BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have disclosed that urban nature exposure has a positive effect on mental health.
Blue spaces, including waters and wetlands, are thought to support mental health through similar pathways proposed for green spaces, while the effects of blue spaces are confirmed by very few studies in Chinese cities.
The researchers from the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the relationship between 1,274 citizens' mental health and urban parks and blue spaces from 2018 to 2020 in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.
The results suggested that exposure to both urban parks and blue spaces mitigates people's risk of depression. Every 1-hectare increase in nearby water area is associated with up to a 0.45 percent improvement in citizens' mental health. This indicates that blue spaces are a potential public health resource.
According to the research article published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, clear gender and socioeconomic differences were observed: females, those with low levels of education and low-to-median income groups all enjoy stronger protective effects from exposure to nature. Enditem
