Urban green space use during a time of stress: A case study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brisbane, Australia.
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SUBMITTER: Berdejo-Espinola V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8207087 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Informal urban green-space (IGS) such as vacant lots, brownfields and street or railway verges is receiving growing attention from urban scholars. Research has shown IGS can provide recreational space for residents and habitat for flora and fauna, yet we know little about the quantity, spatial distribution, vegetation structure or accessibility of IGS. We also lack a commonly accepted definition of IGS and a method that can be used for its rapid quantitative assessment. This paper advances a definition and typology of IGS that has potential for global application. Based on this definition, IGS land use percentage in central Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan was systematically surveyed in a 10×10 km grid containing 121 sampling sites of 2,500 m2 per city, drawing on data recorded in the field and aerial photography. Spatial distribution, vegetation structure and accessibility of IGS were also analyzed. We found approximately 6.3% of the surveyed urban area in Brisbane and 4.8% in Sapporo consisted of IGS, a non-significant difference. The street verge IGS type (80.4% of all IGS) dominated in Brisbane, while lots (42.2%) and gaps (19.2%) were the two largest IGS types in Sapporo. IGS was widely distributed throughout both survey areas. Vegetation structure showed higher tree cover in Brisbane, but higher herb cover in Sapporo. In both cities over 80% of IGS was accessible or partly accessible. The amount of IGS we found suggests it could play a more important role than previously assumed for residents' recreation and nature experience as well as for fauna and flora, because it substantially increased the amount of potentially available greenspace in addition to parks and conservation greenspace. We argue that IGS has potential for recreation and conservation, but poses some challenges to urban planning. To address these challenges, we propose some directions for future research.
| S-EPMC4062477 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceRecent studies indicate that living near more green space may support mental and general health and may also prevent depression. However, most studies are cross-sectional, and few have considered whether some types of green space matter more for mental health.ObjectiveTo assess whether total green space or specific types of green space are associated with better mental health.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study included a residentially stable, city-dwelling sample of 46 786 participants from Sydney, Wollongong, and Newcastle, Australia, in the baseline of the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study (data collected from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2009). Follow-up was conducted from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2015. Analyses were conducted in January 2019.ExposuresPercentage of total green space, tree canopy, grass, and other low-lying vegetation measured within 1.6-km (1-mile) road network distance buffers around residential addresses at baseline.Main outcomes and measuresThree outcome variables were examined at baseline (prevalence) and follow-up (incidence without baseline affirmatives): (1) risk of psychological distress (10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale), (2) self-reported physician-diagnosed depression or anxiety, and (3) fair to poor self-rated general health.ResultsThis study included 46 786 participants (mean [SD] age, 61.0 [10.2] years; 25 171 [53.8%] female). At baseline, 5.1% of 37 775 reported a high risk of psychological distress, 16.0% of 46 786 reported depression or anxiety, and 9.0% of 45 577 reported fair to poor self-rated health. An additional 3.3% of 32 991 experienced psychological distress incidence, 7.5% of 39 277 experienced depression or anxiety incidence, and 7.3% of 40 741 experienced fair to poor self-rated health incidence by follow-up (mean [SD] of 6.2 [1.62] years later). Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for age, sex, income, economic status, couple status, and educational level indicated that exposures of 30% or more total green space (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.29-0.69) and tree canopy specifically (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.54-0.88) were associated with lower incidence of psychological distress. Exposure to tree canopy of 30% or more, compared with 0% to 9%, was also associated with lower incidence of fair to poor general health (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.57-0.80). Exposure to grass of 30% or more, compared with 0% to 4%, was associated with higher odds of incident fair to poor general health (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.12-1.91) and prevalent psychological distress (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.25-2.28). Exposure to low-lying vegetation was not consistently associated with any outcome. No green space indicator was associated with prevalent or incident depression or anxiety.Conclusions and relevanceProtection and restoration of urban tree canopy specifically, rather than any urban greening, may be a good option for promotion of community mental health.
| S-EPMC6661720 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urban green space (UGS) is an essential element in the urban environment, providing multiple ecosystem services as well as beneficial effects on physical and mental health. In a time of societal crisis these effects may be amplified, but ensuring that they are maintained requires effective planning and management - which is a complex challenge given the rapid changes in modern society and the need for continual adaptation. This study aims to identify the drivers that normally attract visitors to UGS, and to assess the effects of social isolation on the usage and perception of UGS during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online survey during the period in which restrictive measures were imposed in response to the pandemic (March-May 2020), in Croatia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain. Results showed that urban residents normally have a need for accessible UGS, mainly for physical exercise, relaxing and observing nature. The reduction in UGS visitation during the containment period was related to distinct changes in the motivations of those who did visit, with a relative increase in "necessary activities" such as taking the dog out, and a reduction in activities that could be considered non-essential or high-risk such as meeting people or observing nature. Behavioral changes related to proximity were also observed, with an increase in people walking to small urban gardens nearby (e.g. in Italy) or tree-lined streets (e.g. in Spain, Israel), and people traveling by car to green areas outside the city (e.g. in Lithuania). What the respondents missed the most about UGS during the pandemic was "spending time outdoors" and "meeting other people" - highlighting that during the COVID-19 isolation, UGS was important for providing places of solace and respite, and for allowing exercise and relaxation. Respondents expressed the need for urban greenery even when legally mandated access was limited - and many proposed concrete suggestions for improved urban planning that integrates green spaces of different sizes within the fabric of cities and neighborhoods, so that all residents have access to UGS.
| S-EPMC7566824 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urban green space use is often associated with improved physical and mental health and lower noncommunicable disease (NCDs) burdens. Factors that influence green space visits have been documented in cities of the Global North, but evidence of urban green space use patterns for cities in the Global South is scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate factors influencing urban green space use patterns in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a megacity of the Global South, with a particular focus on how poor health condition and healthcare professionals' prescriptions to exercise outdoors (park prescriptions-ParkRx) impact the green space use of middle-aged adults. We collected green space characteristics and use factors (i.e., availability, accessibility, attractiveness, and attachment), health condition, ParkRx, and urban green space use intensity (i.e., frequency and duration) via a self-reported questionnaire from 169 middle-aged residents of Dhaka. We used multivariate modeling to estimate the association of green space characteristics, health condition, and ParkRx with use intensity. We further applied a mediation analysis to determine the influence of ParkRx on the relationship between residents' poor health conditions and use intensity. We found that green space availability and accessibility did not significantly influence use intensity, but attractiveness was negatively associated with use intensity. Green space use intensity was significantly and positively associated with attachment to the green space, poor health condition (i.e., having noncommunicable diseases), and ParkRx. ParkRx significantly mediated the relationship between health condition and use intensity. We observed limited supply, poor access, and low attractiveness when studying the urban green spaces in Dhaka, but these qualities did not affect use intensity, as found in many case studies in the Global North. In contrast, urban green space use intensity in our case study is mostly dependent on poor health condition and park prescriptions.
| S-EPMC7313456 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundExposure to a diverse environmental microbiome is thought to play an important role in "educating" the immune system and facilitating competitive exclusion of pathogens to maintain human health. Vegetation and soil are key sources of airborne microbiota--the aerobiome. A limited number of studies have attempted to characterize the dynamics of near surface green space aerobiomes, and no studies to date have investigated these dynamics from a vertical perspective. Vertical stratification in the aerobiome could have important implications for public health and for the design, engineering, and management of urban green spaces.ObjectivesThe primary objectives of this study were to: a) assess whether significant vertical stratification in bacterial species richness and evenness (alpha diversity) of the aerobiome occurred in a parkland habitat in Adelaide, South Australia; b) assess whether significant compositional differences (beta diversity) between sampling heights occurred; and c) to preliminarily assess whether there were significant altitudinal differences in potentially pathogenic and beneficial bacterial taxa.MethodsWe combined an innovative columnar sampling method at soil level, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0m, using passive petri dish sampling to collect airborne bacteria. We used a geographic information system (GIS) to select study sites, and we used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to assess whether significant vertical stratification of the aerobiome occurred.ResultsOur results provide evidence of vertical stratification in both alpha and beta (compositional) diversity of airborne bacterial communities, with diversity decreasing roughly with height. We also found significant vertical stratification in potentially pathogenic and beneficial bacterial taxa.DiscussionAlthough additional research is needed, our preliminary findings point to potentially different exposure attributes that may be contingent on human height and activity type. Our results lay the foundations for further research into the vertical characteristics of urban green space aerobiomes and their implications for public health and urban planning. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7807.
| S-EPMC7687659 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The risk posed by wildlife to air transportation is of great concern worldwide. In Australia alone, 17,336 bird-strike incidents and 401 animal-strike incidents were reported to the Air Transport Safety Board (ATSB) in the period 2010-2019. Moreover, when collisions do occur, the impact can be catastrophic (loss of life, loss of aircraft) and involve significant cost to the affected airline and airport operator (estimated at globally US$1.2 billion per year). On the other side of the coin, civil aviation, and airport operations have significantly affected bird populations. There has been an increasing number of bird strikes, generally fatal to individual birds involved, reported worldwide (annual average of 12,219 reported strikes between 2008-2015 being nearly double the annual average of 6,702 strikes reported 2001-2007) (ICAO, 2018). Airport operations including construction of airport infrastructure, frequent take-offs and landings, airport noise and lights, and wildlife hazard management practices aimed at reducing risk of birdstrike, e.g., spraying to remove weeds and invertebrates, drainage, and even direct killing of individual hazard species, may result in habitat fragmentation, population decline, and rare bird extinction adjacent to airports (Kelly T, 2006; Zhao B, 2019; Steele WK, 2021). Nevertheless, there remains an imperative to continually improve wildlife hazard management methods and strategies so as to reduce the risk to aircraft and to bird populations. Current approved wildlife risk assessment techniques in Australia are limited to ranking of identified hazard species, i.e., are 'static' and, as such, do not provide a day-to-day risk/collision likelihood. The purpose of this study is to move towards a dynamic, evidence-based risk assessment model of wildlife hazards at airports. Ideally, such a model should be sufficiently sensitive and responsive to changing environmental conditions to be able to inform both short and longer term risk mitigation decisions. Challenges include the identification and quantification of contributory risk factors, and the selection and configuration of modelling technique(s) that meet the aforementioned requirements. In this article we focus on likelihood of bird strike and introduce three distinct, but complementary, assessment techniques, i.e., Algebraic, Bayesian, and Clustering (ABC) for measuring the likelihood of bird strike in the face of constantly changing environmental conditions. The ABC techniques are evaluated using environment and wildlife observations routinely collected by the Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) wildlife hazard management team. Results indicate that each of the techniques meet the requirements of providing dynamic, realistic collision risks in the face of changing environmental conditions.
| S-EPMC9731475 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDengue is a widely spread vector-borne disease. Dengue cases in the Americas have increased over the last few decades, affecting various urban spaces throughout these continents, including the tourism-oriented city of Girardot, Colombia. Interactions among mosquitoes, pathogens and humans have recently been examined using different temporal and spatial scales in attempts to determine the roles that social and ecological systems play in dengue transmission. The current work characterizes the spatial and temporal behaviours of dengue in Girardot and discusses the potential territorial dynamics related to the distribution of this disease.MethodsBased on officially reported dengue cases (2012-2015) corresponding to epidemic (2013) and inter-epidemic years (2012, 2014, 2015), space (Getis-Ord index) and space-time (Kulldorff's scan statistics) analyses were performed.ResultsGeocoded dengue cases (n = 2027) were slightly overrepresented by men (52.1%). As expected, the cases were concentrated in the 0- to 15-year-old age group according to the actual trends of Colombia. The incidence rates of dengue during the rainy and dry seasons as well as those for individual years (2012, 2013 and 2014) were significant using the global Getis-Ord index. Local clusters shifted across seasons and years; nevertheless, the incidence rates clustered towards the southwest region of the city under different residential conditions. Space-time clusters shifted from the northeast to the southwest of the city (2012-2014). These clusters represented only 4.25% of the total cases over the same period (n = 1623). A general trend was observed, in which dengue cases increased during the dry seasons, especially between December and February.ConclusionsDespite study limitations related to official dengue records and available fine-scale demographic information, the spatial analysis results were promising from a geography of health perspective. Dengue did not show linear association with poverty or with vulnerable peripheral spaces in intra-urban settings, supporting the idea that the pathogenic complex of dengue is driven by different factors. A coordinated collaboration of epidemiological, public health and social science expertise is needed to assess the effect of "place" from a relational perspective in which geography has an important role to play.
| S-EPMC5525249 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19 has had economic, social and environmental impacts worldwide. Governments have adopted containment measures to limit the spread of the virus. Urban green spaces (UGSs) were included among the non-essential activities and were consequently closed during the lockdown periods in some countries. This study analysed tweets posted by users to understand the citizens' perception and sentiment in relation to the closure of UGS in Italy. Results revealed that people felt a strong deprivation feeling in relation to the restrictions imposed on UGS access, which limited the number of spaces for supporting mental and physical wellbeing of citizens. Users from urban areas were more affected by the lockdowns and more willing to share thoughts on social media, demonstrating a strong emotionality. Furthermore, findings show that users seemed concerned about their children's health, expressing awareness about the benefits of being in contact with nature. UGS is able to provide services to citizens, and close-to-home parks are fundamental for the community, in particular during a health emergency. The implementation of urban design, which includes green areas to support health and environment challenges, should be addressed by policy-makers to create opportunities for a green and resilient recovery of cities, and prepare for future emergencies.
| S-EPMC9091318 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urban green space is thought to contribute to citizen happiness by promoting physical and mental health. Nevertheless, how urban green space and happiness are related across many countries with different socioeconomic conditions has not been explored. By measuring the urban green space score (UGS) from high-resolution satellite imagery of 90 global cities covering 179,168 km2 and 230 million people in 60 developed countries, we find that the amount of urban green space and GDP are correlated with a nation's happiness level. More specifically, urban green space and GDP are each individually associated with happiness. Yet, only urban green space is related to happiness in the 30 wealthiest countries, whereas GDP alone can explain happiness in the subsequent 30 countries in terms of wealth. We further show that the relationship between urban green space and happiness is mediated by social support and that GDP moderates this relationship. These findings corroborate the importance of maintaining urban green space as a place for social cohesion to support people's happiness.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1140/epjds/s13688-021-00278-7.
| S-EPMC8164893 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Contemporary epidemiological methods testing the associations between green space and psychological well-being treat all vegetation cover as equal. However, there is very good reason to expect that variations in ecological "quality" (number of species, integrity of ecological processes) may influence the link between access to green space and benefits to human health and well-being. We test the relationship between green space quality and restorative benefit in an inner city urban population in Bradford, United Kingdom. We selected 12 urban parks for study where we carried out botanical and faunal surveys to quantify biodiversity and assessed the site facilities of the green space (cleanliness, provision of amenities). We also conducted 128 surveys with park users to quantify psychological restoration based on four self-reported measure of general restoration, attention-grabbing distractions, being away from everyday life, and site preference. We present three key results. First, there is a positive association between site facilities and biodiversity. Second, restorative benefit is predicted by biodiversity, which explained 43% of the variance in restorative benefit across the parks, with minimal input from other variables. Third, the benefits accrued through access to green space were unrelated to age, gender, and ethnic background. The results add to a small but growing body of evidence that emphasize the role of nature in contributing to the well-being of urban populations and, hence, the need to consider biodiversity in the design of landscapes that enhance multiple ecosystem services.
| S-EPMC6277587 | biostudies-literature