Dr Krystallia Kamvasinou, Prof. Rachel Aldred and Dr Nina Smyth

University of Westminster

Krystallia and Rachel both from Architecture and Cities and Nina from Psychology have recently connected to understand how urban transport infrastructures can be reused as green space and what impact this has on people’s wellbeing. Together they have been conducting research on green space use during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on people’s wellbeing. They are researching how the public realm can be adapted in light of COVID19 and the impact on future planning and design of sustainable and healthy cities. They have received funding from the University’s Sustainable Cities and Urban Environments Research Community. They present an overview of their research and some tips for connecting with places near your home for your health and wellbeing.

How can we design urban places that contribute to health and wellbeing? What evidence do we have that shows the contribution of existing places in urban settings to our wellbeing? These questions are even more important in light of the COVID-19 restrictions we’re facing. We were interested in how people used green spaces in London and the impact it had on their wellbeing during the COVID19 pandemic. Because of the public health emergency, many people were and still are working and/or studying from home and no longer getting their regular exercise from parts of daily life, for example, walking to and from the station, walking to and from meetings/classes, or doing manual work whilst at work. That means we risk a substantial decline in physical activity, potentially with a major impact on health. During the national lockdown in the UK, when gyms closed, we were allowed, and indeed encouraged, to take daily exercise outside but close to our homes, and this activity could be crucial for health and wellbeing, whilst perhaps also changing our habits and behaviours. For some of us we are now keen joggers or cyclists and have discovered our nearby parks, woods or even overlooked small open spaces anew. Physical activity benefits physical and mental health, with some evidence of mental health and physiological benefits (eg. heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol etc) specifically from exercise in green space. Conversely confinement negatively affects health.

Our research focused on the use of parks and green space in London, which have been a lifeline during the lockdown, and its impacts on wellbeing. We are developing further research on this around the adaptation of the public realm to COVID19 and the impact on future planning and design of sustainable and healthy cities. Acknowledging the current public health emergency as an extreme situation that allows for spatial experimentation, with health implications for the design and planning of cities post-COVID19, we reconsider use of two main public realm types – parks/greenspace and streets – by diverse groups. How can short-term adaptations lead to longer-term systemic change in the design and everyday life of healthier, more sustainable cities? For example, how can parks/greenspaces/streets be adapted to facilitate safe active travel, which in turn can counteract obesity, enhance fitness, lower stress levels, while reducing traffic and pollution? Health here is defined in relation to people but also in relation to ecosystems and a richer, more biodiverse and cleaner urban environment. Understanding potential benefits but also conflicts between different usages (e.g. resting vs. running), as well as between human usage and biodiversity and ecology is hence important. We believe that our findings will influence policy and contribute to a growing body of research on wellbeing in post-pandemic cities.

So here are some pointers for using places near your home for your health and wellbeing:

  • Spend some time discovering your nearby green spaces, quiet streets or other, incidental and often forgotten open spaces. Remap your neighbourhoods! You will be surprised at the smaller urban places you can find that can support your health and wellbeing. Small is beautiful.
  • Choose where you can go to relax, walk, jog, run, cycle, or play, but also read a book, draw or just sit to enjoy nature and observe the wildlife! You will feel all the better for it.
  • With on/off lockdowns being likely under the pandemic, use your newfound awareness of your surroundings to bring variety in your time spent outdoors. You will have found a way to counteract feelings of confinement with those of connection, activity and openness, but also tranquillity and relaxation.
  • Introduce a routine that involves active travel and exercise and keeps you going – a jog through the quiet streets in the early morning, a cycle to the shops at lunch time, a walk in the park in the afternoon, a more leisurely exploration of green spaces further afar over the weekend. You will be surprised how many new pleasures you will discover and how much happier and fitter you will be as a result!