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Keep calm and go out : urban nature exposure, mental health, and perceived value during the COVID-19 lockdown
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Kanelli, Argyro Anna, Kokkinaki, Margarita, Sinvare, Marios-Dimitrios, Malesios, Chrisovalantis, Dimitrakopoulos, Panayiotis G. and Kalantzi, Olga-Ioanna (2023) Keep calm and go out : urban nature exposure, mental health, and perceived value during the COVID-19 lockdown. Sustainability, 15 (11). 8831. doi:10.3390/su15118831 ISSN 2071-1050.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15118831
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of incorporating nature-based solutions in urban design, in order to create sustainable and resilient cities. Inspired by these events, the present study aims at exploring the mental health benefits of nature exposure during the outbreak. Secondarily, we investigate changes in use patterns towards urban green spaces (UGS) and urban blue spaces (UBS) and whether extreme conditions, such as these of a lockdown, can lead to an increase in people’s appreciation of urban nature. Through an online survey, we observed that the pandemic resulted in a decrease in the frequency of visitation to UGS/UBS (p < 0.001). Significant differences were found for exercise (p < 0.001) and socialization (p < 0.05) as main drivers for visiting urban nature pre- and post-lockdown. Accordingly, visitation rates for forests (p < 0.05), playgrounds (p < 0.001), and the sea (p < 0.001) differed significantly when comparing the two periods. In people’s perception, UGS/UBS are important for the urban fabric (89%). Our structural equation model indicated that nature exposure had a beneficial effect on participants’ mental health (p < 0.001). Pathways that explain the relationship between nature exposure and post- lockdown value were nature relatedness, motivation, and perceived importance of UGS/UBS. No mediation could be extracted for nature exposure and mental health. Our findings show the positive association between nature exposure and mental health improvement, especially in times of crisis, as well as a shift in the “value domain” towards urban nature.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies > Institute for Global Sustainable Development | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Urban parks, Public spaces, COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020, Mental health, Environmental health, Values | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Sustainability | ||||||
Publisher: | MDPI | ||||||
ISSN: | 2071-1050 | ||||||
Official Date: | 30 May 2023 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 15 | ||||||
Number: | 11 | ||||||
Article Number: | 8831 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.3390/su15118831 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 30 June 2023 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 3 July 2023 |
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