Greenspace in an urbanised world

Merri Creek Trail

One of the best things about living in Brunswick for the past 2 years was my close proximity to the Merri Creek Trail. During Covid-19 lockdowns, it became my daily walking loop, keeping me sane. When restrictions lifted slightly, friends and I would walk around our local parks, getting a takeaway chai en route (eventually back to using reusable mugs) and catching up on what had been happening in our lives (albeit at the beginning this included very little thanks to the limits imposed by restrictions).  

When lockdown restrictions lifted in Melbourne, we all quickly reverted back to catching up at cafes for brunch and restaurants for dinner. After 2 years of missing out, Melbournians seems to be making up for lost time. We were making bookings months in advance, and it was so lovely to be enjoying everything that was on hold during Covid-19.  

But slowly, after being sufficiently saturated by brunch and dinner dates, I began to feel overstimulated and overwhelmed. And I couldn’t really pinpoint why.

For me, it seemed like life had sped back up and was now running at 1.5x speed, all of us trying to squeeze in as many social gatherings as possible while still attempting to manage other commitments such as university and work. 2 years of no practice had definitely reduced the capacity of my social battery, and I could feel the shift in my headspace. As an introvert and someone who has always struggled to say ‘no’, I quickly became exhausted and needed a way to recharge.

What I noticed was, the daily walks in nature along Merri Creek  that I had prioritised throughout Covid, were no longer a regular feature in my week.

I quickly learnt that, to genuinely calm down and remove that sensation of being overstimulated, I needed to spend time in nature.

Now I’m not sure how much of the calming sensation is placebo, how much is actually being in nature, or whether the walk just facilitates some mindful thinking  - regardless, it works for me. 3 years on from the beginning of Covid-19 , whenever I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated, I try to take myself for regular walks in nature, put my phone on do not disturb and attempt to dissolve my thoughts by focusing purely on my surroundings.

I feel better, and the more I do it, the more connected to nature I feel.

Reflecting has made me think about how much of a role nature plays in this grounded, calming response and whether having access to nature makes a difference for our health, especially our brain space.  

After having a look at the research, here’s what I’ve found…

Defining our terms: greenspace

When we talk about greenspace we’re referring to any area within an urban environment that is dedicated to nature and can be used as a space for play, recreation and socialisation. This includes the obvious ones like parks and nature reserves but also encompasses playing fields, foreshore areas and state forests. One of the tricky parts about greenspace as a field of research at the moment is that, while it is slowing growing, it’s limited and there is a fair bit of contention around what actually counts as ‘greenspace’ in urban contexts which makes it tricky to measure the health benefits.

For example, do you think a leafy park with a water feature offers the same mental health benefit as a bare sporting field next to a busy highway?

My guess would be not, but given there aren’t yet clear parameters of greenspace, it’s hard to determine.

It’s important to note that when we talk about greenspace as a concept, it’s been primarily researched in the context of urban environments. This is due to the increased degree of harmful environmental exposures like air, light and noise pollution in cities compared with regional and rural areas and the comparatively lacking access to nature for urban dwellers compared to their regional counterparts. So, as we go on, I’ll be using the term in this context.

The benefits: people & planet

Researchers have seen that urban green spaces have beneficial effects on mental health, reduced morbidity and mortality, reduced obesity and risk of type 2 diabetes, and improved pregnancy outcomes. While more research is needed to demonstrate the ways greenspace can be beneficial for health, the evidence base is certainly growing. In fact, some researchers now argue that health outcomes vary depending on factors such as the type of vegetation, size of greenspace, and connectivity of these spaces. For example, in areas with more tree canopy, health benefits included improved psychological wellbeing, reduced exposure to allergens and increased physical activity, promoting cardiovascular health.

If we look beyond the individual benefits, we see that having greenspace in cities and urban environments is also an important mechanism for mitigating climate change impacts. Adding greenspace or ‘greening’ urban areas has been shown to reduce the impacts of not only these health risks, but also mitigate environmental stressors that contribute to these health outcomes.

Greenspace in cities can reduce flooding risk, improve air quality, facilitate cooling of urban heat islands and draw carbon out of the atmosphere. Adopting well-designed greening practices in urban planning helps to mitigate all of these risks and build climate resilience. By incorporating greenspace in urban planning, we can maximise the co-benefits greenspace provides for both human health and environmental health.

I see this as a win-win! But importantly, we need to make sure greenspace is incorporated into city design in an equitable manner.

Public Health 101

I’m going to take a moment here to again, define my terms. When we’re talking about public health, equity and equality refer to different things:

Equality: is providing everyone with the same resources and opportunities, and doesn’t necessarily lead to equal outcomes

Equity: is about everyone achieving equal outcomes which may require different resources and opportunities based on individual circumstances

The concept is really well explained when we look as this graphic (below). It’s Public Health 101 and something I learnt in the early days of my Masters of Public Health:

Protecting vulnerable communities is vital as we move into this ‘critical decade’ for climate change action. In the context of greenspace, ensuring equitable outcomes means urban planning in a way that prioritises greening practices in areas at higher risk of climate change, and the related health impacts resulting from these climate disasters.

Equity is going to keep appearing as a central theme in our climate & health related topics. It’s important that we recognise, equity isn’t about taking resources away from people who already have access to positive health and climate outcomes. It’s about removing the barriers individuals and communities face when attempting to access these resources, so everyone gets to experience good health and wellbeing.