The associations between urban green spaces and self-reported health for university students in Singapore and Turin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqing Zhang ◽  
Puay Yok Tan
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
National University ◽  
Reported Health ◽  
The Relationship

<p><span>Numerous studies have found that green spaces can promote human health. However, most of the studies only investigate the relationship between green space and health in one single city. Therefore, whether the relationship between green space and health differs among cities with distinct differences in social-cultural and climatic context or there are universal patterns regarding such relationship is still remain unanswered. To investigate this question, this study aims to compare the associations between green space quantity and self-reported health for university students in Singapore and Turin, two high density cities with different social-cultural and climatic context. Students from National University of Singapore (NUS) and Politecnico di Torino (POLITO) were involved in an online survey to measure their self-reported health, use of green spaces and confounding factors. Through collecting the geographic location of student’s residence from online survey, the quantity of green spaces within 400 m-radius buffer surrounding the residence was calculated for each respondent. Through statistical analysis, the associations between green space quantity and self-reported health were revealed in both cities. The results from this work enhanced the knowledge regarding the dependence of green space-health relationship on social-cultural context. </span></p>

An Analysis of Soils in Various Type of Urban Green Spaces Based on the Soil Organic Matter Quality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanmin Choi ◽  
Youjin Kim ◽  
Inhye Seo ◽  
Gayoung Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Urban Soil ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Urban Park ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Urban soil is the foundation of ecosystem functioning in urban green spaces, which plays an important role in sustainable urbanization. To maintain the ecosystem services provided by urban green space, it is important to manage and monitor the urban soil using appropriate evaluation parameters. Given that the urban soil is under direct and indirect influence of anthropogenic factors, the characteristics of urban ecosystem should be considered when assessing the soil quality. My research group already suggested a new soil quality parameter set for urban roadside soils, which is composed of soil penetration resistance (PR), pH, the C/H ratio of particulate organic matter (POM-C/H), POM-N, and soil microbial respiration (RES). This parameter set indicated that the urban soil has very unique quality of soil organic matter (SOM) and it should be considered as well as SOM quantity when assessing the urban soil status. In this study, we aimed at assessing the SOM quality in various types of urban green space using the C/H ratio and N of POM and analyzing the relationship between SOM quality and soil RES. Soil RES was regarded as a representative parameter for overall soil health and used as a dependent variable. The study was conducted in three different types of urban green spaces, which are roadside, urban park, and riverside green in Seoul, Korea. In each type of green space, three sites were selected varing in the degree of human disturbance. Soil samples were collected from the 0-15 cm depth, passed through 2mm sieve and dried before analysis. The POM was separated after wet sieving using 53 um screen and the C, N, and H contents of POM were measured using combustion analysis using the Carlo Erba NS Analyzer Carlo Erba, Milan, Italy). We calculated the POM-C/H as a proxy for aromaticity, which increases with high non-degradable OM. To trace the source of SOM, we measured the N stable isotope ratio of POM (POM-δ<sup>15</sup>N). On the same day of soil sampling, soil RES was measured on-site using the EGM CO<sub>2</sub> Gas Analyzer PP Systems, MA, USA). We performed multiple regression to analyze the relationship between SOM quality and soil RES. The POM C/H was higher in roadside soil than urban park, which means the urban roadside soil has a significantly higher amount of non-biodegradable compounds such as PAH. This further implies that OM quality is significantly different among types of urban green spaces. Using the POM delta N value, we found that OM in the roadside soils was originated from sewage sludge, animal urine/feces as well as atmospheric deposition. Analysis of OM source tracing in the urban park and riverside soil will be conducted. There was a negative correlation between POM C/H ratio and soil RES, which indicates the poor soil health condition partly due to low OM quality. In conclusion, this study clarifies the importance of OM quality for assessing the soil in urban green spaces affected by anthropogenic factors and indicates that the SOM quality management needs to be established.</p>

scholarly journals The Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space: An Avenue for Health Promotion

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viniece Jennings ◽  
Omoshalewa Bamkole
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Health And Well Being

Social cohesion involves the interpersonal dynamics and sense of connection among people. Increased social cohesion can be associated with various physical and psychological health benefits. The presence of urban green spaces can encourage positive social interactions that cultivate social cohesion in ways that enhance health and well-being. Urban green spaces have also been linked to positive health behaviors and outcomes including increased physical activity and social engagement. Understanding the relationship between social cohesion and urban green space is important for informing holistic approaches to health. In this article, we discuss how positive interactions in urban green space can catalyze social cohesion, social capital and critical health-promoting behaviors that may enhance psychological health and well-being. We also summarize the strengths and limitations of previous studies and suggest directions for future research.

scholarly journals Characterising urban green space density and accessibility in models of BMI

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Carthy ◽  
Sean Lyons ◽  
Anne Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Status ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background : While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We suggest that dimensions of urban green space accessibility, which are generally unobserved in the existing literature, may be a source of this volatility in results. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on the association between urban green space and BMI by considering alternative measures of urban green space that incorporate measures of footpath availability. Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to urban green spaces at their residential addresses in network buffers, which are adjusted to account for the density of local footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to accessible urban green space and BMI. Results: Relative to the third quintile, exposure to the lowest quintile of urban green space, as measured within a 1600m accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.16-1.44). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between urban green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model. Conclusion : The relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. Our results suggest that there are some other unobserved factors, other than footpath availability, that mediate the relationship between urban green spaces and weight status.

scholarly journals Characterising urban green space density and footpath-accessibility in models of BMI

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Carthy ◽  
Sean Lyons ◽  
Anne Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Status ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background: While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We ask whether footpath availability, generally unobserved in the existing literature, may mediate exposure to urban green space and help explain this volatility in results. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on the association between urban green space and BMI by considering alternative measures of urban green space that incorporate measures of footpath availability. Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to urban green spaces at their residential addresses using street-side and area buffersthat take account of the presence of footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to several measures of urban green space and BMI. Results: Relative to the third quintile, exposure to the lowest quintile of urban green space, as measured within a 1600m footpath-accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.16-1.44). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between urban green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model. Conclusion: The relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. Our results suggest that there are some unobserved factors other than footpath availability that mediate the relationship between urban green spaces and weight status.

scholarly journals A Walk in the Park: Models of BMI with Green Space Density and Footpaths

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Carthy ◽  
Sean Lyons ◽  
Anne Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Status ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background : While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We suggest that dimensions of green space accessibility, which are generally unobserved in the existing literature, may be a source of this volatility in results. Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to green spaces at their residential addresses in network buffers, which are adjusted to account for the density of local footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to accessible green space and BMI. Results: Relative to the third quintile, exposure to the two lowest quintiles of green space, as measured within a 1600m accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect for lowest quintile: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.24-1.53; marginal effect for second quintile: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.02-1.2). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model. Conclusion : The relationship between green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. While footpath availability offers a partial explanation to some unintuitive empirical results previously found in the literature, our results suggest that there remains some other unobserved factor which mediates the relationship between green spaces and weight status.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Student Use of Campus Green Spaces and Perceptions of Quality of Life

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.L. McFarland ◽  
T.M. Waliczek ◽  
J.M. Zajicek
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Grade Classification ◽  
The Relationship

Researchers have found that students' perception of their overall academic experience and the campus environment is related to academic accomplishment. Additionally, studies have found that the designed environment of the university can influence the degree of stress students may feel. The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between undergraduate university student use of campus green spaces and their perceptions of quality of life at a university in Texas. A total of 2334 students or 10% of the undergraduate student body received e-mails with information regarding the incentive for participation and instructions on accessing an online survey. The survey included questions that related to student use of campus green spaces, overall quality of life statements, an instrument to measure the quality of life of university students, and demographic questions. A total of 373 surveys was collected and analyzed to compare levels of quality of life of university students and the level of usage of campus green spaces. Demographic information collected allowed controlling for student grade classification, gender, and ethnicity. Frequency statistics determined that, on average, more than half the students were ranked as “high-users” of the campus green spaces, and very few students were considered “low-users.” Frequency statistics also determined that most students rated their overall quality of life and quality of life of university students positively. Additionally, this study found that undergraduate student use of campus green spaces and perceptions of quality of life were related to each other.

scholarly journals Characterising urban green space density and footpath-accessibility in models of BMI

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Carthy ◽  
Sean Lyons ◽  
Anne Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Status ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background: While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We ask whether footpath availability, generally unobserved in the existing literature, may mediate exposure to urban green space and help explain this volatility in results. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on the association between urban green space and BMI by considering alternative measures of urban green space that incorporate measures of footpath availability. Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to urban green spaces at their residential addresses using street-side and area buffers that take account of the presence of footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to several measures of urban green space and BMI. Results: Relative to the third quintile, exposure to the lowest quintile of urban green space, as measured within a 1600m footpath-accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.16-1.44). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between urban green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model. Conclusion: The relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. Our results suggest that there are some unobserved factors other than footpath availability that mediate the relationship between urban green spaces and weight status.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic Differences in Walking Time of Children and Adolescents to Public Green Spaces in Urban Areas—Results of the German Environmental Survey (2014–2017)

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2326
Author(s):  
Julia Rehling ◽  
Christiane Bunge ◽  
Julia Waldhauer ◽  
André Conrad
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Environmental Survey ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Public Green Space ◽  
Walking Time

Public green spaces have a high potential for a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially in urban areas. Studies on environmental justice indicate socially unequal access possibilities to urban green spaces. This article presents results on associations between individual socioeconomic position (SEP) and walking time from home to public green spaces in young people living in urban areas with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Germany. Data were derived from the German Environmental Survey for Children and Adolescents 2014–2017 (GerES V), the environmental module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2). The sample comprises 1149 participants aged 3 to 17 years. A total of 51.5% of the participants reach a public green space on foot within five and 72.8% within ten minutes from home. The lower the participant’s SEP, the longer the walking time. Logistic regression models controlling for age group, sex, migration background, and region of residence show that participants with a low SEP have a significantly higher risk (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–2.99) of needing more than ten minutes to walk from home to a public green space than participants with a high SEP. GerES V data indicate that young people living in urban areas in Germany do not equally benefit from the health-promoting potential of green spaces, which is an important aspect of environmental health inequalities.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Level of Accessibility of Public Urban Green Spaces to Different Socially Vulnerable Groups of People

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3917 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Rahman ◽  
Dunfu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
High Density ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Geographical Data ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Socially Vulnerable Groups

This study estimates the factors affecting socially vulnerable groups’ demand for and accessibility levels to green public spaces in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Dhaka is a high-density city with one of the lowest levels of green space per capita in the world. Dhaka has just 8.5% of tree-covered lands, while an ideal city requires at least 20% of green space. Urban public green space provides a healthy environment to city dwellers as well as ecological soundness. This study aims to examine the effects of population density and size of a community area (Thana) on the social demand for and accessibility to green parks. To determine the socially vulnerable group demand index, this study used demographic data from the National Population and Housing Census 2011 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This study used geographical data extracted from Google Earth Pro to measure accessibility levels, and additionally analyzed geographical data with ArcGIS 10.0 and Google Earth Pro. We drew radius circles using Free Map Tools to measure time-distance weighted scores from community areas to urban green spaces. The results show that the large population size of socially vulnerable groups creates very high demand at the score of 0.61 for urban green public parks and small-sized, high-density community areas generate very good accessibility at 2.01% to green public spaces. These findings are highly useful to policymakers, urban planners, landscape engineers, and city governments to make a compact city sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. Moreover, the notion of a “smart city” might be a smart solution in order to manage Dhaka Megacity sustainably in this modern technological age.

scholarly journals COUNTRY MATTERS: WELL-BEING AND EMIGRATION PLANS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA AND BULGARIA: THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF ROOTEDNESS

2020 ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Frederika Lučanská ◽  
◽  
Oľga Orosová ◽  
Vihra Naydenova ◽  
Jozef Benka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between well-being, rootedness and emigration plans (EP) among university students in Slovakia and Bulgaria. It also explored the mediation effect of rootedness in the relationship between well-being and EP. The data were collected throughan online survey (SLiCE 2016). The research sample consisted of 361 university students (M=22.4 years, SD=3.8) from Slovakia (141, 86.5% female) and Bulgaria (220, 69.1% female). Based on their emigration plans, the respondentswere dividedinto two groups;those who do not plan to leave (n=218, 60.4%) and those who plan to leave in the long term (n=143, 39.6%) after they finish university. ForSlovakia, all factors were significantly related toEP. Furthermore, the association between well-being and EP was fully mediated by two dimensions of rootedness with different psychological mechanisms. For Bulgaria, only well-being and onedimension of rootedness,desire for change,were significantly related to EP. It was also found that the association between well-being and EP was partially mediated by only one dimension of rootedness –desire for change. This study highlightsthat rootedness hasa different relationship with other examined factorsin different countries and also that it is necessary to respect the cultural and socio-economic featuresof acountry.

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