Research PaperStaying in touch with nature and well-being in different income groups: The experience of urban parks in Bogotá
Section snippets
Urban experience and environmental stressors: The positive role of contact with nature
The role of environmental stressors in the urban experience has been extensively studied because of its impact on individuals’ quality of life and well-being (Baldassare, 1979, Pacione, 2003, Wandersman and Nation, 1998). In addition, the literature has demonstrated the harmful effects of environmental stressors on the social aspect, as these can lead to increased aggression and decreased pro-social behavior and motivation (Cohen, 1980, Evans and Cohen, 2004, Evans and Stecker, 2004).
Within a
The urban experience in South America: The case of Bogotá
Most of the studies on urban ecosystem services have been conducted in European countries and North America (Haase et al., 2014). Research on the relationships between the experience of UGS (also in terms of urban forests) and individual well-being, expressed in terms of positive physical and psychological outcomes, is still limited in South America (e.g., Fermino et al., 2013, Wright Wendel et al., 2012), despite a growing interest in this geographical area in terms of planning UGS and their
The study
The objective of this study is to investigate how contact with urban parks affects the well-being of individuals living in the high-density areas of Bogotá and the underlying psychological mechanisms. Given that previous studies have shown that contact with nature helps reduce income-related health inequalities (e.g., Mitchell & Popham, 2008), we also aimed to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms leading to well-being across three different income groups identified in the population
Results
We initially checked for potential differences in terms of the perceived presence of other park visitors during data collection. No significant difference emerged with reference to this variable between respondents from the three income group areas (F(2,297) = .13, ns), thus ruling out the possibility that data were collected under different crowding conditions. We then ran reliability analyses to check for internal consistency of the measures of the different psychological constructs considered
Discussion
This study produced interesting results about the positive effects of contact with nature for residents in Bogotá and the underlying mechanisms linking the experience of urban parks with subjective well-being in extremely populated urban areas. Although our findings are specific to the city of Bogotá, it would be interesting to extend this analysis to other South American metropolises characterized by a strong socio-economic fragmentation, to understand if more general patterns can be discerned.
Conclusions
This study showed how contact with urban parks can be important to human well-being in extremely populated urban areas where environmental stressors, such as noise and crowding, are likely to reduce the quality of everyday life for large numbers of individuals or even entire communities. Although the effects of contact with nature have been largely studied in a variety of contexts and in different populations, and some general mechanisms leading to well-being have been identified, it is
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Germán Tovar Corzo, District Secretary of Environment, Municipality of Bogotá, Colombia.
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