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The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the significance of urban green spaces as potential isolation facilities in the prevention of infectious diseases. Consequently, exposure to green spaces has rapidly emerged as a research subject that necessitates evaluation of its impact on human health. Exposure to green spaces can indirectly foster interaction between individuals and the ecological environment of green spaces, thereby encouraging outdoor activities that enhance health. The fundamental characteristic of urban green spaces in terms of their impact on human health is their provision of ecological benefits and a more habitable and superior living environment. Ecosystem services are irreplaceable by human beings. "Land ethics" posits that humans are ordinary members and beneficiaries of nature. Urban green spaces, as a form of natural resource capital, provide services to these beneficiaries and serve as the conduit and bridge linking ecosystems with human beings. Harnessing and preserving the value of ecological services provided by green spaces can enhance humanity's capacity to reciprocate and reconnect with nature, and also constitutes an essential foundation for the advancement of human production and lifestyle.
Existing reviews have not adequately addressed the influencing factors of urban green space exposure from the perspective of ecosystem services. From the perspective of human sensory exposure characteristics, the general functions of green space exposure can be summarized into three categories: reducing bodily injuries, restoring physical capabilities, and encouraging individual behaviors. This paper contributes by constructing a cascading framework of "exposure-sensory-function-health effect", using individual and socioeconomic attributes as mediating factors, thereby enhancing the relevant research on the impact of urban planning green spaces on population health from the perspective of ecosystem service functions. The characteristics and specific research contents of the influencing factors of ecosystem service health were summarized from three aspects: time, space, and quality. Additionally, this study supplemented the connotation of the relationship between dynamically coupled ecosystem services and population health.
The study found that research on the health impacts of urban green space exposure is no longer confined to community green spaces, but has begun to focus on the health benefits of biodiversity in agricultural, pastoral, and forest production ecological lands. Existing research on "rehabilitation gardens" and "horticultural therapy" aims to provide an evidence-based medical evidence chain and a green prescription intervention method. However, most studies rely on the collection of transient data to construct mathematical models, and there is a lack of longitudinal research using the time series method. In the future, it is essential to conduct further empirical research to inform key practice decisions, thereby providing evidence-based management and treatment methods and promoting the transformation. Urban green spaces should provide equal services to all residents. In the future, it is necessary to study the impact characteristics and mechanisms of green space exposure on vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and low-income groups, from the perspective of eliminating the uncertainty and unfairness associated with green space exposure. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity exists in the inequality of green spaces. Understanding the inequality distribution characteristics and population usage patterns of urban green spaces across different regions, cities, and life circles can facilitate the evaluation of green space exposure inequality under various buffer zones based on population behavior exposure, thereby improving the urban green space exposure assessment system framework. The length of exposure to green spaces can certainly affect the health of the population, but the total benefit cannot be estimated. Few scholars have quantitatively analyzed the threshold effect of green space exposure on population health. It’s suggested that future research further supplement the measurement of physiological indicators at multiple points to capture the dynamic changes in the threshold effect over time.
| Keywords | Greenspace exposure; Human health; Ecosystem services; Influence factors |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
