RESEARCH
Urban Green Spaces and Healthy Living: A Landscape Architecture Perspective
Summary
This paper offers a perspective on the critical role of urban green spaces in promoting healthy living, particularly within the field of landscape architecture. The research synthesizes existing literature to demonstrate the strong positive associations between accessible urban green spaces and various health outcomes, including physical, mental, and social well-being. It advocates for evidence-based design that prioritizes attractiveness, accessibility, and biodiversity in urban green spaces to encourage physical activity, mental well-being, and social interaction, addressing public health concerns like obesity and mental health disorders.
The activities involved a comprehensive review and synthesis of existing literature related to urban green spaces, landscape architecture, and public health. The paper explores the potential of community gardens and edible green infrastructure to improve diet and nutrition, discusses disparities in access to quality green spaces globally, and calls for future research and policy efforts to maximize the health benefits of urban green spaces, ultimately advocating for their establishment as essential components of public health infrastructure.