When choosing your apartment in the city, did the proximity to a green space weigh on the scales? This reflex could indeed protect your mental health, according to a study published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology. A team of researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom followed the development of nearly 1,000 people over a period of five years.
The study participants were separated into two groups. The first lived for two years in an urban area without green spaces and then moved to a green area, while the second made the reverse move. Scientists compared their results to well-being felt after winning the lottery or falling in love while taking into account the behavior of participants in different situations, in order to assess their mental health.
Public health benefits
As a result, in the first group, walking close to a green space significantly improved the mental health of the participants, and this progress lasted for three consecutive years. The second group did not have the same luck, its participants saw their mental health gradually decline from the first months after the move and drop after years of living in urban areas devoid of nature.
The researchers observed a decline in mental health in this group even before the move, suggesting that the idea of leaving green spaces is enough to depress a person. According to Dr. Ian Alcock, lead author of the study, “urban planners should take this report into account in order to think of new green spaces for our cities, which is to bring long-term and sustainable benefits for public health.”
