Physiological and Psychological Effects of a Walk in Urban Parks in Fall

Abstract

In recent times, attention has been focused on the role of urban green spaces in promoting human health and well-being. However, there is a lack of evidence-based research on the physiological effects of walking in urban green areas. This study aimed to clarify the physiological and psychological effects of walking in urban parks during fall. Twenty-three males (mean age 22.3 ± 1.2 years) were instructed to walk predetermined 15-min courses in an urban park and in a nearby city area (control). Heart rate and heart rate variability were measured to assess physiological responses, and the semantic differential method, Profile of Mood States, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were used to measure psychological responses. We observed that walking in an urban park resulted in a significantly lower heart rate, higher parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than walking through the city area. In subjective evaluations, participants were more “comfortable,” “natural,” “relaxed,” and “vigorous” after a walk in the urban park. Furthermore, they exhibited significantly lower levels of negative emotions and anxiety. These findings provide scientific evidence for the physiological and psychological relaxation effects of walking in urban parks during fall.

Relaxation Effect of a 2-Hour Walk in Kumano-Kodo Forest

“…Similar results are obtained even after only about 15 to 20 minutes of walking in the forest [8][9][10][11][12]. This highlights the importance of green spaces in the city [14] and garden walking [15].…”

“…These studies measured cortisol in saliva, sympathetic and parasympathetic functions, blood pressure, and heart rate variability as indices of stress. Some studies have included walking in addition to spending time in forests, but with walking times as short as 15 minutes [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Physiological effects of touching hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

“…Previous studies have shown that natural environments or nature-derived stimuli, such as forests [36][37][38][39][40][41][42], urban parks [43][44][45], flowers [46][47][48][49][50], and foliage plants [51,52], induce physiological relaxation in humans. Wood is a familiar natural material which we have many opportunities to touch on a daily basis, and it is used for many household objects, such as interior materials of buildings and houses, furniture (desks and shelves), and stationery.…”

The tree-species-specific effect of forest bathing on perceived anxiety alleviation of young-adults in urban forests

“…This day fell in the spring period with increasing temperature and elongating daylight when phenology started at the initial blooming but air temperature had not been so high to make people feel uncomfortable. Although university students can also perceive mental restoration in an urban forest in fall (Song et al 2015b) and winter (Song et al 2013), more studies demonstrated the perceived response to forest bathing in spring (Ohtsuka et al 1998, Sonntag-Öström et al 2015b). Ohtsuka et al (1998) considered that the numerous negative ions in the forest in spring gave people a feeling of refreshment and exposure to negative ions can enhance parasympathetic nervous activity and decrease blood glucose levels.…”

“…Given the fact that the tree species in our study were broad-leafed, we consider that there may exist some tree-species significance in the effect of forest bathing on perceived anxiety alleviation. Although few studies have focused on this issue, studies about forest bathing suggested that the significant effect on mental restoration also accompanied by hard-wood species of oak (Park et al 2007, Lee et al 2009, Han et al 2016) and maple (Lee et al 2014, Song et al 2015b, Han et al 2016). In addition, more studies suggested that the forest bathing effect on anxiety alleviation was accompanied by coniferous tree species, such as Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) (Lee et al 2014, Song et al 2015a, Zhang et al 2015, Song et al 2016) and pine (Pinus spp.)…”