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Journal article
Is All Urban Green Space the Same? A Comparison of the Health Benefits of Trees and Grass in New York City
International journal of environmental research and public health, v 14(11), p1411
01 Nov 2017
PMID: 29156551
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Living near vegetation, often called “green space” or “greenness”, has been associated with numerous health benefits. We hypothesized that the two key components of urban vegetation, trees and grass, may differentially affect health. We estimated the association between near-residence trees, grass, and total vegetation (from the 2010 High Resolution Land Cover dataset for New York City (NYC)) with self-reported health from a survey of NYC adults (n = 1281). We found higher reporting of “very good” or “excellent” health for respondents with the highest, compared to the lowest, quartiles of tree (RR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.06–1.44) but not grass density (relative risk (RR) = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.86–1.17) within 1000 m buffers, adjusting for pertinent confounders. Significant positive associations between trees and self-reported health remained after adjustment for grass, whereas associations with grass remained non-significant. Adjustment for air pollutants increased beneficial associations between trees and self-reported health; adjustment for parks only partially attenuated these effects. Results were null or negative using a 300 m buffer. Findings imply that higher exposure to vegetation, particularly trees outside of parks, may be associated with better health. If replicated, this may suggest that urban street tree planting may improve population health.
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Details
- Title
- Is All Urban Green Space the Same? A Comparison of the Health Benefits of Trees and Grass in New York City
- Creators
- Colleen E. Reid - University of Colorado BoulderJane E. Clougherty - University of PittsburghJessie L.C. Shmool - University of PittsburghLaura D. Kubzansky - Harvard University
- Publication Details
- International journal of environmental research and public health, v 14(11), p1411
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Environmental and Occupational Health
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000416545200127
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85035007570
- Other Identifier
- 991019168819104721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health