Abstract

Natural environments have been shown to promote health, and are, therefore, important for achieving social sustainability in cities. As cities grow and become denser, it is important to develop knowledge about the characteristics of natural environments that work to promote health. Perceived Sensory Dimensions (PSDs) is a tool that defines eight different cultural ecosystem services. They correspond to different human needs (rest, exercise, socialising, pleasure, or security) resulting in rehabilitation and health and well-being promotion. An experiment was conducted to study the potential of PSDs to restore people who experienced stressful accidents. One hundred and fifty-seven participants were recruited and asked first to watch a film clip of serious accidents, then to look at the pictures, depicting one particular type of PSDs, while listening to its respective audio recording. Their stress levels were measured before exposure to the stressor (baseline), after exposure to the stressor (pre-test), and after exposure to a particular type of PSDs (post-test). The results show that all eight PSDs effectively provide mental recovery, but there are statistical differences in their potentials. As such, it is proposed that the combined potential of the PSDs is needed, and should be used to increase the capacity and supply of health-promoting urban green areas.

Keywords

evidence-based health design; perceived sensory dimensions; cultural ecosystem services; social sustainability; restorative state; public health; mental health; stress reduction

Published in

Sustainability
2021, Volume: 13, number: 10, article number: 5419

SLU Authors

• Grahn, Patrik

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

Built environment
Nature experiences and health


Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages


UKÄ Subject classification

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Landscape Architecture


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105419

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111826