In cities across Europe, 62% of the population doesn’t have access to the amount of nature the World Health Organisation recommends.
Plants are more than background foliage in our busy lives. Our relationship with plants supports human health and well-being in many ways.
(Sarah Elton)
Plants support human health not only in terms of providing food, oxygen and shade. Our relationships with plants facilitate political decisions and actions that support health in the city.
Nairobi harbours all the ingredients for zoonotic spillover to occur between animals and people, particularly in the most densely populated areas of the city.
People who live near water report better mental health and wellbeing.
Olga888as/ Shutterstock
COVID-19 restrictions led to calls to open up golf courses to the public. But these are such precious refuges for native flora and fauna that access will have to be carefully managed.
All parks are not equal. The response to the opening of golf courses to the public during the COVID pandemic shows the quality of green open space is a big issue for city residents.
Colleges with “green spaces” can contribute to improved mental health for students.
FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images
We know that spending time in nature is good for physical and mental well-being, but social inequality means not everyone has easy access to parks, gardens and woodland.
Cities can prepare for climate change emergencies by adding green spaces to help manage stormwater, heat stress and air quality.
(Shutterstock)
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the lack of green space available to those living in urban areas. Cities must be managed as ecosystems to make them more liveable and resilient.
Melbourne Sky Park, between the CBD grid and Docklands precinct.
Oculus, used with permission
The release of a roadmap for green roofs, walls and facades in Australia can help our cities catch up with the world leaders in urban greening.
Circles painted on the grass in San Francisco’s Dolores Park encourage social distancing and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
(AP Photo/Noah Berger)
About half of incarcerated women in the United States are mothers to children under age 18. Natural spaces within a prison can help maintain their mother-child bonds.
COVID-19 has upturned uses of public spaces that we took for granted. Will shifts in the regulation of these spaces lead to a change in thinking about who “owns” the city?
Hyde Park, London.
Matthew Jaroszewicz/Shutterstock
At the peak of a summer heatwave in Adelaide, an aerial survey of land surface temperatures reveals just how much cooler neighbourhoods with good tree and vegetation cover can be.
Our mental health benefits when nature is part of our neighbourhoods, as in this residential street in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Melanie Thomson
It’s well-established that green spaces are good for our well-being. Now we can demonstrate that greater biodiversity boosts this benefit, as well as helping to sustain native plants and animals.
The lure of suburbia clearly remains strong. To deal with sprawl, planners need to increase urban density in a way that resonates with the leafy green qualities of suburbia that residents value.
Julian Bolleter
Residents of the ‘leafy suburbs’ will continue to fear what they might lose to increasing urban density without an explicit planning approach that enhances green space in affected neighbourhoods.