Ben Wheeler has worked with Mike Depledge and colleagues from around Europe to co-author an important new report, for World Health Organisation (Europe), on the beneficial effects of urban green space for health.
The report can be downloaded here.
The comprehensive report summarises the existing evidence of linkages (both positive and negative) between urban green spaces and health, the mechanisms leading to health benefit, and the characteristics of urban green spaces that are associated with health outcomes.The authors also identified and evaluated different measures and indicators of green space availability, accessibility and use as used in previous surveys. Finally, a detailed methodological tool kit for GIS analysis of land use and population data is provided.
The report concludes by stating that the “need for green space and it’s value to health and well-being is universal…”
Urban green spaces and health.Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2016
Beyond Greenspace 
[…] now have a relatively robust body of evidence which has demonstrated that spending time in greener environments is associated with better health outcomes. This has resulted in an increasing interest in using natural environment as a setting for health […]