Comparing health, stress, wellbeing and greenspace across six cities in three continents

ABSTRACT

As global urbanisation continues to increase, we need to understand how urban environments contribute to maintenance of public health across different geographic regions. Current public health and environmental psychology research to this end is geographically constrained, deficient in direct cross-cultural comparisons between populations. This exploratory study applies a standardised analysis framework to health and wellbeing metrics of cities in the UK, Sweden, Estonia, Kenya and Thailand. This allows for comparison between geographically diverse cities to understand their role on citizens’ health. We assessed demographics, subjective stress and wellbeing, relationships between green and public spaces and features of the local environment on health in 659 adult participants across six study locations. The results indicate regional differences in stress and wellbeing and show correlations with living close to, and engaging with, green and/or public spaces. Issues regarding noise, air pollution and traffic congestion were reported as having an impact on personal wellbeing. We discuss the impact that diverse properties of green space may have had, as well as cross-cultural considerations between the impacts of the local environments. This exploratory research provides a base for future cross-cultural research using mixed-methods and multi-disciplinary approaches to explore socio-economic and infrastructure dimensions of urban spaces and their impact on health and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• Health and wellbeing
• greenspace
• Asia
• Africa
• Europe

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Stockholm Environment Institute [41571].

Notes on contributors

Chris Neale

Chris Neale is a researcher at the University of Virginia interested in understanding how urban and rural environments can impact health and wellbeing in a range of participants, but with particular interest in older adults. His background is in cognitive neuroscience, and he continues to use various neuroimaging methods to assess brain activity in research populations.

Mònica Coll Besa

Mònica Coll Besa works on the social aspects of climate adaptation, particularly working at the science-policy-practice interface addressing complex environmental issues, mainly in developing countries. Her experience includes the use of climate information for decision-making including the development and application of decision support tools and processes, capacity building and communication for adaptation planning, analysis of socio-ecological processes (e.g. including ecosystem-based and community-based adaptation), social learning and stakeholder engagement.

Sarah Dickin

Sarah Dickin is a health geographer working on topics at the intersection of environment, development and human wellbeing. She has an inter-disciplinary background, holding a Ph.D. in Geography and a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Biochemistry from McMaster University, Canada. As a Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Sarah co-leads an initiative on sustainable sanitation that comprises research, policy engagement and capacity development focused on improving understanding and uptake of sustainable sanitation, including environmental, institutional, social dimensions.

Vanessa Hongsathavij

Vanessa Hongsathavij is an independent research consultant, writer, and Ph.D. researcher at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University. Vanessa focuses on policy-oriented research, particularly on examining how environmental human rights are implemented and practiced on the ground. With diverse experiences in Southeast Asia, Vanessa has worked as a Research Associate at RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests, as a Research and Communications Assistant at the SEI Asia – Stockholm Environment Institute, and a Fulbright research scholar in Lao PDR.

Piret Kuldna

Piret Kuldna is Senior Expert of the Sustainable Development programme of SEI Tallinn Centre. She holds MSc in Environmental Policy and Sciences from Central European University, Budapest, and BSc in Biology from the University of Tartu, Estonia. Piret’s research focuses on urban sustainability, environmental policy and governance, impact assessments, nature-based solutions, knowledge brokerage, access to environmental information and public participation in decision-making.

Cassilde Muhoza

Cassilde Muhoza is a Research Associate, under the Sustainable Urbanisation Programme at SEI Africa. Her interest is in sustainable urban planning, urban green spaces, urban air pollution, urban mobility, urban water management and off-grid electrification. She has 5 years of experience working on sustainable urbanisation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable urban mobility, urban air pollution, off-grid electrification and integration of environmental issues (biodiversity, energy, and climate change) into urban planning policies and strategies.

Pin Pravalprukskul

Pin Pravalprukskul’s work focuses on agriculture, natural resource management and rural livelihoods. Pin holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Wellesley College, and a M.S. in Sustainable Development in Agriculture from the University of Copenhagen and Montpellier SupAgro. Her thesis assessed the climate change mitigation potential of agroforestry farms in the Kenyan Central Highlands. Pin’s interests include smallholder agriculture, climate change, gender and social inequality, sustainable consumption and science communication.

Steve Cinderby

Steve Cinderby is a Senior Researcher at the SEI centre in the University of York specialising in community resilience, wellbeing and participatory research methods. He has specialised in the development of communication approaches for improved environmental decision-making outcomes. These have been aimed at increasing knowledge sharing, improving the capacity for pro-environmental behavioural change, and boosting local community resilience and wellbeing.