LIFESTYLE BENEFITS OF GREEN SPACES

How Green Spaces Benefit Lifestyles

[Download Lifestyle Fact Sheet PDF]

Privacy and tranquility. Well-placed plantings offer privacy and tranquility by screening out busy street noises and reducing glare from headlights.¹

Lawns are healthy for body and mind. Home lawn owners derive the benefits of both physical exercise and therapeutic relaxation from the stresses of the work place through activities involved in the care and grooming of lawns. Many people find lawn maintenance an excellent opportunity to enjoy reasonable exercise and a healthy mental diversion.

Turfgrasses reduce sports injuries. Turfgrasses provide a unique, low-cost cushioning effect that reduces injuries to the participants when compared with poorly or nonturfed soils, particularly in the more active contact sports like football, rugby, and soccer.¹⁰

Lower crime and enhanced self esteem. Studies over a 30-year period in communities, neighborhoods, housing projects and prisons show that when landscaping projects are promoted, there is a definite increase in self esteem and a decrease in vandalism.²

Stress reduction. A study published in Environment and Behavior (Vol. 35:311.330) indicates that "...by boosting children's attentional resources, green spaces may enable them to think more clearly and cope more effectively with life's stress."³

Green space is beneficial to children. Studying the effects of green space, a Cornell University researcher indicated that "children who had the greatest gains in terms of 'greenness' between their old and new homes showed the greatest improvements in functioning."⁴

Girls and greenery. A University of Illinois study found that girls exposed to green settings are better able to handle peer pressure, sexual pressure and other challenging situations as well as perform better in school.⁵

Health benefits. There is growing evidence that horticulture is important on a human level. Plants lower blood pressure, reduce muscle tension related to stress, improve attention, and reduce feelings of fear and anger or aggression.⁶

Good landscaping increases community appeal. Parks and street trees have been found to be second only to education in residents' perceived value of municipal services offered. Psychologist Rachel Kaplan found trees, well-landscaped grounds and places for taking walks to be among the most important factors considered when individuals chose a place to live.⁷ Most city dwellers attach considerable importance to urban parks and forests with views of grass, trees, and open space.¹¹

Green spaces create a better, safer environment. Studies conducted by the Human Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign indicate that "Green spaces are gathering places that create close-knit communities and improve well-being - and in doing so, they increase safety."⁸

Better atmosphere for learning. To test attentiveness, a university class rotated between two classrooms. One contained plants and foliage, and one did not. Results at the end of the academic year showed inattentiveness was reduced by 70 percent in the room containing plants, plus indications of better exam performance.⁹

See below for more resources on how green spaces benefit lifestyles:

Girls & Greenery - Human Environment Research Laboratory
http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/girls_self-discipline.htm

Consumer Relations: Why Horticulture is Important on the Human Level Grower Talks Magazine
http://growertalks.com/archive/articles/1384.asp

Trees in Urban Streetscapes – Fact Sheet
[Download PDF]

Urban Trees & Traffic Safety
[Download PDF]

Trees, Parking and Green Law: Legal Tools and Strategies for Sustainability
[Download PDF]

The Freeway Roadside Environment: Testing Visual Quality at the Road Edge
[Download PDF]

Community Image: Roadside Settings and Public Perceptions
[Download PDF]

Green Nature, Human Nature: The Meaning of Plants in Our Lives
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s96/lewis.html

Rutgers Behavioral Study Links Flowers and Life Satisfaction
http://www.aboutflowers.com/happier.html

The Public Value of Urban Parks
[Download PDF]

Plants & Landscaping Lower Crime and Enhance Self-Esteem
[Download PDF]

A Green Scene Can Help Rural Children Endure Stresses
[Download PDF]

CU Researcher: Green Space is Beneficial to Children
[Download PDF]

Go Out and Play! Nature Adds Up for Kids with ADD
[Download PDF]

Green Streets, Not Mean Streets: Vegetation May Cut Crime in the Inner City
[Download PDF]

Nice to See You: How Trees Build a Neighborhood
[Download PDF]

Green Relief: Trees Ease Poverty's Burden in Inner City Neighborhoods
[Download PDF]

Cooler in the Shade: Aggression and Violence Are Reduced with Nature Nearby
[Download PDF]

The Value of Public Space
[Download PDF]

Health and Nature
[Download PDF]

Healing by Design: Healing Gardens and Therapeutic Landscapes
[Download PDF]

Bibliography: Lifestyle Fact Sheet

1 Virginia Cooperative Extension: The Value of Landscaping
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-721/426-721.html#TOC

2 Charles A. Lewis: The Role of Horticulture in Human Well-Being and Social Development
http://www.projectevergreen.com/pdf/LowerCrimecopy.pdf

3 Cornell Chronicle
http://www.projectevergreen.com/pdf/Nature%20Benefits%20Children.pdf

4 Cornell Chronicle; op cit

5 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences: Girls and Greenery
http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/girls_self-discipline.htm

6 GrowerTalks
http://growertalks.com/archive/articles/1384.asp

7 Virginia Cooperative Extension; op cit

8 Green Streets, Not Mean Streets; Project EverGreen, op. cit.

9 "Reading, Writing and Foliage" - Greenhouse Grower, January 2006 reporting on study at England's Royal Agricultural College.

10 Gramckow, J. 1968. Athletic field quality studies. Cal-Turf Inc., Camarillo, CA.

11 Ulrich, R.S. 1986. Human responses to vegetation and landscapes. Landscape Urban Planning. 13:29-44.