Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes

Abstract

1. The benefits of green infrastructure on human well-being in urban areas are already well-established, with strong evidence of the positive effects of the amount and proximity to green areas. However, the understanding of how the spatial distribution and type of green areas affect health is still an open question.2. Here, through a land sharing and sparing framework, we explore how different spatial configurations of green and built-up areas and how different types of green areas can affect cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalizations in São Paulo city, Brazil.3. Sharing/sparing indicators were selected as the main explanatory factors in the control of all groups of diseases. Land sharing appeared as a favourable spatial condition to prevent cardiovascular hospitalization, while land sparing and arboreal vegetation were relevant to reduce hospitalization by lower respiratory diseases. 4. For upper respiratory diseases, forests seem to provide a disservice, once they were associated with increased rates of hospitalization by respiratory allergies causes.5. Considering that hospitalization rates and severity of cardiovascular diseases are substantially higher than those of upper respiratory ones, dense vegetation tends to provide more services than disservices. The land sharing configuration, which is characterized by green areas spread throughout the urban network (in streets, gardens, small squares or parks), should lead to higher exposure and use of the benefits of green areas, which may then explain the greater prevention of cardiovascular diseases.6. These novel results indicate that a more balanced distribution of green areas across built-up areas creates healthier urban spaces, and thus can be used as an urban planning strategy to leverage the health benefits provided by green infrastructure.7. Policy implications. Aiming to reduce hospitalizations by cardiovascular and pulmonary causes, urban planning should promote the spreading of green areas across the cities, in order to increase daily contact with natural attributes, giving preference to distribution over total quantity of green in urban landscape.

Measuring the relationships between various urban green spaces and local climate zones

“…The presence of accessible UGS brings further positive effects, especially to residents with reduced mobility, such as children, older people, or people with cardiovascular diseases, whose exposure to high temperatures is associated with greater health risks 6 . In short, a balanced distribution of appropriately designed UGS throughout cities can work both as a prevention of various diseases 7 and as an effective mitigation measure against the formation of Urban Heat Islands (UHI).…”

Education Park Concept on Green Open Space Planning through Historical and Cultural Approach

“…The presence of green open space can be a medium and a means to perpetuate public relations and reduce socio-economic inequalities (Alabi, 2022). In some developed countries, the provision of green open space is used for medical needs to help reduce and support cardiovascular disease recovery by adjusting the frequency of visits/ interactions according to the patient's condition (Cirino, Tambosi, Mauad, Freitas, & Metzger, 2022). Utilization of green open space which gives access to the natural environment gives significant results on mental health and vitality (M et al, 2016).…”

Usage of Airborne LiDAR Data and High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images in Implementing the Smart City Concept

“…The arrangement of green spaces in the city is as important as their amount and accessibility. This includes the size and distribution, as well as the location and proximity to residential areas, in order to benefit biodiversity and human health [1,2]. Numerous studies have been conducted on the use of UGS (urban green spaces) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which strongly influenced the public perception of urban greenery [3,4]-the pandemic affected both the purpose of visiting (from collective to individual) and the choice of available green spaces; additionally, access to urban green spaces was considered essential for health [5].…”