Preserving green spaces and improving urban walkability can help reduce loneliness, study finds

Interacting with nature and being outdoors can help improve personal wellbeing for city residents by reducing the feelings of loneliness, a new study finds.  

The research, published in Scientific Reports, used an app to assess real-time feelings of city residents while indoors and outdoors.  

Over the course of 23 months, 750 participants from around the world were recruited to download the Urban Mind app, and respond to several randomly timed questions a day, throughout a two-week period. The questions collected information about a participant’s location, perceived environment, and social observations, including: “Can you see trees right now?”, “Do you feel welcome?”, “Does it feel overcrowded?”, and “Can you see water?”. At the same time, participants were asked to rate feelings of loneliness, on a scale of 1-5.  

By the end of the study more than 16,000 assessments and observations were collected and analyzed.  

Calling loneliness a “public health concern,” researchers found that overcrowding contributed to an increased feeling of being lonely, and that exposure to nature could reduce the odds of loneliness by as much as 28%. The study’s authors say their findings support the idea of “social prescribing”—the concept of encouraging non-medical interventions to improve mental health and well-being including social and physical activities—as well as improving urban walkability, and preserving green spaces in densely populated cities.   

“By 2050, it’s expected that 66% of the world’s population will live in urban areas,” writes study co-author Andrea Mechelli in a piece published by The Conversation. “Yet until now, we have known very little about how urban life influences our experience of loneliness. This is what our recent study aimed to do…If loneliness is lessened by contact with nature, improving access to high-quality green and blue spaces (such as parks and rivers) in dense urban areas may help people feel less lonely.” 

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Looking for a way to get outdoors and active this winter? A family-friendly Winter Fitness Series is taking place in January, with guided walks down the East Boston Greenway. Bundle up and get moving! Spaces are still available for Saturday, January 22, and Saturday, January 29. Keep an eye on our events page, linked below, for more winter events and activities!

For more updates, follow newly launched social media channels on Facebook and Instagram. We’re looking forward to sharing more progress this year, as the community design phase for this future park continues.  

The One Waterfront Team