► The biological impact of exposure to green space encountered by a deprived population in their home environment is shown. ► Diurnal patterns of participants’ salivary cortisol, self-report stress ...and objective measures of green space were recorded. ► Using a small, UK, urban sample, a significant positive correlation between cortisol slope and % green space was found. ► There was a significant negative correlation between self-reported stress and % green space. ► Ecologically valid and objective measures provide evidence for a salutogenic environment-body interaction.
Green space has been associated with a wide range of health benefits, including stress reduction, but much pertinent evidence has relied on self-reported health indicators or experiments in artificially controlled environmental conditions. Little research has been reported using ecologically valid objective measures with participants in their everyday, residential settings. This paper describes the results of an exploratory study (n=25) to establish whether salivary cortisol can act as a biomarker for variation in stress levels which may be associated with varying levels of exposure to green spaces, and whether recruitment and adherence to the required, unsupervised, salivary cortisol sampling protocol within the domestic setting could be achieved in a highly deprived urban population. Self-reported measures of stress and general wellbeing were also captured, allowing exploration of relationships between cortisol, wellbeing and exposure to green space close to home. Results indicate significant relationships between self-reported stress (P<0.01), diurnal patterns of cortisol secretion (P<0.05), and quantity of green space in the living environment. Regression analysis indicates percentage of green space in the living environment is a significant (P<0.05) and independent predictor of the circadian cortisol cycle, in addition to self-reported physical activity (P<0.02). Results also show that compliance with the study protocol was good. We conclude that salivary cortisol measurement offers considerable potential for exploring relationships between wellbeing and green space and discuss how this ecologically valid methodology can be developed to confirm and extend findings in deprived city areas to illuminate why provision of green space close to home might enhance health.
•Public participation GIS used to elicit residents’ values for green open space.•Respondents assign a range of values to green open spaces simultaneously.•Values assigned to parks were related ...statistically to landscape characteristics.•Distance from water is important but park management classification less so.•Theoretical, statistical and practical challenges exist when applying PPGIS.
Planning for green space is guided by standards and guidelines but there is currently little understanding of the variety of values people assign to green spaces or their determinants. Land use planners need to know what values are associated with different landscape characteristics and how value elicitation techniques can inform decisions. We designed a Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) study and surveyed residents of four urbanising suburbs in the Lower Hunter region of NSW, Australia. Participants assigned dots on maps to indicate places they associated with a typology of values (specific attributes or functions considered important) and negative qualities related to green spaces. The marker points were digitised and aggregated according to discrete park polygons for statistical analysis. People assigned a variety of values to green spaces (such as aesthetic value or social interaction value), which were related to landscape characteristics. Some variables (e.g. distance to water) were statistically associated with multiple open space values. Distance from place of residence however did not strongly influence value assignment after landscape configuration was accounted for. Value compatibility analysis revealed that some values co-occurred in park polygons more than others (e.g. nature value and health/therapeutic value). Results highlight the potential for PPGIS techniques to inform green space planning through the spatial representation of complex human-nature relationships. However, a number of potential pitfalls and challenges should be addressed. These include the non-random spatial arrangement of landscape features that can skew interpretation of results and the need to communicate clearly about theory that explains observed patterns.
•We present a spatially-explicit approach for placing LID in urban watersheds.•The approach is based on publicly-available data to facilitate wide-spread use.•Placing LID at prioritized sites is ...cost-effective and ecologically beneficial.•Implementing LID across less than 1% of sub-catchment land area can reduce nutrient/sediment by 15%.•We use a case study (mixed-use watershed) to test the efficacy of our siting tool.
Low impact development (LID), a comprehensive land use planning and design approach with the goal of mitigating land development impacts to the environment, is increasingly being touted as an effective approach to lessen runoff and pollutant loadings to streams. Broad-scale approaches for siting LID have been developed for agricultural watersheds, but are rare for urban watersheds, largely due to greater land use complexity. Here, we introduce a spatially-explicit approach to assist landscape architects, urban planners, and water managers in identifying priority sites for LID based exclusively on freely available data. We use a large, mixed-use watershed in central Oklahoma, the United States of America, as a case-study to demonstrate our approach. Our results indicate that for one sub-catchment of the Lake Thunderbird Watershed, LID placed in 11 priority locations can facilitate reductions in nutrient and sediment loading to receiving waters by as much as 16% and 17%, respectively. We had a high rate of correctly identified sites (94±5.7%). Our systematic and transferable approach for prioritizing LID sites has the potential to facilitate effective implementation of LID to lessen the effects of urban land use on stream ecosystems.
•Association between aerial and eye-level tree cover density (TCD) is inconsistent.•The significance of association diminishes as tree canopy coverage increases.•Planners should not rely solely on ...aerial TCD to evaluate urban forestry resources.•Eye-level TCD should be emphasized at strategic spots.•Eye-level photographs and site visits are still indispensable tools for evaluating sites.
The easy availability and widespread use of remotely-sensed imagery, especially Google Earth satellite imagery, makes it simple for urban forestry professionals to assess a site and measure tree cover density without visiting the site. Remotely-sensed tree cover density has become the dominant criterion for urban forestry regulations in many countries, but it is unclear how much such measures match the eye-level tree cover density that people experience; or the information gained through site visits, eye-level photography, or from consulting with citizens. To address this uncertainty, we assessed associations among two remotely-sensed and three eye-level tree cover density measures for 140 community street sites across the Midwestern United States with low, medium, or high tree cover coverage by using linear regression analysis. We found significant associations among the two remotely-sensed measures and the three eye-level measures across the three levels of tree cover. The associations between any pair of remotely-sensed and eye-level measures, however, diminish dramatically as canopy cover increased. At high levels of canopy cover, all associations between the remotely-sensed measures and the eye-level measures became statistically insignificant. These findings suggest that measures from remotely-sensed imagery fail to represent the amount of tree cover people perceive at eye-level when canopy cover is medium or high at the site scale. Therefore, the current urban forestry planning regulations, which rely heavily on remotely-sensed tree cover density measurements, need to be revised. We suggest strategic spots where eye-level measures of tree cover density should be emphasized.
•Climate change will lead substantial numbers of people to relocate.•Problems from unmanaged retreat include scattered growth or rising costs in attractive areas.•The history of new towns provides ...lessons for the coming wave of planned retreat.•Resettlement experience to date provides good practice examples.•Whole-community and new-community resettlement can foster social ties.
Climate change will cause substantial numbers of people to relocate, whether in a planned or more ad hoc manner. In receiving communities this could lead to substantial problems supplying physical infrastructure, preserving affordability, conserving wild and productive lands, maintaining social connections, and providing community services in new areas. Moving to comprehensively planned new settlements could be a solution to climate sprawl (fragmented and dispersed development) and climate gentrification (increased demand in existing areas). This may involve moving an entire settlement as a whole to a comprehensively planned neighborhood or town. We call this “whole community” retreat as it keeps social ties intact. An alternative involves creating a comprehensively planned new town or new neighborhood for people from a variety of locations. We refer to this as “new community” retreat as it provides a new environment, but social ties need to be developed. The paper examines lessons from two sets of experiences with large scale resettlement or community-building. One group of examples involves whole community resettlements after disasters or related to economic development and a second set of precedents come from the broader history of new towns. Challenges from both resettlement experience and new town history include land and infrastructure availability and cost, planning and development coordination, financing, and attracting a large enough proportion of people to keep social ties intact. A more comprehensive approach has benefits, but is easier to pull off at a neighborhood rather than a larger scale and for shorter rather than longer moves.
•Perceived built attributes were associated with depressive symptoms.•These associations differed between women and men.•Perceptions of neighbourhood walkability are important for depression.
There ...has been considerable interest in the effect of the built environment design on depressive symptoms. However, there are still few empirical studies on this topic, and there is a dearth of evidence among middle-aged adults. The present study examined the associations of urban design attributes with depressive symptoms among a sample of middle-aged adults in Japan. Cross-sectional data from a random sample of residents (40–64 years old) in two cities in Japan were examined. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) questionnaire. Two types of perceived and objective attributes of the built environment were measured. Covariate-adjusted multivariable linear and binary logistic models were used to estimate associations between perceived and objective built environment attributes and depressive symptoms. Among women, higher perceived access to public transport and total perceived walkability was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. Furthermore, there was a significant association between higher safety from traffic and lower odds of having mild depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥ 16) in women. Among men, higher safety from crime was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms and with lower odds of having mild depressive symptoms. Total perceived walkability was also associated with lower odds of having mild depressive symptoms in men. None of the objective built environment attributes were associated with depressive symptoms in women or men. Our findings provide empirical evidence that improving perceptions of neighbourhood walkability and, in particular, enhancing access to public transport and safety from crime and traffic are important for improving depressive symptoms among middle-aged men and women.
•Stream restoration goals may be better achieved working with geomorphic processes.•Feasibility in an urban context requires addressing the causes not symptoms.•We discuss addressing stormwater ...runoff, riparian space and sediment loads.•Legacy land use and social/institutional barriers require greater consideration.
Urbanization of catchments profoundly changes the morphology of streams by increasing stormwater runoff, altering sediment regimes, and limiting space for channel change. Management response commonly involves addressing the symptoms of urbanization by reconfiguration and partial hard-lining of the channel. Mounting evidence suggests, however, that stream restoration goals may be better achieved by addressing the causes of channel degradation at a catchment scale, increasing opportunities to work with geomorphic processes. The challenges of this approach in urban catchments have not been comprehensively explored. In this perspective essay we describe how stream restoration in urban catchments might be better achieved by undertaking activities in the catchment or riparian zone to address the causes, rather than patch the symptoms. We describe the challenges that need to be overcome to address these causes including; excess stormwater runoff, lack of riparian space, altered sediment supplies, legacy impacts on streams from former land use, and social and institutional barriers. We discuss opportunities for each. A more sustainable urban stream solution may be achieved by addressing these issues to reduce the impact of urbanization on stream morphology.
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•Joggers loom faster in an animal’s visual field and make more noise than walkers.•Joggers evoke escape responses of birds at longer distances than for walkers.•Escape responses were ...more intense when birds encountered joggers.•Risk perception in birds does not always accord with human preconceptions.
Human recreational activities are increasing in natural areas where they potentially disturb the normal activities of wildlife. Prolonged disturbance can be detrimental to animals and may ultimately lead to decreasing wildlife populations in highly disturbed areas. However, little is known regarding how wildlife assesses the risk of human-related activities and whether escape responses are accordingly modulated. For example, although walking is the most common pastime in many natural areas, jogging is becoming increasingly common. Joggers move faster than walkers and may therefore be perceived by wildlife as a greater threat. However, this concept has rarely been tested. In addition, the specifics of how joggers and walkers are visually and acoustically perceived by wildlife are unknown. We predict: 1) that joggers loom more rapidly in the animal’s field of view than walkers, and they also create more noise, especially on certain substrates; and, 2) that joggers will evoke escape responses at longer distances and/or of greater intensity than walkers. We demonstrate that joggers loom more rapidly, and they also create more noise, especially on gravel surfaces. For eight of the ten bird species tested, individuals fled earlier and/or displayed more intense escape responses (e.g. flying instead of walking away) to joggers than walkers. These findings suggest that land managers should not only regulate the type of stimulus that may disturb wildlife, but also the speed at which they move through the environment. Activities such as jogging, which are generally regarded as low impact, may create more wildlife disturbance than previously thought.
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•Study was carried out on 124 sites in 60 small urban settlements around Prague.•Trees, shrubs and backyard poultry positively influence house sparrow abundance.•Abundance of house ...sparrows was not influenced by presence of competitors.•Our results indicate the unsuitability of new built-up areas for house sparrows.
As a species closely associated with people and urban areas, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) was expected to prosper with increased urbanization. Over the past few decades, however, house sparrow populations have decreased in many towns and cities around the world. The most commonly mentioned reasons for these decreases are lack of food, especially invertebrates, and fewer nesting sites and shelters. Given the need to evaluate the role of newly built homes and their effect on sparrow habitat, our overall goal was to evaluate if new housing areas are inhabited with a lower density of house sparrows than old housing areas and, if so, to identify factors responsible for the differences. We carried out observations in 60 small settlements in the greater municipal area of Prague, Czech Republic. Our results indicate house sparrows’ high preference for old parts of settlements and unsuitability of newly built-up areas. Backyard poultry’s presence and sufficient green space were both important factors related to house sparrow abundances. Specifically, house sparrow abundance was highest in sites with 20% to 30% greenery cover (trees and shrubs) and they exploited sites that had backyard poultry. We found no effect of other granivorous birds acting as competitors. Instead, house sparrow abundance was higher where another granivorous species were present. As a measure to sustain greater biodiversity in modern housing development, we suggest increasing trees and shrubs cover in newly built-up areas to a minimum of 20%.
Urban designers, ecologists, and social scientists have called for closer links among their disciplines. We examine a promising new tool for promoting this linkage—the metaphor of “cities of ...resilience.” To put this tool to best use, we indicate how metaphor fits with other conceptual tools in science. We then present the two opposing definitions of resilience from ecology, and give reasons why one is more appropriate for linking with design. Additional specific tools and insights that are emerging from, or being increasingly used in, ecology can further support the linkage with urban design. These include recognizing the role of spatial heterogeneity in both ecological and social functioning of urban areas, the integrating power of watersheds, social and ecological patch dynamics of cities, the utility of spatial mosaic models to capture function, the use of an integrated “human ecosystem” modeling framework, and the consequent perspective of metropolitan areas as integrated ecological-social systems. Three additional tools are related to the adaptability of people and human institutions. First is the recognition of a “learning loop” in metropolitan ecosystems in which people respond to and affect ecological change, the use of urban design as experiments whose ecological and social outcomes can be measured, and finally the potency of a dialog between professionals and citizens, communities, and institutions, to support both research and design. The metaphor of resilience, and its technical specifications, draw these diverse strands for linking ecology and planning together.
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