Nature and the City: Measuring the Attention Restoration Benefits of Singapore’s Urban Vertical Greenery

Timm, Stephanie; Dearborn, Lynne Marie; Pomeroy, Jason

doi:10.1080/24751448.2018.1497377

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our findings suggest that ordinary urban environments—residential and city centers—promote very low levels of restoration. This is consistent with previous literature [ 24 , 71 ] It does not, however, rule out the possibility of specific urban built environments gaining restorative power. demonstrated that restoration in urban environments is directly associated with the quality of architecture and design of the environment [ 75 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…One of the more common indices for measuring environmental restoration is the Perceived Restoration Scale (PRS) [ 1 , 19 , 22 , 23 ]. These studies measured the differences in the PRS values in urban environments [ 1 , 24 ], with the majority pointing to the high PRS score associated with green environments compared to built-up environments. However, this assertion has not yet been fully substantiated due to limited studies that are based on small samples and that employ different methodologies and indices [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethnic Differences in Environmental Restoration: Arab and Jewish Women in Israel

Saadi

Schnell

Tirosh

2021

IJERPH

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Throughout the last few decades, plenty of attention has been paid to restorative environments that positively affect human psychological health. These studies show that restorative environments affect human beings emotionally, physiologically, and cognitively. Some studies focus on the cognitive effects of exposure to restorative environments. A widely used index that measures the cognitive response is the Perceived Restoration Potential Scale (PRS). Most studies employing the PRS have examined differences in human cognitive response between types of urban environments mainly urban versus green ones. We use Hartig’s questionnaire to expose differences between types of urban environments and ethnic groups. Variances between Arab and Jewish women were calculated in four environments: home; park; residential and central city environments. The effect of intervening variables such as exposure to thermal, noise, social and CO loads and social discomfort were tested. We find that dissimilar to urban typical built-up environments, green areas are highly restorative. Furthermore, differences in the restorativeness of different urban environments are low though significant. These differences depend on their function, aesthetic qualities, and amount of greenery. Ethno-national differences appear to affect the experience of restoration. While both ethnic related groups experienced a tremendous sense of restoration in parks, Jewish women enjoyed slightly higher levels of restoration mainly at home and in residential environments compared to Arab women who experienced higher sense of restorativness in central city environments. Jewish women experienced higher sense of being away and fascination. From the intervening variables, social discomfort explained 68 percent of the experience of restoration, noise explained 49 percent, thermal load explained 43 percent and ethnicity 14 percent of the variance in PRS.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic Differences in Environmental Restoration: Arab and Jewish Women in Israel

Saadi

Schnell

Tirosh

2021

IJERPH

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“…Urban greenery -including parks, gardens, street trees, and other vegetative elements -is instrumental in improving the urban environment and urban dwellers' quality of life (Schwaab et al, 2021;Wong et al, 2021;Wolf et al, 2020). The bene ts of urban green infrastructure include biodiversity enhancement, pollution reduction, moderation of urban heat island effects, and psychological and physical health bene ts for residents (Santamouris & Osmond, 2020;Timm et al, 2018;O'Brien et al, 2017). However, the challenge of maintaining and enhancing these green spaces is considerable in the face of rapid urbanisation, particularly in the Global South countries like Ghana.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Houseowners Compliance with Urban Greenery Regulations in Madina, Ghana

Akagla,

Boafo

2024

Preprint

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The transformation of natural landscapes due to ongoing urbanisation highlights the critical need for the presence and integration of vegetation within urban environments. Although the benefits of urban greenery, including biodiversity conservation, pollution mitigation, and reduction of urban heat island effects, are widely recognized, adherence to corresponding building regulations poses a significant challenge in many Global South countries, including Ghana. This study investigates the compliance with urban greenery regulations among houseowners in Madina, a rapidly urbanizing suburb of Accra, Ghana. The research utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys with houseowners (n = 200) with qualitative interviews (n = 8) to explore the levels of awareness and compliance among residential houseowners with the guidelines stipulated in the Ghana Building Regulations (LI 1630) and the Ghana Building Code 2018. Our findings reveal a significant gap between awareness of the benefits of urban greenery and actual compliance with the regulations designed to ensure its provision. Key factors contributing to non-compliance were socioeconomic pressures, such as the high cost of land and accommodation, and institutional barriers, including bureaucracy, weak enforcement, and insufficient resources. Furthermore, administrative and political challenges, such as corruption and a lack of support, exacerbate the situation. The study proposes targeted recommendations to enhance compliance rates, emphasizing the need for streamlined regulatory processes, stronger enforcement mechanisms, and increased awareness campaigns to highlight the critical importance of urban green spaces.

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“…Modern civilisations have attempted to alleviate problems of overcrowding cities by spreading out into towns and suburban areas neighbouring the cities, where more land space is available. This form of urban planning does not work for sovereign city states such as Singapore, where housing, recreational, commercial, industrial and even green spaces have to be accommodated onto the 721.5 km 2 island [6,7]. In the interest of housing an approximate J 2022, 5 population of 5.6 million people in the limited space, close to 98% of Singapore's population lives in densely-built high-rise apartments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Including the commercial buildings that house offices and other amenities, Singapore has a total of 6021 high-rise structures [8]. Singapore's development pattern has made it challenging for untouched natural elements to be visually and physically accessible to residents [7]. Singapore's city planners tried to overcome these circumstances by integrating nature into its urban design, planting trees along the majority of its roads; building public plazas that incorporate green spaces and community gardens, and integrating nature directly into building designs (e.g., green roofs, vertical greenery) [7,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality Greenspaces: Does Level of Immersion Affect Directed Attention Restoration in VR Environments?

Dillon

Cai

2022

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Research on attention restoration theory has provided consistent results over the years, and exposure to nature has been found to significantly improve and restore directed attention fatigue. However, rapid urbanisation has made it increasingly difficult for human beings to interact with unpolluted nature. Countries such as Singapore began to integrate nature into city planning and into the designs of buildings to help resident satisfaction and well-being. Local studies have had contradictory outcomes; residents report significantly higher restoration and affect towards vertical integrated greeneries, but many would still prefer traditional on-the-ground foliage. Interest in outdoor greenspaces is variable because Singapore’s high heat and humid climate make it uncomfortable to interact with outside nature for prolonged periods. The current study tested alternative modalities that can provide residents with on-the-ground foliage interactions, without the discomfort of being outdoors. Virtual exposures with different levels of immersion (high and low) and types of scenes (nature and urban) were tested for effects on perceived presence, perceived restoration and objective restoration. A total of 120 adult participants completed the study, which revealed that a virtual reality-nature condition provided significantly superior directed attention restoration and higher presence ratings. Immersive tendency did not affect perceived presence; neither did it moderate the relationship between perceived presence and its corresponding perceived restoration.

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Nature and the City: Measuring the Attention Restoration Benefits of Singapore’s Urban Vertical Greenery

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Ethnic Differences in Environmental Restoration: Arab and Jewish Women in Israel

Ethnic Differences in Environmental Restoration: Arab and Jewish Women in Israel

Exploring Houseowners Compliance with Urban Greenery Regulations in Madina, Ghana

Virtual Reality Greenspaces: Does Level of Immersion Affect Directed Attention Restoration in VR Environments?

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