Green-blue space natural experiment

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Green-blue space exposure changes and impact on individual-level wellbeing and mental health: a population-wide record-linked natural experiment.

This collaboration is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and is led by SAIL at Swansea University with involvement from public, planning and policy, including local park groups, Welsh Government, Natural
Resources Wales, Welsh Local Authorities and Keep Tidy Wales.

The research involves anonymously linking the health records of over 2 million people in Wales with data on their neighbourhood environments (green/blue spaces) for 11 years. This will allow us to investigate whether people living near to good quality natural environments experience better mental health and wellbeing.

Mental health is a critical public health issue in the UK and internationally. There is some evidence that good mental health may be promoted by living near to good quality green and blue spaces. However, we need better, more robust evidence to be able to draw conclusions and to support policies and programmes that might improve people’s neighbourhood environments and promote mental health and wellbeing. The study will provide further evidence of the association between health and green and blue spaces, and will focus on both residential neighbourhood exposure (longitudinally) and self-reported recreational visits to natural environments.

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