Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
Green Spaces Promote Happier Communities
“A better mood might be as easy as a walk in the park. Literally. Because people living near parks or gardens seem to have a leg up. UK researchers analyzed data from a national survey of more than 10,000 people between 1991 through to 2008. They found that those who live in green areas have higher life satisfaction and less depression and stress than others who live in more concrete-dense areas with few trees and lawns.”
The Effect of Urban Green Spaces on Wellbeing is Comparable to Employment and Marriage
“A walk in the park might cure your fuzzy brain, but urban green spaces in general seem to have a big impact on the overall mental wellbeing of those who live nearby. At least, that’s what a recent long-term study by the University of Exeter shows. The researchers have analyzed data from 5,000 UK households (around 12,000 individuals) gathered between 1991-2008, and they found that people are happier when living in urban areas with greater amounts of green space.”
Happiness in the Most Unexpected Places
“Potholes are usually overlooked as blights in the city landscape, ‘death-traps’ to clumsy pedestrians and urban cyclists. But not to Steve Wheen, London’s Pothole Gardener. Steve has been creating ‘unexpected moments of happiness’ on the streets and sidewalks of London through his charming and jubilant miniature gardens. The Pothole Gardens were an urban experiment meant to bring some happiness and colour to the grey streets of London.”
Why We Need to Bring Nature Back Into Cities
“There is already a new field of urban ecology for scientists who study the city and biophysical interactions within it, in a similar way to traditional ecosystem research. In fact, a surprising amount of wildlife now depends on the human-made environment… Whether traditional conservationists and wildlife lovers learn to value these new flourishings that are occurring at such a rapid rate is still to be seen. But what is certain is that the survivors of these menagerie experiments in the human garden will produce a genetic legacy. In centuries to come, new species that could not have formed under pressure from any natural circumstances will be testimony to our mixing.”
