Houlden, V., Porto de Albuquerque, J., Weich, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-7552-7697 et al. (1 more author) (2021) Does nature make us happier? A spatial error model of greenspace types and mental wellbeing. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48 (4). pp. 655-670. ISSN 2399-8083
Abstract
Exposure to nature is thought to benefit mental health and wellbeing. However, many studies consider greenspace as a single entity, which overlooks the potential significance of the various forms of greenspace, and natural greenspaces in particular. This study was designed to investigate the association between different types of greenspace and mental wellbeing. Drawing wellbeing and socioeconomic data from the Annual Population Survey (2012–2015), and shapefiles from the Greenspace Information for Greater London group, the amount of greenspace accessible within a 300 m walk of individual’s postcodes was calculated, and categorised according to type. Spatial Error Models were used to account for spatial patterns in the data. Natural greenspace was significantly associated with improved life satisfaction (B = 0.028, p < 0.001) and happiness (B = 0.023, p = 0.019) scores. The spatial autoregressive parameter ( ) was small but significant (p < 0.001), implying slight second-order spatial variation in the model. These results imply that natural areas may be more important for hedonic mental wellbeing than other greenspaces. Future research is needed on exploring causal relationships between exposure to greenspace and mental wellbeing outcomes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Greenspace; built environment; GIS; urban planning |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 03 Dec 2019 10:33 |
Last Modified: | 12 Nov 2021 10:46 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/2399808319887395 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:154126 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0