This report is an introduction to research on the relationship between urban nature and human health and well-being. The idea that physical and mental health can be made better through contact with natural environments is not new, but recent studies are providing a broader perspective and better empirical understanding of what this means as they bring new relevance to this concept. For people living in cities this may be especially timely, given the “extraordinary disengagement” from nature attributed to urban living.[i] An emerging paradigm of “people and nature” in conservation biology[ii] gives further weight to a connection between urban nature, health and well-being that can be mediated through urban policy, planning, and social justice initiatives. With nearly seven of every ten people worldwide projected to live in cities by 2050,[iii] there is a growing need to ensure that urban environments are designed and built to meet public health needs and improve the quality of people’s lives while conserving and protecting urban biodiversity and the ecosystem services biodiversity can provide.[iv] This report is intended to cover some of the basic science relevant to that need.
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[i] Maller, C., Townsend, M., Pryor, A., Brown, P., & Leger, L. S. (2006). Healthy nature healthy people: ‘contact with nature’ as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations. Health Promotion International, 21(1): 45-54.
[ii] Mace, G. M. (2014). Whose conservation? Science, 345(6204): 1558-1560.
[iii] United Nations. (2019). World Urbanization Prospects 2018: Highlights. (ST/ESA/SER.A/421).
[iv] Marselle, M. R., Hartig, T., Cox, D. T., de Bell, S., Knapp, S., Lindley, S., Triguero-Mas, M., Bohning-Gaese, K., Braubach, M., and P. A. Cook. (2021). Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework. Environment International, 150: 106420.
