Exposure to nature is thought to benefit mental health and wellbeing. However, many studies consider greenspace as a single entity, which overlooks the potential significance of the various forms of greenspace, and natural greenspaces in particular. This study was designed to investigate the association between different types of greenspace and mental wellbeing. Drawing wellbeing and socioeconomic data from the Annual Population Survey (2012–2015), and shapefiles from the Greenspace Information for Greater London group, the amount of greenspace accessible within a 300 m walk of individual’s postcodes was calculated, and categorised according to type. Spatial Error Models were used to account for spatial patterns in the data. Natural greenspace was significantly associated with improved life satisfaction (B =0.028, p <0.001) and happiness (B =0.023, p =0.019) scores. The spatial autoregressive parameter () was small but significant (p <0.001), implying slight second-order spatial variation in the model. These results imply that natural areas may be more important for hedonic mental wellbeing than other greenspaces. Future research is needed on exploring causal relationships between exposure to greenspace and mental wellbeing outcomes.
AlcockIWhiteMPWheelerBW, et al. (2014)
Longitudinal effects on mental health of moving to greener and less green urban areas. Environmental Science & Technology48: 1247–1255.
2.
AnnerstedtMOstergrenPOBjorkJ, et al. (2012)
Green qualities in the neighbourhood and mental health-results from a longitudinal cohort study in Southern Sweden. European Journal of Public Health22: 275–276.
3.
AnselinL (2001)
Spatial econometrics. In: BaltagiB (ed.) A Companion to Theoretical Econometrics.
Oxford:
Blackwell, pp. 310–330.
4.
BartonHThompsonSBurgessS, et al. (2015) The Routledge Handbook of Planning for Health and Well-Being: Shaping a Sustainable and Healthy Future.
Abingdon:
Routledge.
5.
BjorkJAlbinMGrahnP, et al. (2008)
Recreational values of the natural environment in relation to neighbourhood satisfaction, physical activity, obesity and wellbeing. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health62(4), e2.
6.
BoultonCDedekorkut-HowesAByrneJ (2018)
Factors shaping urban greenspace provision: A systematic review of the literature. Landscape and Urban Planning178: 82–101.
7.
Cohen-ClineHTurkheimerEDuncanGE (2015)
Access to green space, physical activity and mental health: A twin study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health69: 523–529.
8.
DadvandPBartollXBasagañaX, et al. (2016)
Green spaces and general health: Roles of mental health status, social support, and physical activity. Environment International91: 161–167.
EkkelEDde VriesS (2017)
Nearby green space and human health: Evaluating accessibility metrics. Landscape and Urban Planning157: 214–220.
12.
ESRI (2011) ArcGIS Desktop: Release 10.
Redlands:
Environmental Systems Research Institute.
13.
Fields in Trust (2018) Green Spaces for Good 2018 − 2022.
14.
GolgherABVossPR (2016)
How to interpret the coefficients of spatial models: Spillovers, direct and indirect effects. Spatial Demography4: 175–205.
15.
Greater London Authority (2014) LSOA Atlas.
16.
Greater London Authority (2017) The London Plan: Policy G4 Local green and open space.
17.
Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (2017) Our data holdings. Available at: www.gigl.org.uk/our-data-holdings/ (accessed 26 October 2019).
18.
HainingRHainingRP (2003) Spatial Data Analysis: Theory and Practice:
Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
19.
HaklayM (2010)
How good is volunteered geographical information? A comparative study of OpenStreetMap and ordnance survey datasets. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design37: 682–703.
20.
HartigTEvansGWJamnerLD, et al. (2003)
Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. Journal of Environmental Psychology23: 109–123.
21.
HartigTMitchellRDe VriesS, et al. (2014)
Nature and health. Annual Review of Public Health35: 207–228.
22.
HouldenVPorto de AlbuquerqueJWeichS, et al. (2019)
A spatial analysis of proximate greenspace and mental wellbeing in London. Applied Geography109, 102036.
23.
HouldenVWeichSde AlbuquerqueJP, et al. (2018)
The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review. PLoS One13: e0203000.
24.
KaplanR (1984)
Impact of urban nature: A theoretical analysis. Urban Ecology8: 189–197.
25.
KaplanS (1995)
The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology15: 169–182.
26.
KlompmakerJOHoekGBloemsmaLD, et al. (2018)
Green space definition affects associations of green space with overweight and physical activity. Environmental Research160: 531–540.
27.
LachowyczKJonesAP (2013)
Towards a better understanding of the relationship between greenspace and health: Development of a theoretical framework. Landscape and Urban Planning118: 62–69.
28.
LuckGWDavidsonPBoxallD, et al. (2011)
Relations between urban bird and plant communities and human well-being and connection to nature. Conservation Biology25: 816–826.
29.
MaasJVan DillenSMVerheijRA, et al. (2009)
Social contacts as a possible mechanism behind the relation between green space and health. Health & Place15: 586–595.
30.
MaatKDe VriesP (2006)
The influence of the residential environment on green-space travel: Testing the compensation hypothesis. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space38: 2111–2127.
31.
MatheronG (1963)
Principles of geostatistics. Economic Geology58: 1246–1266.
32.
MitchellR (2013)
Is physical activity in natural environments better for mental health than physical activity in other environments?Social Science & Medicine91: 130–134.
33.
MitchellRAstell-BurtTRichardsonEA (2011)
A comparison of green space indicators for epidemiological research. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health65: 853–858.
34.
MolsherRTownsendM (2016)
Improving wellbeing and environmental stewardship through volunteering in nature. Ecohealth13: 151–155.
35.
MoranPA (1950)
A test for the serial independence of residuals. Biometrika37: 178–181.
Office for National Statistics Social Survey Division (2016) Annual Population Survey: Well-Being, April 2011–March 2015: Secure Access. Colchester, Essex.
38.
OpenStreetMap contributors (2018) Planet dump. Available at: https://planet.osm.org (accessed 26 October 2019).
RyanRMDeciEL (2001)
On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology52: 141–166.
44.
SarkarCWebsterCGallacherJ (2018)
Residential greenness and prevalence of major depressive disorders: A cross-sectional, observational, associational study of 94 879 adult UK biobank participants. The Lancet Planetary Health2: e162–e173.
45.
R Core Team (2014) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available at: http://www.R-project.org/
46.
ToftagerMEkholmOSchipperijnJ, et al. (2011)
Distance to green space and physical activity: A Danish national representative survey. Journal of Physical Activity and Health8: 741–749.
47.
Triguero-MasMDadvandPCirachM, et al. (2015)
Natural outdoor environments and mental and physical health: Relationships and mechanisms. Environment International77: 35–41.
48.
UlrichR (1984)
View through a window may influence recovery. Science224: 224–225.
49.
UlrichRS (1986)
Human responses to vegetation and landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning13: 29–44.
Van den BergAEMaasJVerheijRA, et al. (2010)
Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health. Social Science & Medicine70: 1203–1210.
52.
van den BoschMAOstergrenPOGrahnP, et al. (2015)
Moving to serene nature may prevent poor mental health–results from a Swedish longitudinal cohort study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health12: 7974–7989.
53.
VemuriAWGroveJMWilsonMA, et al. (2011)
A tale of two scales: Evaluating the relationship among life satisfaction, social Capital, income, and the natural environment at individual and neighborhood levels in metropolitan Baltimore. Environment and Behavior43: 3–25.
54.
WeimannHRylanderLAlbinM, et al. (2015)
Effects of changing exposure to neighbourhood greenness on general and mental health: A longitudinal study. Health & Place33: 48–56.
55.
WhiteMPAlcockIWheelerBW, et al. (2013)
Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? A fixed-effects analysis of panel data. Psychological Science24: 920–928.
56.
WilsonEO (1984) Biophilia.
Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
57.
WoodLHooperPFosterS, et al. (2017)
Public green spaces and positive mental health–investigating the relationship between access, quantity and types of parks and mental wellbeing. Health & Place48: 63–71.
WuJHeQChenY, et al. (2018)
Dismantling the fence for social justice? Evidence based on the inequity of urban green space accessibility in the Central urban area of Beijing. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science2399808318793139.
60.
ZhangLTanPYDiehlJA (2017)
A conceptual framework for studying urban green spaces effects on health. Journal of Urban Ecology3: jux015.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
