Increase greenspace in cities to prevent premature deaths

A study published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health looked at the impact of greenspace on all-cause early mortality in a particular city. The study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the United States Forest Service used the ‘dose-response’ from a meta analysis carried out by ISGlobal, the University of Colorado and the World Health Organization that included 8 million people in 7 different countries, the meta analysis found that greenspace protects against early all-cause mortality (see previous post from rawpt ‘Urban greenspace prevents premature deaths’).

In this new study, using the previous meta analysis, the researchers carried out a health impact assessment to estimate all-cause premature deaths that could be prevented if greenspace was increased in the city of Philadelphia. Using 3 different scenarios, the first with an increase of 30% more tree coverage, the second with 10% and the third with just 5% more coverage.

The results showed that if Philadelphia increased tree coverage by 30% by 2025, 403 premature adult deaths could be prevented every year. With 10% more tree coverage, 376 deaths could be prevented and with 5% more coverage 271 deaths could be prevented annually.