A study in the United States shows that greening urban open space can improve the mental health of surrounding residents and relieve negative emotions such as depression.Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions conducted a survey in Philadelphia and randomly divided 541 vacant vacant lots into 3 groups. One group implemented a "greening intervention", including removing garbage, leveling the land, planting grass and a few trees, installing low wood fences and monthly Regularly trimmed; one group only cleaned garbage and weeds regularly; the third group was the control group and left it abandoned. The researchers assessed the mental health status of 342 surrounding residents 18 months before and after the intervention.
The results showed that 18 months after the intervention, the depression of the residents within 400 meters of the green space was greatly relieved. Compared with the proportion of residents around the ungreen space, the proportion of residents decreased by 41.5%. . There was no significant change in the self-reported mental health status of residents in the other two groups of open spaces. In contrast, the self-reported mental health status of residents around the greened open spaces dropped by nearly 63%.
In an article published in the latest issue of JAMA Network Open, the researchers wrote that deserted and restricted land parcels are "part of the factors that increase the risk of depression and stress among surrounding residents." The researchers believe that greening open spaces has a positive effect on the mental health of surrounding residents, and this practice is inexpensive and easy to promote.