Restorative benefits of urban green space: Physiological, psychological restoration and eye movement analysis

• Published in: Journal of environmental management Vol. 301; p. 113930
• Main Authors: Liu, Linghan, Qu, Haiyan, Ma, Yimeng, Wang, Kang, Qu, Hongxin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Eye tracking; Physiological; Psychological; Restoration; Urban green space; Psychological; Restoration; Eye tracking; Urban green space; Physiological
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113930

Urban life is associated with a range of health risks. However, urban green spaces have been found to promote health recovery and reduce mental stress. This study sought to assess the influence of the spatial and environmental characteristics of urban green space on environmental restoration. We measured physiological and psychological changes among 60 participants to evaluate the restorative benefits of 12 green spaces in Shenyang. The Perceived Restorativeness Scale and two physiological measures (heart rate variation and skin conductance response) were used to analyze the effects of spatial characteristics on restorative benefits. In addition, eye-tracking was used to explore the influence of environmental components on restorative benefits. The results revealed that, although there were slight differences between physiological and psychological findings, both confirmed that urban green space had a restorative benefit. Partially-open green spaces with a high degree of naturalness had more positive effects than open green spaces with a high degree of hard paved spaces. Eye movement analysis results revealed that trees and shrubs, as well as water, had a positive effect on the environmental restoration benefits, whereas buildings and paving had a negative effect. Among environmental features, trees and shrubs, water, and buildings exerted the strongest effects on environment restoration. In the future, combining spatial characteristics and environmental components will aid improvement of the restorative qualities of urban green space.
•Partially-open green spaces with higher naturalness had more restorative benefit.•Trees, shrubs, and water, had positive effect on environmental restoration benefits.•Buildings and paving had a negative effect on environmental restoration benefits.•Trees, shrubs, water, buildings exerted the strongest effect on restoration benefits.