Public parks and green spaces not only help counter heat, boost biodiversity, and instill a sense of calm in the urban jungle, they have also been found to slow biological aging, as a study published in Science Advances found that people with access to green spaces were found to be on average 2.5 years biologically younger than those who do not.
“Living near more greenness can help you be younger than your actual age,” Kyeezu Kim, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University’s Feinburg School of Medicine said.
“We believe our findings have significant implications for urban planning in terms of expanding green infrastructure to promote public health and reduce health disparities.”
Exposure to green spaces has previously been linked with better cardiovascular health and lower rates of mortality. It was thought that more physical activity and social interactions are at play, but whether parks actually slowed down aging on a cellular level has been unclear. That was part of the study of the research team.
Kim and colleagues followed more than 900 white and black people from four American cities – Birmingham, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Oakland – over a period of 20 years, from 1986 to 2006. Using satellite imaging, the team assessed how close the participants lived to surrounding vegetation and parks, and paired that data with blood samples taken in years 15 and 20 of the study, to determine their biological age.
They found that people whose homes were surrounded by 30 percent green cover within a 5-kilometer radius were on average 2.5 years younger biologically compared to those whose homes were surrounded by 20 percent green cover.
Green public spaces are something a lot of Filipino towns and cities have been lacking for decades and even up to now, there seems to be no urgency from our public officials to make it a priority when it comes to “urban design” which has lately seem to focus on laying as much concrete as possible. The responsibility and business of public spaces has been outsourced and dominated by air-conditioned shopping malls.
Perhaps this research that puts a quantifiable value on access to green spaces, which can make people who have access to it 2.5 years biologically younger on average, can change those minds and our communities can be more mindful and deliberate in transforming our concrete jungles and putting up green spaces for the sake of their constituents and future generations.*
