City dwellers who live close to a natural space report better mental health than those who live further away. This leaves some people more vulnerable to mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and city planners are taking note.
The vast majority of Canadians live in urban centres, but city residents may not have equal access to natural spaces, such as a park, forest, or waterway. A team of researchers from Canadian universities and government, led by Dan Crouse at the Health Effects Institute in Boston, Mass., studied nearly 400,000 people across Canada. The results, posted on ScienceDirect conclude that urban people who live in close proximity to a natural space have better self-reported mental health than those who live further away.
“We see this effect even after we control for all other variables that can influence mental health, such as household income,” says Crouse.
Physical versus mental health
Crouse’s past research has focused on physical health; he found that Canadians living close to blue spaces — rivers, lakes, coasts — or green spaces lived longer and had lower rates of non-accidental death. His team is now taking a look at self-reported mental health.
One in five Canadians self-report they have moderate to severe anxiety, loneliness or depression, according to a series of national surveys done at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in Toronto. These numbers appear to be increasing as the pandemic continues, and tend to affect more women and parents.
Natural space makes sense
The link between good mental health and natural spaces makes sense when you think about our human history, notes Daniel Rainham, associate professor of environmental epidemiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “In the past 100 years or so, we’ve gone from 80 per cent of our population living in rural locations to 80 per cent living in urban locations. Our population has undergone a tremendous shift.”
For the majority of human history, we’ve lived rural lifestyles. “Humans evolved in environments that are a lot more natural than we see now,” says Rainham.
In general, Canadians have relatively good access to natural spaces. Canada is a newer country than most industrialized states and modern city planning concepts have helped shape cities. Canada also has a relatively small population, which limits the number of high-density centres.
But there are pockets of urban deserts out there — Crouse’s study reported that 13 per cent of Canadians do not live close to a natural space. He and his team did not report where these areas are, but he notes that it’s not difficult to figure it out. “Just look at an aerial image of your neighbourhood to see how green it is.”
The City of Toronto is well aware of the importance of having natural spaces and has embarked on a number of access programs to support its citizens during the pandemic. For example, it recently doubled the number of public washrooms available to promote outdoor activities, and its Parkland Strategy continues to improve the city’s park systems in a way that aims to be equitable and inclusive. Other cities like Winnipeg and Vancouver have followed suit.
But just how equitable and inclusive is access to natural space for urbanites? In these urban deserts, people with higher socioeconomic status can afford to travel to natural places to recharge — for example, the condo dweller who skis on weekends or the family that can escape to a cabin outside the city. People without disposable income find it more challenging to access such spaces.
“I think that’s problematic for sure. And that would exist in Canada,” notes Rainham. “So it’s really about identifying those areas, for one thing, but then also identifying people within those areas who would have characteristics that would prevent them from being able to access natural environments.”
Crouse’s study didn’t answer why or how these green spaces provide a mental health benefit but he and others in this field of research have offered several theories.
It may be that these spaces offer a buffer zone to protect people from being exposed to traffic pollution and noise; or they could help promote physical activity. These spaces may also provide a place for people to have “cognitive restoration” — a place to relax without having to actively focus your attention on anything.