THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARKS AND THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACTS 13 Mental Health Mental Well-Being A wealth of research connects parks with positive effects on individual mental health well-being. Time spent in green space has been associated with improved mental health outcomes, including reduced stress levels (Capaldi, Dopko, and Zelenski 2014; Gidlow et al. 2016; James et al 2015; Roe et al. 2013). Evidence suggests that time spent in green space has a positive impact on general mental well-being and self-reported happiness (Capaldi, Dopko, and Zelenski 2014). Research using data from the RESIDential Environments Project in Australia suggests that proximity and density of green space is associated with positive impacts on mental health (Wood et al. 2017). Physical activity is associated with improvements to measures of health such as mood and selfreported well-being. One study compared participants who exercised while viewing images of nature with who exercised without such exposure and found that the benefits of activity are stronger when in or viewing natural surroundings (Pretty et al. 2005). Interestingly, follow up studies with children and adolescents replicated the impact of exercise on mood, but there were no additional effects of exercise in either green space or while viewing natural environment images (Reed et al. 2013; Wood et al. 2013). In a large-scale survey of people registered across 104 entry points into the medical system, proximity to green space was associated with higher self-reported general health. This relationship was stronger for lower income groups, as well as the elderly, youths, and people with secondary education (Maas et al. 2006). There is some evidence that the effect of parks on mood and happiness might be mitigated by the context the park is in. A study of parks in Singapore found that there was no significant connection between parks and increased happiness (Saw, Lim, and Carrasco 2015). This study, though hardly challenging the broader literature that supports the link between mental health well-being and park space, suggests that additional research is needed on how the link might be affected by different contexts.
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