In recent years, the qualitative (re)design of the human habitat has become a central and concrete field of action, included in important political agendas at national and international level, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the forefront. In addition, the European Union is massively funding the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) as a holistic approach with which to tackle the challenges faced, from the climate resilience of urban environments to the health and wellbeing of its citizens. More specifically, the health-environment context is increasingly in the spotlight, with the global disease burden being dominated by Non-Communicable-Diseases (NCD) such as diabetes, obesity, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and mental and cardiovascular disorders, which are related to the environmental conditions in which people live (van den Bosch & Ode Sang, 2017; Vos et al., 2015). While a convincing body of evidence indicates a positive relationship between green space and health, the complex interrelations of environment, wellbeing and behaviour are not fully understood (Hartig et al., 2014; Labib et al., 2020; Markevych et al., 2017; Twohig-Bennett & Jones, 2018). Advancements in this area of research are a high priority to enable quantification of the true values of this kind of urban renewal. This might be the missing leverage point needed to enable a greater level of engagement among local decision makers, citizens and other stakeholders in the forthcoming green transition of our cities. We invite submissions from urban and environmental researchers as well as related disciplines that contribute new insights to this research domain. This session aims to bring together scientists working in the area of NBS-health research, for presentation of their insights and to debate key indicators, methodological standards, theories and research priorities in the field.
Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., Vries, S. de, & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and Health. Annual Review of Public Health, 35(1), 207–228. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-PUBLHEALTH-032013-182443
Labib, S. M., Lindley, S., & Huck, J. J. (2020). Spatial dimensions of the influence of urban green-blue spaces on human health: A systematic review. Environmental Research, 180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108869
Markevych, I., Schoierer, J., Hartig, T., Chudnovsky, A., Hystad, P., Dzhambov, A. M., de Vries, S., Triguero-Mas, M., Brauer, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., Lupp, G., Richardson, E. A., Astell-Burt, T., Dimitrova, D., Feng, X., Sadeh, M., Standl, M., Heinrich, J., & Fuertes, E. (2017). Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health: Theoretical and methodological guidance. Environmental Research, 158(February), 301–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.06.028
Twohig-Bennett, C., & Jones, A. (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research, 166, 628–637. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVRES.2018.06.030
van den Bosch, M., & Ode Sang, Å. (2017). Urban natural environments as nature-based solutions for improved public health – A systematic review of reviews. Environmental Research, 158(May), 373–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.05.040
Vos, T., Barber, R. M., Bell, B., Bertozzi-Villa, A., Biryukov, S., Bolliger, I., Charlson, F., Davis, A., Degenhardt, L., Dicker, D., Duan, L., Erskine, H., Feigin, V. L., Ferrari, A. J., Fitzmaurice, C., Fleming, T., Graetz, N., Guinovart, C., Haagsma, J., … Murray, C. J. L. (2015). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet, 386(9995), 743–800. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60692-4
16:20 - 16:35
The Habitat III, New Urban Agenda established a new paradigm shift in sustainable development. Likewise, calling for global action on well-management and well-planning of urban spaces in cities in a sustainable and equitable approach, in order to boost health and quality of life.The EU research and innovation agenda aims to help solve urban and territorial challenges towards an inclusive, resilient, healthier and sustainable future ahead with nature-based solutions (NBS), in order to provide environmental, social and economic benefits through systemic adaptation interventions. This exploratory analysis on the NBS Cluster Go Green Routes (GGR), conducted under the framework of the EU-funded H2020 project GO GREEN ROUTES; was intended to bring new insights in the debate about NBS into co-design , co-creation and co-implementation in cities for well-being and health in cities. The main objective of the study is to analyses perspectives on public urban spaces intervention to enable the co-design, co-creation and co-implementation, co-assess and co-monitoring of NBS in Cultivating Cities in GGR project; Umea (Sweden), Lathi (Finland), Tallinn ( Estonia), Limerick (Ireland), Versailles( France) and Burgas ( Bulgaria). With the aim to broaden the discussion on environmental and ecological, political socio-economic perspectives related to NBS interventions in public spaces as a drive for human and ecological well-being and health in cities, with the expected impact to mainstream NBS into the EU policy and global agendas facilitating the science for practice research. This paper present the methodology deployed in the NBS Cluster GGR: firstly, proceeded with research literature review on the main concepts, after that through an exploratory qualitative analysis aimed to augmenting a comprehensive perception of social issues; provided with four workshops during 2021 and finally, validation of the theoretical and procedural dimensions for the implementation of the NBS. The overview of the exploratory NBS Cluster workshop session contemplated the following aspects: main challenges, expected impact, NBS for human well-being and health in cities and enablers and barriers. The main findings of the study are as follows:(i) Transdisciplinary approach is key in the overall process;(ii) A comprehensive approach to sustainability when we co-design, co-implement, co-assess and co-evaluate NBS is highly valuable;(iii) Key principles about science, research and innovation from research to practice, from strategy to design to implementation.
16:35 - 16:50
The fast growth of cities has been caused and accelerated by the impacts of climate change, health issues, and pollution. In urban areas, these challenges have such environmental, economic, and social repercussions as to be required sustainability as an obligation. In this framework, Nature-based Solutions can offer multi-scalar beneficial impacts and people engagement can become the key for their successful implementation. Buildings are started to be included among Green Infrastructures when their skins constitute the green infrastructure by itself. They can be both green roofs and green walls from horizontal and vertical planes, respectively. The latter, the Vertical Green Structures (VGSs) are a relatively new technology still under development that needs more research to understand the benefits and possible drawbacks. In the framework of urban regeneration, VGSs can foster sustainability in urban areas currently facing a lack of horizontal land surfaces to design novel green parks and gardens. These structures can offer both direct and indirect versatile benefits with the potential to contribute to robust and resilient cities through human health and well-being.
The green elements can make it easier to breathe nature which has been demonstrated important for physical and mental health especially during the COVID-19 pandemic situation, when the physical and visual benefits for people interacting with living plants have become evident.
The motivation of the present study is to understand what is the existing level of users awareness in the perception of vertical greenery. This is done looking at a case study in Milan Polytechnic University, Leonardo campus. To this aim, a survey is prepared in both Italian and English language and circulated among the users of two buildings in the campus to understand how they interact with the existing VGSs, as well as to assess their existing knowledge and future expectations. The questionnaire is consisted of multiple-choice questions, yes-no questions, and open questions. There are twenty-one questions clustered in five main sections with a final open question that asks if any participant has further comment to share. First section aims to understand the demographic background of the participants. The next sections have the scope to understand general knowledge level on vertical greenery in the framework of sustainability and Nature-based Solutions; emotional perception; and future respond, respectively. In this preliminary step, the questionnaires have been distributed among students who are at master and bachelor levels on the following disciplines: architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism, and construction engineering.
The preliminary insights show as most participants consider themselves knowledgeable in sustainability, although this score decreases when the scale of interest is reduced. On the other hand, participants who declare they have high level of knowledge on Nature-based Solutions, are more aware of vertical greenery. The participants who consider themselves with high knowledge, are mostly aware of the main benefits VGSs contributes to, except their functions in food production, protecting wall surface, storage (or demanding) water, and in enhancing thermal insulation. Students stated that they would like to be trained more on the topic of vertical greenery. The result of this analysis helps to understand people’s interest and experience of vertical greenery as well as their future expectations from it. The VGS technology should improve looking at the ways users are experiencing existing green wall technologies to make steps forward towards the optimization of social benefits. The future aims of this work are both to enlarge the pool of target groups participating the questionnaire and to create new sections for assessing the awareness of benefits - nowadays still hidden - in the use of vertical greenery as well as unconventional and possible even more economic sustainable use of green wall.
16:50 - 17:05
The role of nature in historic cities has been a growing debate in creating healthier environments as society pays more attention to mental and physical health. The relation between nature, city, and community is growing in understanding but still limited in practice.
Recent research evidences that high cultural values of green places, where people like to spend time, positively impact their well-being. Moreover, investigation of this topic showed that community well-being is connected to the presence of nature because of strong emotional attachment to greenery in historic cities.
This paper focuses on the neighbourhood Estação in Faro, Algarve, Portugal, which historically was an agriculture area but nowadays contains only a few green areas and lacks connection with the Ria Formosa National Park (lagoon). These natural elements primarily convey, e.g., aesthetic and ecological values but may also bring a broader cultural significance to the community of Faro. Hence, how to restore nature in the neighbourhood of Estação by considering community values?
Participatory methods, in particular gaming, are used to reveal the values of the community. Gaming is a participatory method that enables co-creation in representing, visualising, and redesigning architecture and the urban landscape. Both sides can learn by engaging the local community. The method supports raising awareness about values and considering them in the redesign process. Four participatory methods are developed in these regards to be suitable for engaging different age groups. The methods consist of: 1) A walking tour, 2) cultural mapping, 3) a card game, and 4) Minecraft video game. 86 participants took part in the research, divided into four different age groups, from children to elderly.
The results of each method were coded using the values framework of Pereira Roders (2007) and the attributes typologies of Veldpaus (2015). By comparing the results of the different age groups, it can be concluded that for all age groups, the ecological, social, and economic values are the most important. When further breaking down these values, the most significant overlap between younger and older generations can be seen in the secondary (social) emotional-collective and (ecological) spiritual values. However, when looking at the attributes, a significant difference can be seen as younger generations feel more attached to tangible attributes since they might perceive the environment through more visible and physical aspects. On the other hand, the older generations are more attached to intangible attributes as relation attributes consisting of memory, meaning, and identity.
By understanding the local community's values, design guidelines can be made to restore nature within the neighbourhood of Estação. These guidelines will be further used to develop a strategy for implementing value-based redesign in order to improve the living environment of different age groups. The set of participatory gaming methods can be applied to other cities in consultation processes that aim to prioritise solutions to restore nature in historic cities.
Keywords: cultural significance, heritage values, public participation, healthy cities
17:05 - 17:20
The pandemic exacerbates existing inequities and negative impacts in neighborhoods with preexisting social, environmental, and/or economic multiple stresses, resulting in widely varying perceptions of the pandemic, particularly depending on whether and to what extent resources are available to address the crisis (Collinson 2021). Environmentally and socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable, and residents have limited means to cope with the crisis.
Our studies focus on the residential greenery in the most disadvantaged areas of Berlin, Germany with high noise and air pollution, high bio-climatic stress, low social status indexes and low access to green spaces, identified on the basis of the Environmental Justice Map of Berlin (see details in Battisti et al. 2020).
The residential greenery is defined as green of the immediate surroundings of the residential buildings created in connection with the construction of the respective settlements (Säumel & Butenschön 2018). This part of the urban green infrastructure is very rarely in the focus of research, is overlooked by planners, neglected by architects and step-motherly treated by housing companies, and, nowadays, strongly pressured by urban (re)densification. It provides multiple ecosystem services to the residents and is - perhaps – “the sleeping giant of urban green”.
Our Studies on residential greenery in neighborhoods of modernist housing complexes that are home to three quarters of the Berlin population cover the dense and closed block-edge developments (1870s to 1920s), the block-edge development with large green backyards (1920s to 1940s), the parallel and free row development within landscaped residential greeneries (1920s to 1970s), and the large housing estates with towers and high-rise buildings (1960s to 1980s). Today the residential greenery originally designed in these different epochs does not share a common plant use mode. Woody species mapped in the residential greenery have a medium to high air filtration capacity, but also one to two third of the planted species have a high allergenic potential. All residential greeneries have common elements that support physical activities and related healthy life styles such as bike racks, benches or playgrounds. Bioswales, façade-attached greenery, atriums, fountains or ponds are rare (Battisti et al. 2020).
The residential green was very appreciated before the pandemic. Residents visited the parks once per week, but daily benefit from residential greenery, which was used passively (e.g. enjoying the sun and fresh air) and outweighs active uses (e.g., meeting neighbors, playing sports). Respondents have different views of their city and are very attached to the place, but less to their neighbors (Säumel et al. 2021). It seems to be crucial to enhance welcoming qualities and the motivation to be physically active by implementation of adequate elements. An enhanced multifunctionality of residential greenery helps to maximize the adaptability to diverse and changing residents’ needs across different cultures and generations. We developed a guideline for health promoting ecosystem services of residential greenery (Mohr-Stockinger 2020). We also analyzed the views out of the window on green areas in the apartment of great importance especially during lockdowns (Schmid & Säumel 2021). These window perspectives significantly different from ground perspectives and composition of visible elements varies by building type. Vegetation and structural elements for recreation were positively perceived. During pandemic (Summer 2020) the residential greenery became a crucial refugia for neighbors. Residents' park visits increased during the crisis compared to the period before. The crisis fostered appropriation of residential greenery such as meet neighbors or do sports. Moreover, the spectrum of residents' requirements for RG expanded significantly to active use settings (Säumel & Sanft 2022).
The scientific community recently started to expore the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on urban societies. However, it is undisputed that the weakness and shortcomings of our lifestyles and governance modes have produced collateral damages, particularly to vulnerable groups we claimed to protect, such as children, the younger generations and the elderly. We highlight the crucial role of residential greenery in dealing with inequalities in the urban living space, and the need to conserve, restore and re-design residential green to enhance health and the resilience of our cities (Säumel & Sanft 2022). Urban planners, neighborhood manager, housing companies and neighbors should join forces to unlock the potential of residential green as an effective measure of preventive medicine (Coburn, 2015). Designing an inclusive and actively usable ‘green living room’ will reduce the divides not only in times of pandemics and re-connect neighbors as ‘social tissue’ of our neighborhoods.
Battisti, Pille, Larcher, Butenschön, Säumel, 2020. Managing Urban Greening for Improving Well-being in European Cities. Acta Horticulturae 1279, 59-66. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1279.9.
Battisti, Pille, Wachtel, Larcher, Säumel, 2019. Residential Greenery: State of the Art and Health-Related Ecosystem Services and Disservices in the City of Berlin. Sustainability 11, 1815. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061815
Collinson, 2021. A tale of two pandemics: Low-paid workers hit hardest by Covid class divide. TUC.
Coburn, 2015. City planning as preventive medicine. Prev. Med., 77:48-51, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.04.022
Mohr-Stockinger, Sonja (2020): Leitfaden “Gesundheitsorientierte Umgestaltung von Wohnumfeldgrün – Leitfaden für Wohnungsbaugenossenschaften”
Säumel, Butenschön, 2018. HealthyLiving: Strategie und Planungsinstrument für gesundheitsförderndes Wohnumfeldgrün in der Stadt der Zukunft. Edition Nachhaltige Gesundheit in Stadt und Region / Sustainable Urban & Regional Health Bd.1: „Stadt der Zukunft – Gesund und nachhaltig“ https://doi.org/10.14512/9783962385064.
Säumel, Hogrefe, Battisti, Wachtel, Larcher, 2021. The healthy green living room at one’s doorstep? Use and perception of residential greenery in Berlin, Germany. In: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Volume 58, 126949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126949
Säumel, Sanft, 2022. Crisis mediated new discoveries, claims and encounters: Changing use and perception of residential greenery in multistory housing in Berlin, Germany. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127622
Schmid, Säumel, 2021. Outlook and Insights: Perception of residential greenery in multistorey housing estates in Berlin, Germany. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 63, 127231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127231