Visits to nature can improve disparities in well-being among urban inhabitants

Hiking. Camping. Even just walk in the park. Whether it is a current hobby or a childhood hobby, many urban residents have engaged in activities that have fueled a positive relationship with nature. But in our modern society, the disparities in access to nature are not greater between the residential areas. And although this particularly affects those who are confronted with social and economic challenges, the research that explores the relationship between socioeconomic status at the district level, nature and well-being remain limited.

The scientist of the human environment of the University of Kobe Uchiyama Yuta specializes in the study of the way in which differences in urban and rural lifestyles affect quality of life.

He and his team interviewed 3,500 residents in two major metropolitan regions of Japan (Tokyo-Yokohama and Osaka-Kobe) in order to determine their relationship with nature both objectively (depending on proximity and access to natural spaces) and subjectively (depending on the family perceived with nature).

The responses were then classified according to the socioeconomic status by zone and the degree of urban development of their residential area to serve as third dimension in the clarification of the relationship between well-being and nature.

The results of this study, published In Urban landscape and planningShow that the more people feel linked to nature, the better their global well-being is and that this relationship is particularly pronounced in urbanized areas with poorer socioeconomic conditions.

But why is it the case? Related studies have suggested that visits to nature are important to maintain and improve health for those who have substantial stress, and that this is particularly true for residents of areas with poorer socio -economic conditions.

Conversely, residents of areas with better socio-economic conditions have access to additional resources to improve their health and overall well-being, which makes the effects of nature relatively less pronounced.

Uchiyama explains what it means for policies aimed at reducing inequalities in well-being, saying: “We plan that the conservation and improvement of existing natural areas and the organization of community events will have a positive effect on well-being in the fields of relatively bad socio-economic status.

“Interestingly, factors that we have studied, the infantile experience of nature in particular was a significant predictor of the well-being of adults.”

This observation also stresses that early exposure and fair access to nature are essential to public health.

In the future, a more in-depth analysis of the relationships between independent variables as well as key factors that vary over time (for example, moving between regions of different socioeconomic levels) should prove useful to obtain a clearer image of the relationship between natural relationship, socioeconomic level and well-being.

Uchiyama says: “As these results are in accordance with similar studies carried out in other regions, interventions for subjective and objective factors should be applicable to other regions with similar socioeconomic contexts, such as other cities in the Asia monsoon.

“Currently, as part of an international collaborative project (link), we analyze how knowledge and perceptions influence the well-being, resilience and preparation of citizens and decision-makers in the big cities of Asia, including Bangkok and Manila.”