Urban Green Spaces can Combat Climate Change and Increase People’s Ability to Live Long, Healthy Lives.
Professor Patrik Grahn's team traces how the purpose of urban parks has shifted over time, and proposes planning green spaces that tackle climate effects, biodiversity and health together.
Urban planning has evolved significantly since the nineteenth century, primarily driven by the need to improve the health and wellbeing of city dwellers. The integration of parks and green spaces has been a central theme in this evolution. However, the understanding and motives behind the creation of urban green areas have changed over the years, impacting their planning and design. A new paradigm shift is emerging, emphasizing how green areas can mitigate climate effects, increase biodiversity, and support human health in smart cities.
A research team from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, led by Professor Patrik Grahn along with Professor Erik Skärbäck, Dr. Jonathan Stoltz, and Dr. Anna Bengtsson, has explored these paradigm shifts. Their work, published in Encyclopedia, outlines the historical and current roles of urban green spaces and proposes a future where nature-based solutions are integral to urban planning.
The first significant shift occurred in the late eighteenth century, driven by the need to combat the poor living conditions in rapidly industrializing cities. Parks and green spaces were introduced to provide cleaner air and reduce the spread of diseases. This was influenced by the miasma theory, which suggested that bad air caused illness. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was a key figure in this movement, advocating for the creation of salubrious landscapes to improve public health.
In the twentieth century, the paradigm shifted again with the rise of modernism. This era focused on rational design, functionality, and the separation of urban areas into zones for living, working, and recreation. Modernist architects like Le Corbusier championed the idea of “houses in parks,” promoting large, green areas in urban settings. However, this approach also led to increased car traffic and longer commutes, presenting new challenges.
Today, cities face the impacts of climate change, such as heatwaves and flooding. Urban green spaces are now seen as crucial for mitigating these effects, enhancing biodiversity, and improving mental and physical health. Research shows that parks with dense tree canopies can significantly reduce urban temperatures and manage stormwater. Moreover, exposure to green areas has been linked to reduced stress, improved mental health, and increased physical activity. The researchers emphasize the need for large parks with diverse vegetation, areas with loose and permeable soil for water absorption, and natural biotopes to preserve biodiversity. Additionally, planning should incorporate people’s mental and physical health needs, providing spaces for relaxation, physical activity, and social interaction.
Professor Grahn stated, “Urban green spaces are vital for mitigating climate impacts and supporting public health. Our research aims to guide the creation of multifunctional green areas that cater to diverse needs.”
The new paradigm means an increased understanding of the multifaceted impact parks and green areas have on a sustainable urban environment. Future urban planning must adopt a holistic approach, considering both ecological benefits and human health. The goal is to plan and design the parks in a district so that they work optimally together. Consideration is thus given to the size of the green areas, their location in the city, what they should contain and what needs they should satisfy for children, young and old in order to promote their health and well-being. The knowledge of how green spaces can best meet the extensive need takes inspiration from “blue zones”, areas of the world where an unusually high number of people maintain good health despite being over 100 years old. These areas are environmentally enriched, satisfying people’s needs related to curiosity and stimulation, play, physical activity and social meeting places, but also to rest and to be able to recover from a stressful everyday life. Research shows that parks can contribute to an enriched urban environment through their diversity of perceived sensory dimensions. In this increasingly complex urban planning and design, where climate effects as well as biodiversity and human health and well-being containing an enriched environment must be considered, help from artificial intelligence, AI, may be needed. A validated model of people’s needs for perceived sensory dimensions is now being developed for use in future planning and design of urban smart health-promoting environments.
In conclusion, Professor Grahn and his colleagues envision a new paradigm in urban planning where green spaces play a multifaceted role. By integrating nature-based solutions, they believe we can create resilient urban environments that enhance both ecological sustainability and human wellbeing. This comprehensive approach not only addresses immediate challenges such as climate change and public health but also fosters a connection between urban residents and their natural surroundings. As cities continue to grow and evolve, the insights from this study will be crucial in shaping urban landscapes that are both sustainable and supportive of human health, ensuring a better quality of life for future generations.
About the researchers
Patrik Grahn
Patrik Grahn is professor of landscape architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. He holds a master’s degree and a PhD in landscape architecture from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp, and a master's degree in biology from Uppsala University.… His research develops at the interface of landscape architecture, environmental psychology, and health sciences/medicine. The aim is to develop theory- and evidence-based knowledge about how to plan and design health-promoting environments. It includes both smaller areas, such as gardens and yards at homes, preschools, schools, nursing homes, hospitals and workplaces as well as public parks, green areas and forests in and near cities. The research is partly practice-based, in collaboration with architects, medical expertise, health workers etc. in municipalities, nursing homes, and preschools, or in the university's infrastructure Alnarp Rehabilitation Garden, where research on participants with different diagnoses participate in nature-based therapy together with an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychotherapist and gardener. The results are used in the development of theories as well as practical tools in the planning and design of health-promoting environments and nature-based therapy. He has conducted research and teaching in the field for several decades. Together with colleagues, Patrik Grahn created an international master's course in the field, which is given at the Swedish University of Agriculture in Alnarp.
Erik Skärbäck
Erik Skärbäck is professor emeritus of regional planning at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. He holds a master’s degree and a PhD in landscape architecture from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. Before becoming a professor, Skärbäck worked as a landscape architect and consultant.… During the years 1975-1979, he worked as project coordinator for the environmental impact assessment of the construction of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark. In the years 1979-1985 he was head of landscape planning at VBB Consulting, Region South, and in the years 1985-91 he was head of the team of architectural planners including landscape, and later head of the entire planning department including traffic and environment at VBB Consulting, Region South. In the years 1992-94, Erik Skärbäck worked as founder and manager of VBB/VIAK Consulting, later SWECO's branch office in Berlin. As a professor, Skärbäck has worked on developing planning documents regarding green infrastructure for ecological sustainability and human well-being. The Swedish Government’s Ministry of the Environment called on Erik Skärbäck as an expert, to draw up a proposal for compensation measures for the loss of environmental values during the years 1997-1999. Skärbäck has long been committed to better urban sound environments and during the years 2005-2017 he was a board member of the Center of Sound Environments at Lund University.
Jonathan Stoltz
Jonathan Stoltz works as a researcher and teacher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Alnarp. He holds a master’s degree in cognitive science from Linköping University and a PhD in physical geography from Stockholm University.… He researches and teaches about environmental perception in relation to human health and wellbeing with a focus on evidence-based planning and design tools at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Alnarp. He has worked with different kinds of landscape analyses and e.g. epidemiological data, linking environmental perceptions to various health and wellbeing outcomes. He has analysed perceived qualities in urban and semi-urban landscapes and forest environments, as well as investigated synergies with other sustainability aspects, such as biodiversity and food production in urban contexts. Recently, a focus has been on developing indicators for health and wellbeing promoting qualities in forests, to be included alongside other indicators of e.g. biodiversity and wood production.
Anna Bengtsson
Anna Bengtsson works as a researcher and teacher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Alnarp. She holds a master’s degree in landscape architecture and a PhD in landscape planning, especially environmental psychology; both from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp.… Her research focus is within landscape architecture, especially health promoting outdoor environments and evidence based design processes. Her work concerns the development and testing of models and tools based on theories and evidence (concerning restorative and supportive environments) for use in evidence-based design processes focusing different patient groups as well as health promoting outdoor environments for people in general. Anna has been a university lecturer since 2005 and since then she has been the course manager and/or examiner on two to five courses per year as well as supervisor or examiner of several bachelor and master's work per year. Anna is frequently invited as a guest lecturer at other courses at SLU Alnarp as well as at other universities in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. From 2010 to present, she has been reaching more and more outside academia by giving lectures, organizing workshops and short courses for staff at architect’s offices, municipalities, residential care facilities and other healthcare facilities as well as for teachers and children in schools.
Journal reference
Grahn, P., Stoltz, J., Skärbäck, E., & Bengtsson, A. (2023). “Health-Promoting Nature-Based Paradigms in Urban Planning.” Encyclopedia, 3, 1419-1438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia3040102
