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Our longitudinal study, just published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, finds adults in neighbourhoods where at least 30% of nearby land was parks, reserves and woodlands had 26% lower odds of becoming lonely compared to their peers in areas with less than 10% green space.
This is good news for cities around the world – including Barcelona, Canberra, Seattle and Vancouver – that have set targets of 30% green cover.
We assessed association between urban green space availability within 1.6km of home at the start and the cumulative incidence of loneliness reported four years later, which was about 12% overall.
This meant the analysis excluded private gardens, which offer alternative spaces where people might gather but are not always available .
It is good news, then, that our study also found the odds of becoming lonely went down 52% among adults living alone in areas with more than 30% green space compared with those in areas with less than 10%.
It can be tough to stay healthy when living in a big city.
In 2020, the project continued to expand to new locations and has effectively helped communities impacted by COVID-19.
Evidence in Australia indicates urban greening – and urban reforestation in particular – could also help to reduce risks of psychological distress, lack of sleep, cardiometabolic diseases, subjective memory complaints and maybe even dementia.
A possible mechanism to explain the link between green space and loneliness is the sharing of familiar natural settings that help to enhance mood and interrupt rumination.
These opportunities can be much rarer in less restorative environments, such as parts of cities with few trees and sparsely vegetated areas.
Anecdotal and survey evidence in Australia and the UK indicates how important our local green spaces are for connecting and coping with COVID-19 lockdowns.
Another possible mechanism is that some people may prefer to “lean on green”.
However, a surprising finding from our study was that more green space did not provide relief from loneliness among the 1,282 adults in our sample who were lonely in 2013.
This is a form of “social prescription”, which has recently been discussed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and is being tested in the UK’s National Health Service.
We also need to know what nature prescriptions are cost-effective and sustainable at scale, in comparison to alternative strategies for reducing loneliness.