Urban Green: how important it is for the environment and health

Environmental deterioration is becoming an increasingly cumbersome problem. The damage resulting from this phenomenon, Indeed, they are increasingly evident and under everyone's eyes. From climate change to air pollution, the impact that man is having on the planet risks leading us to a very dangerous future. That's why in recent years, both on a public and individual level, we are trying to put in place some measures to counteract the effects of environmental problems. Among the most important initiatives in this sense, urban planning processes should certainly be mentioned, based on the objective of creating increasingly green and sustainable cities. Through public plans, involving all local actors, it is possible to completely revalue a given territory, making it compatible with the surrounding nature.

The phenomenon is much more visible in other European countries than in Italy. In our country, Indeed, according to data provided by Istat, citizens only have at their disposal 31 m2 of urban greenery on average. This is not a very low figure but it is certainly not at the levels of other places around the world. For the World Health Organization, Indeed, per achieve a healthy city environment, people should have at least 300 m2 of green space. Furthermore, as far as our country is concerned, we must also consider that there are entire territories whose presence of urban greenery is extremely low, in some cases slightly above the levels established by law, that is to say 9 mq. All this represents serious damage, especially if we consider the benefits that urban greenery is able to bring not only to the environment, but also to human health.

The benefits of urban greenery for the environment

Urban greenery in an area first of all allows us to combat the phenomenon of extreme heat, increasingly frequent due to global warming. In particular, it has been calculated that good urban planning allows the temperature to be reduced by one degree. At the same time, you can also get a net improvement of air conditions, as the set of green spaces allows for the reduction of the presence of polluting substances, thus decreasing the number of people who die every year due to this problem (in Italy they are approximately 80.000 per year according to the European Environment Agency). A further positive effect concerns the possibility of better retaining rainwater, precisely thanks to the absorption of green areas. In this way, runoff which often causes the collapse of sewer systems is also reduced.

Health benefits

Given the many benefits for the environment deriving from the creation of green cities, There are also multiple advantages for human health to be noted. This is a series of positive consequences from both a physical and psychological point of view. Contact with urban greenery allows you to have a better connection with nature, which has positive effects in terms of stress reduction, which nowadays represents one of the causes of many pathologies. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that high temperatures tend to increase stress levels, hence urban greenery, acting positively on the regulation of the heat of the territories, it also allows us to reduce the negative effects of excessive heat on our psyche. The same thing must also be said regarding noise pollution, which represents one of the main sources of stress. A city with enough urban greenery allows the reflection of sound to be reduced to 3 decibels and 8 decibels the acoustic insulation of buildings. Some scientific studies have also shown that living in a healthy and sustainable environment increases people's level of happiness and concentration.

But the consequences of urban greenery can also directly combat some types of diseases: a lower risk of incurring was detected respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in those who live in spaces with enough greenery. In the end, we must not underestimate the positive effects of urban greenery from a purely economic point of view, given that green cities can boast of high-value real estate.