Chapter 10: Nature, health and well-being: evidence and examples

One of the first times the effect of nature on stress relief was investigated, the results were so remarkable that the top journal Science devoted space to them. The study, published in 1984, showed that American patients who had undergone gall bladder surgery recovered faster when they could see a tree from their hospital window than when they could only see a blank wall. In 2003, in the Netherlands, one of the first epidemiological studies was conducted in which the amount of green space in the residential environment was objectively assessed and shown to be related to the health of residents. This chapter provides an overview of more recent research on the relation between nature in cities and the health and well-being of their inhabitants. Implications of the available knowledge for urban planning and design are discussed.