Greening Blocks: A Conceptual Typology of Practical Design Interventions to Integrate Health and Climate Resilience Co-Benefits

Sara Barron, Sophie Nitoslawski, Kathleen L. Wolf, Angie Woo, Erin Desautels and Stephen R. J. Sheppard
Additional contact information
Sara Barron: School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3121, Australia
Sophie Nitoslawski: Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Kathleen L. Wolf: College of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98110, USA
Angie Woo: Fraser Health Authority, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H5, Canada
Erin Desautels: Sustainability Office, City of Surrey, BC V3T 1V8, Canada
Stephen R. J. Sheppard: Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: It is increasingly evident that exposure to green landscape elements benefits human health. Urban green space in cities is also recognized as a crucial adaptation response to changes in climate and its subsequent effects. The exploration of conceptual and practical intersections between human health, green spaces, and climate action is needed. Evidence-based guidance is needed for stakeholders, practitioners, designers, and citizens in order to assess and manage urban green spaces that maximize co-benefits for both human health and climate resilience. This paper proposes interventions that provide strategic green space enhancement at the neighborhood and block scale. We propose eight tangible green space interventions and associated metrics to integrate climate resilience and population health co-benefits into urban green space design and planning: View from within, Plant entrances, Bring nature nearby, Retain the mature, Generate diversity, Create refuge, Connect experiences, and Optimize green infrastructure. These interventions represent a hierarchy of functional design concepts that respond to experiential qualities and physical/psychological dimensions of health, and which enhance resilience at a range of social scales from the individual to the neighborhood. The interventions also reveal additional research needs in green space design, particularly in neighborhood-level contexts.

Keywords: urban greening; climate change; public health; urban forest; landscape planning; green design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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