It’s a morning of enriching spaces! I am so thrilled to see this work come out as part of the advocacy for green spaces for all!
Can neighborhood green spaces help close the gaps in health between people of different incomes and backgrounds?
That’s the tantalizing proposition of research by Rich Mitchell, a professor at the University of Glasgow, and colleagues. They suggest that green places are not only good for our health and well-being, but could also play an equalizing role in our cities.
Where you live can have a huge bearing on how healthy you’re likely to be. And, sometimes the gaps open up over just a few miles. A few subway stops in New York, for example, could mean up to nine years difference in how long someone might live.
Mitchell’s research, while still at a relatively early stage, suggests green-space might serve to reduce these gaps.
The research doesn’t prove the strength of the relationship between individual neighborhood services and well-being, but does show that well-being gaps are smaller where services are better, Mitchell notes in an email. Research he’s conducting now, which hasn’t been published, does show green spaces having the strongest bearing on well-being differences.
Mental Flowers 