The scientific evidence for nature’s positive influence on human health and well-being

Sammanfattning

Over the past 40 years, many research projects have concluded that natural environments have a positive impact on human health and well-being. Researchers have also proposed that this knowledge can be used in health promotion and care. However, scepticism remains among many health professionals about nature’s healing ability. Furthermore, the importance of green areas for people’s health and well-being is not always integrated properly in the planning and design of our cities. The purpose of this chapter is to provide practitioners with research-based documentation through a critical mapping of the evidence concerning how natural environments affect human health as well as an introduction to theories within the field. The content consists of a meta-review of systematic reviews of scientific articles based on studies of the impact of nature on health. The purpose has been to map out and categorize existing literature and critically evaluate its quality by determining the degree of evidence regarding a causal relationship between human exposure to nature and subsequent health and well-being. The results show that there are many health benefits of living near green areas, at least in an urban context, especially if they are large and offer various environmental qualities. Some of the evidence from these reviews can be directly utilised in urban planning and design, but more research is needed regarding how cities can apply and integrate these findings into policy and planning.

Publicerad i

Titel: Green and healthy Nordic cities : How to plan, design, and manage health-promoting urban green space
Utgivare: Nordgreen

SLU författare

• Grahn, Patrik

  • Institutionen för människa och samhälle, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Associerade SLU-program

Bebyggd miljö
SLU Future One Health
SLU Urban Futures

Globala målen (SDG)

SDG3 God hälsa och välbefinnande
SDG11 Hållbara städer och samhällen

UKÄ forskningsämne

Landskapsarkitektur
Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi
Miljömedicin och yrkesmedicin

Publikationens identifierare

• ISBN: 978-91-8001-088-7

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/128257