Trees Don’t Make Cities Livable - They Make Cities Survivable
“When trees die, people die.”
We often hear people say that a walk in the woods is restorative, but is there any scientific evidence of this relationship between nature and our mental and physical well-being? Apparently there is.
Citations
Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Gatziolis, Demetrios; Longley, Ian; Douwes, Jeroen. 2018. Vegetation diversity protects against childhood asthma: results from a large New Zealand birth cohort. Nature Plants. 4(6): 358-364. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0151-8.
Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Michael, Yvonne L.; Butry, David T.; Sullivan, Amy D.; Chase, John M. 2011. Urban trees and the risk of poor birth outcomes. Health & Place. 17: 390-393.
Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Gatziolis, Demetrios; 't Mannetje, Andrea; Weinkove, Robert; Fyfe, Caroline; Douwes, Jeroen. 2021. An empirical test of the biodiversity hypothesis: Exposure to plant diversity is associated with a reduced risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Science of The Total Environment. 768: 144627-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144627.
Gernes, Rebecca; Brokamp, Cole; Rice, Glenn E.; Wright, J. Michael; Kondo, Michelle C.; Michael, Yvonne L.; Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Gatziolis, Demetrios; Bernstein, David; LeMasters, Grace K.; Lockey, James E.; Khurana Hershey, Gurjit K.; Ryan, Patrick H. 2019. Using high-resolution residential greenspace measures in an urban environment to assess risks of allergy outcomes in children. Science of the Total Environment. 668: 760-767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.009.
Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Michael, Yvonne L.; Gatziolis, Demetrios; Mannetje, Andrea 't; Douwes, Jeroen. 2019. Association between exposure to the natural environment, rurality, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children in New Zealand: a linkage study. Lancet Planet Health. 3: e226-e234.
Donovan, Geoffrey H.; Butry, David T.; Michael, Yvonne L.; Prestemon, Jeffrey P.; Liebhold, Andrew M.; Gatziolis, Demetrios; Mao, Megan Y. 2013. The relationship between trees and human health: evidence from the spread of the emerald ash borer. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 44(2): 139-145.
Donovan, Geoffrey H; Gatziolis, Demetrios; Douwes, Jeroen. 2019. Relationship between exposure to the natural environment and recovery from hip or knee arthroplasty: a New Zealand retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open. 9(9): e029522-. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029522.