Urban planning & mental health

This paper explores the potential for the built environment to serve as a determinant of mental health for the aging population. The exploration of situational and environmental context factors for health, such as low SES, low social capital, and social isolation has been stressed in health promotion. Specifically, the presence of accessible green space and facilitated interaction with the green space through activities such as horticulture therapy have been shown to be particularly beneficial. The quality of green space, distance to residential areas, and other factors have also been linked to the impact of the presence of green space on mental health. Much evidence indicates that incorporation of this space in cities can result an improvement in mental health through increasing physical activity and decreasing stress. Horticulture therapy has shown to have a positive effect on variables linked to mental health outcomes in older adults. This suggests a potential for inclusion of gardening-based community programming for cities with aging populations. However, there is a need for additional studies to confirm the effect size and find additional causal mechanisms to understand correlations between improved mental health outcomes and green space. There is also a need to consider the ways in which there can be large-scale coordination of policies on urban planning and healthy city design in North America.