeep, and figuring out what ‘bang’ they’ll get for their buck.
Source: University of Exeter, UK