Urban Spaces

Children’s Play and Independent Mobility in 2020: Results from the British Children’s Play Survey

The British Children’s Play Survey was conducted in April 2020 with a nationally representative sample of 1919 parents/caregivers with a child aged 5–11 years. Respondents completed a range of measures focused on children’s play, independent mobility and adult tolerance of and attitudes towards risk in play.

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Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers

Stress reduction through contact with nature is well established, but far less is known about the contribution of contact parameters – duration, frequency, and nature quality. This study describes the relationship between duration of a nature experience (NE), and changes in two physiological biomarkers of stress – salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase.

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Urban nature and physical activity: Investigating associations using self-reported and accelerometer data and the role of household income

Physical inactivity is a major public health concern. Natural, or semi-natural, environments may encourage physical activity, but the influences of socio-economic factors have been under-researched.

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Pop-up parks deliver big benefits in small spaces

‘Pop-up parks’ represent one possible means to help meet the demands of urbanites for more opportunities to connect with nature in their neighborhoods, serve important conservation functions by providing small-scale habitat refuges for a wide variety of threatened plants and animals in urban environments, and deliver a suite of ecosystem services to urban residents and wildlife alike.

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Neighbourhoods for Active Kids: study protocol for a cross-sectional examination of neighbourhood features and children’s physical activity, active travel, independent mobility and body size

New Zealand children’s physical activity, including independent mobility and active travel, has declined markedly over recent decades. The Neighbourhoods for Active Kids (NfAK) study examines how neighbourhood built environments are associated with the independent mobility, active travel, physical activity and neighbourhood experiences of children aged 9–12 years in primary and intermediate schools across Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.

Neighbourhoods for Active Kids: study protocol for a cross-sectional examination of neighbourhood features and children’s physical activity, active travel, independent mobility and body size Read More »

Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood

Urban residence is associated with a higher risk of some psychiatric disorders, but the underlying drivers remain unknown. Here, we investigate the prospective association between green space and mental health in the Danish population.

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Cognitive Restoration in Children Following Exposure to Nature: Evidence From the Attention Network Task and Mobile Eye Tracking

Exposure to nature improves cognitive performance through a process of cognitive restoration. However, few studies have explored the effect in children, and no studies have explored how eye movements “in the wild” with mobile eye tracking technology contribute to the restoration process. Our results demonstrated that just a 30-min walk in a natural environment was

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Measuring connectedness to nature in preschool children in an urban setting and its relation to psychological functioning

The urban environment has been criticized for promoting ‘nature-deficit’ and ‘child-nature disconnectedness’. Keeping in mind the importance of nature exposure and its extensive health benefits, many environmental programs around the world hope to (re)connect children with nature. To evaluate the effectiveness of such efforts, valid tools to measure Connectedness to Nature (CN) are needed but do not exist today, especially for use with pre-schoolers.

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The Association Between Natural Environments and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents Living in the United States

Exposure to nature and natural environments may be beneficial for mental health; however, most population-based studies have been conducted among adults whereas few have focused on adolescents. Researchers aimed to investigate the relationship between both greenness (vegetation) and blue space (water), and depressive symptoms among teenagers in the United States.

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