Fast Fact Library

All types of urban nature were found to provide mental health benefits according to a systematic review of 449 studies and meta-analysis of 78 field-based experiments, with urban forests and parks emerging as key...

Li, Yingjie, Yuanyuan Mao, Lisa Mandle, Anders Rydström, Roy P. Remme, Xin Lan, Tong Wu, Chao Song, Yougeng Lu, Kari C. Nadeau, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Gretchen C. Daily, and Anne D. Guerry. “Acute mental health benefits of urban nature.” Nature Cities 2 (2025): 720–731. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00286-y

Exposure to natural environments - from low-tech strategies like short walks to high-tech strategies like virtual reality nature - has positive effects for people on the autism spectrum, according to a scoping...

Wells, Nancy M., Jordan Tralins, Dongying Li, Timothy J. Mateer, Erin R.B. Eldermire, Helena le Roux Ohm, Johanna Lantz, and Matthew R. Kibbee. “The effect of the natural environment and greenness on behavior, function, and well-being among individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 105 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102619

Higher levels of greenery in urban walks increased positive emotions and perceived restorativeness, according to a study where 151 participants walked six urban paths.

Veronica, Laura Miola, Anahita Soltantouyeh, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Chiara Meneghetti. “Walking to the urban green: Increases in positive emotions and perceived restorativeness, but not mental representation ability.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 106 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102734

A Canadian study found that bird and tree species diversity were significantly positively related to good self-reported mental health. In the 36 Canadian cities studied, living in a postal code with bird diversity...

Buxton, Rachel T., Emma J. Hudgins, Eric Lavigne, Paul J. Villeneuve, Stephanie A. Prince, Amber L. Pearson, Tanya Halsall, Courtney Robichaud, and Joseph R. Bennett. “Mental health is positively associated with biodiversity in Canadian cities.” Communications Earth & Environment 5 (2024): 310. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01482-9

A modelling study of 15,917 global urban areas predicted that greening urban areas could prevent an estimated 700,000 premature deaths annually, with the most impact (54 deaths prevented per 100,000 people)...

Garber, Michael D., Tarik Benmarhnia, Weiqi Zhou, Pierpaolo Mudu, and David Rojas-Rueda. “Greening urban areas in line with population density and ecological zone can reduce premature mortality.” Communications Earth & Environment 5 (2024): 650. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01803-y

Street trees can reduce non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality. In a study of street trees planted in Portland over 30 years, planting 11.7 trees annually in each census tract was associated with 15.6 fewer non...

Donovan, Geoffrey H., Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Demetrios Gatziolis, Yvonne L. Michael, Abigail R. Kaminski, and Payam Dadvand. “The association between tree planting and mortality: A natural experiment and cost-benefit analysis.” Environment International 170 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107609.

Children growing up in environments with more vegetation, especially with more trees, achieved more positive early childhood development outcomes as compared to children growing in environments with more paved...

Jarvis, Ingrid, Hind Sbihi, Zoë Davis, Michael Brauer, Agatha Czekajlo, Hugh W. Davies, Sarah E. Gergel, Martin Guhn, Michael Jerrett, Mieke Koehoorn, Lorien Nesbitt, Tim F. Oberlander, Jason Su, and Matilda van den Bosch. “The influence of early-life residential exposure to different vegetation types and paved surfaces on early childhood development: A population-based birth cohort study.” Environment International 163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107196

Nature-based infrastructure in cities is 42% less expensive on average than grey infrastructure and provides 36% more value when accounting for avoided costs and co-benefits like increased biodiversity, reduced air...

Bechauf, Ronja, Emma Cutler, Andrea M. Bassi, Liesbeth Casier, Michail Kapetanakis, Georg Pallaske, and Benjamin Simmons. “The Value of Incorporating Nature in Urban Infrastructure Planning.” International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2022. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/nature-in-urban-infrastructure-planning