Menu
City Know-hows
Target audience
City planners, local councils, general public, environmental psychology researchers
The problem
Much of the current public health and environmental psychology research regarding health and wellbeing is geographically restrained and unable to make direct cross-cultural comparisons between populations.
What we did and why
We attempted to apply a standardised framework of analysis in order to compare health and wellbeing metrics between adults in Europe, Africa and South East Asia in order to understand any health and wellbeing differences between geographically, socially and economically diverse cities.
Our study’s contribution
This study indicates regional differences in subjective stress and wellbeing and the impact that both green and public spaces may have on these metrics. It adds a direct cross-cultural examination previously somewhat lacking in the literature.
Impacts for city policy and practice
This research addresses the impact of different types of urban space on health and wellbeing across various global cities, as well as understanding specific local issues that may mediate these effects. Our approach provides a solid base for future cross-cultural research using mixed methods and a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding environmental impacts on human health.
Further information
Chris Neale, Mònica Coll Besa, Sarah Dickin, Vanessa Hongsathavij, Piret Kuldna, Cassilde Muhoza (@cassildemuhoza), Pin Pravalprukskul, & Steve Cinderby (@s_cinderby_SEI)
Full research article:
Related posts
Residing in a neighbourhood with higher greenness within 400 metres was associated with higher residential greenspace visitations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policies towards scaling up and optimising residential greenness may constitute important interventions for enhancing population-level resilience during public health emergencies.
The degradation of the urban freshwater ecosystem has consequences to human population of cities. We proposed and tested an approach to identify and quantify the risk for the populations living near urban streams within the city, due to the degradation of ecosystems services.
The built food environment has a significant influence on population health, for better and for worse. Evidence shows that urban planning can play a major role in creating food environments that support healthy food choices; however current transit-oriented developments have not yet considered access to healthy food outlets. We found evidence that a high proportion (79 – 84%) of food outlets could be classified as ‘unhealthy’ across eight transport hubs identified for accelerated development in New South Wales.
