Why cultural ecosystem services matter most: Exploring the pathways linking greenspaces and mental health in a low-income country

Relational Values of Cultural Ecosystem Services in an Urban Conservation Area: The Case of Table Mountain National Park, South Africa

“…Although some respondents assigned negative values to dams and reservoirs in the TMNP, this built infrastructure scored a combined cultural ES total almost equal to that of the natural (flowing) water features. They are rated highly as both aesthetic and recreational areas, making frequent participation in outdoor activities and other health and well-being benefits possible [27,28,51,86]. Many of these dams and reservoirs are easily accessible by well-used trails and paths, and are popular swimming sites, supporting the literature on the critical role of infrastructural requirements necessary to access ESs in urban environments [100,101].…”

“…Urban parks play a vital role in generating ESs that are important for human wellbeing, a role which is becoming increasingly well recognized [2,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Nature-based recreation provides an opportunity for both physical and mental stimulation and relaxation [26][27][28], and numerous studies have shown that access to water in urban natural spaces correlates with higher levels of physical activity [23,[28][29][30]. Additionally, the need to experience nature and escape from the city constitutes an important reason for people to visit urban parks [31].…”

Health geographies II: Resilience, health and place

“…Quantity and type of green-space (e.g. tree canopy or open grass) are associated with health outcomes and healthy activities, especially cardiovascular and mental health but also cognitive wellbeing, sleep, loneliness, and physical activity or active transport (Astell-Burt and Feng, 2020; Astell-Burt et al, 2021; Nawrath et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2020). Local green-space improves prosocial behaviour or positive interactions and physical activity in children and adolescents (Putra et al, 2021), especially for children in low-income families (McCrorie et al, 2021).…”

Air pollution and mental health: associations, mechanisms and methods

“…SO2 exposure has been linked with anxiety for many years, as one of the only foul-smelling pollutants awareness of one's exposure is more likely at lower levels [48]. Perception of poor physical environment and awareness of poor-quality air, have been proposed as a psychological pathway linking air pollution to distress [48,49]. Recently it was therefore of note that case-crossover and a timeseries studies identified short-term higher SO2 exposure associated with more frequent presentation to health services with anxiety symptoms [21,25].…”

“…Another parallel series of psychological explanations are also poised to explain observations. Worldwide, living in an environment perceived as deleterious to one's health is associated with distress [49], incremental evidence links distress and subjective perception of the deleterious effects of air pollutants, with increasing objective air pollutant exposure [11 ▪ ,111].…”