scholarly journals Do Sociodemographic Factors and Urban Green Space Affect Mental Health Outcomes Among the Urban Elderly Population?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Jin Lee ◽  
Dong Kun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Mental Health Issues

The mounting mental health issues faced by elderly urban residents increase the social and economic costs to society associated with dementia and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of elderly urban residents suffering from mental health issues, to address these issues more effectively. We used 2015 Community Health Survey data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify the demographic and social characteristics of 11,408 elderly urban residents in relation to stress levels and symptoms of depression in seven metropolitan areas in Korea, and to calculate the odds ratio for urban green space. We found that the prevalence of these mental health issues generally decreased in relation to the ratio of green space of an area. These findings suggest identifying elderly people who are vulnerable to certain mental health issues based on demographic and social characteristics and demonstrate that the ratio of urban green space within a community is an important component in improving mental health outcomes for elderly urban residents. These findings have policy implications for assisting elderly people vulnerable to certain mental health issues and for establishing a green welfare policy targeting this population.

scholarly journals How Does Urban Green Space Impact Residents’ Mental Health: A Literature Review of Mediators

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (22) ◽  
pp. 11746
Author(s):  
Kaili Chen ◽  
Tianzheng Zhang ◽  
Fangyuan Liu ◽  
Yingjie Zhang ◽  
Yan Song
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Space Planning ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In recent years, the interest in the relationship between urban green space and residents’ mental health has gradually risen. A number of researchers have investigated the causal relationship and possible mediators between the two, although few have summarized these mediators. For this reason, we searched for relevant studies and filtered them by criteria and quality score, and analyzed the mediators and paths of the impact of urban green space on residents’ mental health. The mediators can be divided into environmental factors, outdoor activity, and social cohesion. From the perspective of heterogeneity, both individual characteristics (e.g., age and gender) and group characteristics (e.g., level of urban development and urban density) of residents are considered to be the cause of various mediating effects. Types of urban green space tend to affect residents’ mental health through different paths. Furthermore, this review discusses the details of each part under the influence paths. Finally, the policy implications for urban green space planning from three mediator levels are put forward based on an analysis of the situation in different countries.

scholarly journals Dynamic and Heterogeneous Demand for Urban Green Space by Urban Residents: Evidence from the Cities in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9384
Author(s):  
Tianzheng Zhang ◽  
Yingxiang Zeng ◽  
Yingjie Zhang ◽  
Yan Song ◽  
Hongxun Li
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
House Prices ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Heterogeneous Demand ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
City Policy

With the increasing number of people starting to attach importance to urban green space (UGS), estimating urban residents’ demand for UGS has become critical. Previous studies have estimated residents’ demands for UGS in different cities using the Rosen–Roback model. However, there has been little analysis of the renters’ requirements for UGS or the dynamic and heterogeneous demands for UGS by residents in cities with varying characteristics. In this study, the prefecture-level cities in China were selected as the object of study for their wide representation of various city characteristics, and the Rosen–Roback model was used to address the abovementioned issues. Residents’ demand for UGS in 285 prefecture-level cities was assessed from 2010 to 2017. The results confirm our hypothesis that when UGS increases by 1%, house prices will increase by about 3% and rents will increase by about 7%, and the demand continues to grow. We also analyzed the heterogeneous demands for UGS by urban residents in different types of cities from three aspects: population density, economic level, and the effects of the National Forest City policy. Finally, we provided suggestions based on empirical results for planning and managing UGS.

Cities, Green Space, and Mental Well-Being

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Roe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Burden Of Disease ◽  
Green Space ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Symptom Relief ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Positive Effects

Mental and behavioral disorders account for approximately 7.4% of the global burden of disease, with depression now the world’s leading cause of disability. One in four people in the world will suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their life. City planning and design holds much promise for reducing this burden of disease, and for offering solutions that are affordable, accessible and equitable. Increasingly urban green space is recognized as an important social determinant of health, with the potential to protect mental health – for example, by buffering against life stressors - as well as relieving the symptom severity of specific psychiatric disorders. Pathways linking urban green space with mental wellbeing include the ability of natural stimuli – trees, water, light patterns – to promote ‘involuntary attention’ allowing the brain to disengage and recover from cognitive fatigue. This article brings together evidence of the positive effects of urban green space on common mental health problems (i.e. stress, anxiety, depression) together with evidence of its role in the symptom relief of specific psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dementia, attention deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism. Urban green space is a potential force for building mental health: city planners, urban designers, policy makers and public health professionals need to maximize the opportunities in applying green space strategies for both health prevention and in supporting treatment of mental ill health.

The influence of urban green space on mental health in Auckland, New Zealand

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (1) ◽  
pp. 3511
Author(s):  
Simon Kingham ◽  
Daniel Nutsford ◽  
Amber Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Urban Green

scholarly journals The Effects of Urban Green Space on Depressive Symptoms of Mid-Aged and Elderly Urban Residents in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 717
Author(s):  
Rui Zhou ◽  
Ying-Jing Zheng ◽  
Jing-Yi Yun ◽  
Hong-Mei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Coverage Ratio ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study is to assess the impacts of urban green space on depressive symptoms among Chinese urban residents aged 45 and older. In total, 7397 urban respondents were included in this study. Each respondent participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Wave 3 (2015). Environmental-level variables were retrieved from the National Bureau of Statistics database. Both unadjusted and adjusted methods were used in the multilevel regression analysis. Almost one-third of the sample population suffered from depressive symptoms (31.20%). The multilevel logistic regression model showed that green coverage ratio of city-built districts is negatively associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms among urban mid-aged (OR = 0.79, p < 0.05) and elderly (OR = 0.75, p < 0.05) residents, and the public recreational green space helps to reduce elderly people’s depressive symptoms (OR = 0.77, p < 0.05). This study adds insights about the impact of green space and other environmental factors on depressive symptoms among mid-aged and elderly urban dwellers. It is important to provide enough and accessible overall urban green spaces; additionally, attention should also be paid to specific green space forms such as public recreational green space.

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