Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Beneficial Health Outcomes of Natural Green Infrastructure in Cities

  • Social Dimensions of Landscape Ecology (S Gagne, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Landscape Ecology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

We examined recent literature on the human health impacts of natural green infrastructure (NGI). NGI refers to green space that requires less maintenance than traditional formal urban green spaces such as city parks. Where declining cities have excess land and fewer funds for land maintenance, NGI is globally emerging as a cost-effective way to convert abandoned land into useful green space producing ecosystems services. Our goal was to determine if recent studies show that NGI provides human health benefits. Much previous work shows that urban green infrastructure in general has human health benefits but we ask the question whether this specific kind of green infrastructure also provides human health benefits.

Recent Findings

We found 29 studies reporting positive human health impacts from NGI. Most reported mental health benefits but wellbeing, crime reduction, obesity, and recreation were also reported. These studies also reveal the specific characteristics of NGI that contribute to the positive health impacts: forests, trees, wilderness, biodiversity, and tranquility. We also found an additional 13 studies of low-maintenance greening projects on urban vacant land that all report health benefits including crime reduction, mental health, and pro-social behavior. These 42 studies utilize a variety of different research designs and metrics.

Summary

The recent literature indicates that NGI may be a low-cost way to convert abandoned land in declining urban areas into green space that provides health benefits to people who often lack access to green space. NGI provides benefits of mental health, wellbeing, and crime reduction that are comparable, if not better, than other, more costly urban green infrastructure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Birch E, Wachter S. Growing greener cities. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Astell-Burt T, Mitchell R, Hartig T. The association between green space and mental health varies across the lifecourse. A longitudinal study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2014;68:578–83.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. •• Suppakittpaisarn P, Jiang X, Sullivan W. Green infrastructure, green stormwater infrastructure, and human health: a review. Curr Landscape Ecol Rep. 2017;2:96–110 The authors give a thorough review of the recent literature on health benefits of green infrastructure, with an emphasis on stormwater.

    Google Scholar 

  4. •• Threlfall C, Kendal D. The distinct ecological and social roles that wild spaces play in urban ecosystems. Urban For Urban Green. 2018;29:348–56 An insightful effort to categorize different kinds of “wild” spaces and their uses in urban green spaces.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kim G. The public value of urban vacant land: social responses and ecological value. Sustainability. 2016;8(5):486.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Zefferman E, McKinney M, Cianciolo T, Fritz B. Knoxville’s urban wilderness: moving toward sustainable multifunctional management. Urban For Urban Green. 2018;29:357–66.

    Google Scholar 

  7. •• Riley C, Perry K, Ard K, Gardiner M. Asset or Liability? Ecological and sociological tradeoffs of urban spontaneous vegetation on vacant land in shrinking cities. Sustainability. 2018;10:2139 A very thorough and wide-ranging overview of the pros and cons of spontaneous vegetation on vacant urban land.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Rupprecht C, Byrne J. Informal urban green-space: comparison of quantity and characteristics in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo. Japan PLoS ONE. 2014;9:e99784.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Haase D. Urban ecology of shrinking cities: an unrecognized opportunity? Nat Cult. 2008;3(1):1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Pagano M, Bowman A. Vacant land in cities: an urban resource. Cent Urban Metrop Pol. 2000:1–9.

  11. Kremer P, Hamstead Z, McPhearson T. A social–ecological assessment of vacant lots in New York City. Landsc Urban Plan. 2013;120:218–33.

    Google Scholar 

  12. $60 million and counting: the cost of vacant and abandoned properties to eight Ohio cities. Community Research Partners and ReBuild Ohio. 2008. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59396fee59cc6877bacf5ab5/t/598c8a0559cc689d94d23fc6/1502382604201/rebuild+ohio+executive+summary.pdf. Accessed 2 Aug 2019.

  13. Burkholder S. The new ecology of vacancy: rethinking land use in shrinking cities. Sustainability. 2012;4(6):1154–72.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Sadler R, Pruett N. Mitigating blight and building community pride in a legacy city: lessons learned from a land bank’s clean and green programme. Community Dev J. 2017;52(4):591–610.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Teixeira S, Sing E. Reclaim Northside. Fam Commun Health. 2016;39(3):207–15.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Sims C, Davis B, Kim B. Economic potential of South Knoxville’s urban wilderness. Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. 2015. http://bakercenter.utk.edu/economic-potential-of-south-knoxvilles-urban-wilderness/. Accessed 5 Aug 2019.

  17. Parker J, Zingoni de Baro M. Green Infrastructure in the urban environment: a systematic quantitative review. Sustainability. 2019;11(11):3182.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Carrus G, Scopelliti M, Lafortezza R, Colangelo G, Ferrini F, Salbitano F, et al. Go greener, feel better? The positive effects of biodiversity on the well-being of individuals visiting urban and peri-urban green areas. Landsc Urban Plan. 2015;134:221–8.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Dallimer M, Irvine K, Skinner A, Davies Z, Rouquette J, Maltby L, et al. Biodiversity and the feel-good factor: understanding associations between self-reported human well-being and species richness. BioScience. 2012;62(1):47–55.

    Google Scholar 

  20. • Wood E, Harsant A, Dallimer M, Cronin de Chavez A, McEachan R, Hassall C. Not all green space is created equal: biodiversity predicts psychological restorative benefits from urban green space. Front Psychol. 2018;9 The authors provide a wide-ranging and thorough discussion of how and perhaps why biodiversity promotes stress relief and other mental health benefits.

  21. Akpinar A, Barbosa-Leiker C, Brooks K. Does green space matter? Exploring relationships between green space type and health indicators. Urban For Urban Green. 2016;20:407–18.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Chiang Y, Li D, Jane H. Wild or tended nature? The effects of landscape location and vegetation density on physiological and psychological responses. Landsc Urban Plan. 2017;167:72–83.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Escobedo F, Clerici N, Staudhammer C, Feged-Rivadeneira A, Bohorquez J, Tovar G. Trees and crime in Bogota, Colombia: is the link an ecosystem disservice or service? Land Use Policy. 2018;78:583–92.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Ghimire R, Ferreira S, Green G, Poudyal N, Cordell H, Thapa J. Green space and adult obesity in the United States. Ecol Econ. 2017;136:201–12.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Jiang B, Li D, Larsen L, Sullivan W. A dose-response curve describing the relationship between urban tree cover density and self-reported stress recovery. Environ Behav. 2016;48(4):607–29.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kondo M, South E, Branas C, Richmond T, Wiebe D. The association between urban tree cover and gun assault: a case-control and case-crossover study. Am J Epidemiol. 2017;186(3):289–96.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Kühn S, Düzel S, Eibich P, Krekel C, Wüstemann H, Kolbe J, et al. In search of features that constitute an “enriched environment” in humans: associations between geographical properties and brain structure. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1).

  28. Stoltz J, Lundell Y, Skärbäck E, van den Bosch M, Grahn P, Nordström E, et al. Planning for restorative forests: describing stress-reducing qualities of forest stands using available forest stand data. Eur J For Res. 2016;135(5):803–13.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Tyrväinen L, Ojala A, Korpela K, Lanki T, Tsunetsugu Y, Kagawa T. The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures: a field experiment. J Environ Psychol. 2014;38:1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Vujcic M, Tomicevic-Dubljevic J. Urban forest benefits to the younger population: the case study of the city of Belgrade. Serbia Foreign Policy Econ. 2018;96:54–62.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wallner P, Kundi M, Arnberger A, Eder R, Allex B, Weitensfelder L, et al. Reloading pupils’ batteries: impact of green spaces on cognition and wellbeing. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(6):1205.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. White M, Pahl S, Ashbullby K, Herbert S, Depledge M. Feelings of restoration from recent nature visits. J Environ Psychol. 2013;35:40–51.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Beil K, Hanes D. The influence of urban natural and built environments on physiological and psychological measures of stress—a pilot study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013;10(4):1250–67.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Cheesbrough A, Garvin T, Nykiforuk C. Everyday wild: urban natural areas, health, and well-being. Health Place. 2019;56:43–52.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Colley K, Brown C, Montarzino A. Restorative wildscapes at work: an investigation of the wellbeing benefits of greenspace at urban fringe business sites using ‘go-along’ interviews. Landsc Res. 2016;41(6):598–615.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Knez I, Ode Sang Å, Gunnarsson B, Hedblom M. Wellbeing in urban greenery: the role of naturalness and place identity. Front Psychol. 2018;9.

  37. McAllister E, Bhullar N, Schutte N. Into the woods or a stroll in the park: how virtual contact with nature impacts positive and negative affect. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(7):786.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Zhang L, Tan P. Associations between urban green spaces and health are dependent on the analytical scale and how urban green spaces are measured. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(4):578.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Schebella M, Weber D, Schultz L, Weinstein P. The wellbeing benefits associated with perceived and measured biodiversity in Australian urban green spaces. Sustainability. 2019;11(3):802.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Van den Berg A, Jorgensen A, Wilson E. Evaluating restoration in urban green spaces: does setting type make a difference? Landsc Urban Plan. 2014;127:173–81.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Weber A, Trojan J. The restorative value of the urban environment: a systematic review of the existing literature. Environ Health Insights. 2018;12.

  42. Kondo M, Morrison C, Jacoby S, Elliott L, Poche A, Theall K, et al. Blight abatement of vacant land and crime in New Orleans. Public Health Rep. 2018;133:650–7.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Branas C, South E, Kondo M, Hohl B, Bourgois P, Wiebe D, et al. Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2018;115(12):2946–51.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Gatersleben B, Andrews M. When walking in nature is not restorative—the role of prospect and refuge. Health Place. 2013;20:91–101.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Ewert A, Chang Y. Levels of nature and stress response. Behav Sci. 2018;8(5):49.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Hofmann M, Westermann J, Kowarik I, van der Meer E. Perceptions of parks and urban derelict land by landscape planners and residents. Urban For Urban Green. 2012;11(3):303–12.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Hoyle H, Hitchmough J, Jorgensen A. All about the ‘wow factor’? The relationships between aesthetics, restorative effect and perceived biodiversity in designed urban planting. Landsc Urban Plan. 2017;164:109–23.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Moyer R, MacDonald J, Ridgeway G, Branas C. Effect of remediating blighted vacant land on shootings: a citywide cluster randomized trial. Am J Public Health. 2019;109(1):140–4.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Busy streets theory: the effects of community-engaged greening on violence. Am J Community Psychol. 2018;62(1–2):101–9.

  50. Kondo M, Hohl B, Han S, Branas C. Effects of greening and community reuse of vacant lots on crime. Urban Stud. 2016;53(15):3279–95.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Wolfe M, Mennis J. Does vegetation encourage or suppress urban crime? Evidence from Philadelphia. PA Landsc Urban Plan. 2012;108:112–22.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Branas C, Cheney R, MacDonald J, Tam V, Jackson T, Ten Have T. A difference-in-differences analysis of health, safety, and greening vacant urban space. Am J Epidemiol. 2011;174(11):1296–306.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Garvin E, Cannuscio C, Branas C. Greening vacant lots to reduce violent crime: a randomised controlled trial. Inj Prev. 2013;19(3):198–203.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Kim EJ, Miller P. Residents’ perceptions of local brownfields in rail corridor areas in the city of Roanoke: the effect of people’s preconceptions and health concern factors. J Env Plan Mgmt. 2017;60(5):862–82.

    Google Scholar 

  55. South E, Kondo M, Cheney R, Branas C. Neighborhood blight, stress, and health: a walking trial of urban greening and ambulatory heart rate. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(5):909–13.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. South E, Hohl B, Kondo M, MacDonald J, Branas C. Effect of greening vacant land on mental health of community-dwelling adults. JAMA Net Open. 2018;1(3):e180298.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Aguilera G, Ekroos J, Persson A, Pettersson L, Öckinger E. Intensive management reduces butterfly diversity over time in urban green spaces. Urban Ecosyst. 2019;22(2):335–44.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Wolch J, Byrne J, Newell J. Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: the challenge of making cities ‘just green enough’. Landsc Urban Plan. 2014;125:234–44.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Astell-Burt T, Feng X, Mavoa S, Badland H, Giles-Corti B. Do low-income neighborhoods have the least green space? A cross-sectional study of Australia’s most populous cities. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1).

  60. • Mathey J, Arndt T, Banse J, Rink D. Public perception of spontaneous vegetation on brownfields in urban areas—results from surveys in Dresden and Leipzig (Germany). Urban For Urban Green. 2018;29:384–92 The authors show that public perception of NGI is critical to acceptance but perception can vary from positive to negative depending on several key factors.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Chen H, Qiu L, Gao T. Application of the eight perceived sensory dimensions as a tool for urban green space assessment and planning in China. Urban For Urban Green. 2019;40:224–35.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Kim M, Rupprecht CDD, Furuya K. Residents’ perception of informal green space: a case study of Ichikawa City, Japan. Land. 7:102–22.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Michael L. McKinney & Alexandra VerBerkmoes

Authors
  1. Michael L. McKinney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexandra VerBerkmoes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael L. McKinney.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Social Dimensions of Landscape Ecology

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McKinney, M.L., VerBerkmoes, A. Beneficial Health Outcomes of Natural Green Infrastructure in Cities. Curr Landscape Ecol Rep 5, 35–44 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40823-020-00051-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40823-020-00051-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation