Human health benefits of exposure to nature are well documented. Missing in the literature, however, are clear descriptions of greenspace characteristics most effective in promoting human health. This study aimed to identify landscape metrics of urban greenspace that contribute to the health of people living in the city. Landscape metrics quantify specific spatial characteristics of patches or entire landscapes. They provide detailed descriptions of the structure of landscapes and generally fall into two categories: (1) those that quantify the composition of the landscape (quantity and diversity of patches); and (2) those that quantify the spatial configuration of the landscape (patch shape and aggregation). While numerous landscape metrics have been identified and studied, exactly how the composition and configuration of urban greenspace is linked to human health is generally not understood.
The choice of metrics used for analysis in this study was based on a literature review of studies that related specific landscape metrics to the processes through which human health benefits are thought to derive, such as physical activity. Only eleven studies met the search criteria. From these studies, 63 landscape metrics were identified. The only metrics included in this study were ones identified through the previous research as having a statistically significant relationship with some aspect of human health. These metrics were then used in an analysis of the general health of people living in the city of Sheffield, UK, as self-reported on the 2011 UK census report.
Results of the data analysis showed that the majority of the included metrics were not strongly associated with the self-report measures of health used in this study. This finding may reflect the fact that most previous research did not look at health directly. The studies focused, instead, on mechanisms (such as physical activity) from which health benefits may result. Links between human health and specific landscape metrics identified in this study include both compositional and configuration characteristics. Compositional characteristics associated with lower levels of poor health are a relatively high proportion of water cover and a high diversity of tree plantings. A configuration characteristic associated with lower levels of poor health is the presence of large greenspace patches interspersed with the built environment.
This study highlights the value of using landscape metrics in investigating links between human health and urban greenspace. It also provides some specific guidance on how to design urban spaces for promoting human health.
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