Neighbourhood green space was related to better cardiovascular and mental health in a New Zealand Health Survey, independent of individual risk factors. Although physical activity was higher in greener neighbourhoods, it did not fully explain the green space and health relationship.

As the long-term negative health effects of continued smoking have become more obvious, smoking cessation has become a key focus of government attention across the developed world. Smoking cessation programmes have had mixed outcomes, with rates of smoking in certain socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups remaining high. The increasing stigmatisation of those who continue to smoke, coupled with the spatial segregation of poor and minority populations, may compound to produce 'smoking islands' that may serve to reinforce rather than discourage continued smoking. This paper examines practices of compliance and resistance by disadvantaged smokers and ex-smokers to strategies of biopower.Note 1 A stepwise multiple regression analysis, incorporating a dependent variable of ex-smokers as a % eversmokers in 2006, indicated that, for Christchurch as a whole, smoking rates decreased less or increased in less affluent parts of the city. The % earning $50,000 or more (+), ethnicity (% Maori) (-) and levels of homeownership (+) were the three key predictor variables (R 2 =0.907).

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