Research finds several factors affect people’s exposure to nature

Exposure to nature is good for human health, both psychologically and physiologically, but not all people have equal access to it.

A new study led by scientists from Kobe University has investigated several factors that affect people’s nature exposure, with the results having the potential to inform future policy-making around the use of green spaces in urban planning.

“Access to quality natural environments is a basic human right,” explained Kobe University human environmental scientist Yuta Uchiyama.

Research methodology

A research team from Kobe University, University of the Ryukyus, Meio University and Kyoto University conducted a survey in the two largest metro areas of Japan, the Kanto region around Tokyo and the Kansai region that includes Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. They asked 3,500 people about how often and where they visit green spaces as well as where they live, work and shop, basic socioeconomic factors such as age, gender and household income, and about their relationship to nature and availability of free time. In addition, they used publicly available geographic data to correlate the collected responses with the size and shape of green spaces around the respondents’ daily environments.

The results, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, show that people use green spaces more if they are available throughout their daily environments, not just around where they live.

“This result can be used as evidence for policy making … as there is potential for the utility of green spaces not only around residential areas but throughout people’s daily environments,” Uchiyama said.

Another consistent factor driving exposure to nature was people’s childhood nature experience and their relationship to nature, which was stronger the older the respondents were.

“This shows how important effective environmental education for all generations is,” said Uchiyama, who noted that future research will focus on correlating health outcomes with levels of exposure to nature.

The research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the nation’s Ministry of the Environment.

SOURCE: Science Daily