Lincoln R. Larson|Viniece Jennings|Scott Cloutier
Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States
Clemson University|Southern Research Station|Arizona State University
sustainable development efforts urban areas often focus understanding managing factors influence aspects health wellbeing research shown public parks green space provide variety physical psychological social benefits urban residents studies examined influence parks comprehensive measures subjective wellbeing city level using 2014 data 44 us cities evaluated relationship urban park quantity quality accessibility aggregate selfreported scores galluphealthways wellbeing index wbi considers five different domains wellbeing eg physical community social financial purpose addition parkrelated variables bestfitting ols regression models selected using information theory approach controlled variety typical geographic sociodemographic correlates wellbeing park quantity measured percentage city area covered public parks among strongest predictors overall wellbeing strength relationship appeared driven parks contributions physical community wellbeing park quality measured per capita spending parks accessibility measured overall percentage citys population within mile parks also positively associated wellbeing though relationships significant results suggest expansive park networks linked multiple aspects health wellbeing cities positively impact urban quality life