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An analysis of the impact of greening 4,436 vacant lots in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2008 found that vacant lot greening was associated with residents' reporting significantly less stress and more exercise in select...

Branas, Charles C., Rose A. Cheney, John M. Macdonald, Vicky W. Tam, Tara D. Jackson, and Thomas R. Ten Have. “A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of Health, Safety, and Greening Vacant Urban Space.” American Journal of Epidemiology 174, no. 11 (November 2011): 1296–1306. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwr273.

An experiment with 27 simulated wetlands in northern China demonstrated that constructed wetlands planted with macrophytes (large aquatic plants) remove more nutrients than unplanted wetland systems. Nutrient uptake...

Wu, Haiming, Jian Zhang, Peizhi Li, Jinyong Zhang, Huijun Xie, and Bo Zhang. (2011). Nutrient removal in constructed microcosm wetlands for treating polluted river water in northern China. Ecological Engineering, 37(4), 560-568.

An 11-year study of 24 California cities determined that cities with denser street networks were safer for cycling. The study also found that cities with high bicycling rates show a much lower risk of fatal crashes...

Marshall, Wesley E., and Norman W. Garrick. Evidence on why bike-friendly cities are safer for all road users. (2011) Environmental Practice, 13(01), 16-27.

An EEG test of subjects' brains showed that they perceived recorded sounds as being less noisy than they actually were while watching a video of vegetation but not while watching a video of a busy road. This study...

Yang, Fan, Zhi Yi Bao, and Zhu Jun Zhu. (2011). An assessment of psychological noise reduction by landscape plants. International journal of environmental research and public health, 8(4), 1032-1048.

A study on the effects of walkability and investment returns showed that, on a 100-point scale, a 10-point increase in walkability increased values by 1–9%, depending on property type. The value of more than 4,200...

Pivo, Gary, and Jeffrey D. Fisher. (2011). The walkability premium in commercial real estate investments. Real Estate Economics, 39(2), 185-219.

Green roofs can provide significant noise reduction. A Belgian study tested the effects of green roofs in mitigating undesired noise. Singly diffracted sound waves were reduced by more than 10 dB, and doubly...

Van Renterghem, Timothy, and Dick Botteldooren. (2011), In-situ measurements of sound propagating over extensive green roofs. Building and Environment 46(3), 729-738.

In this North Carolina study, stream flow from three small, nonurban watersheds was compared with bioretention outflow from four cells in the same region. Results indicate that bioretention cells behave comparably...

DeBusk, Kathy M., William F. Hunt, and Daniel E. Line. (2010). Bioretention outflow: Does it mimic nonurban watershed shallow interflow?. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 16(3), 274-279.

Floating treatment wetlands improved removal of copper, fine suspended particles, and dissolved reactive P as compared to a control. Mats with artificial roots did not provide the same benefits as mats with living...

Tanner, Chris C., and Tom R. Headley. (2011). Components of floating emergent macrophyte treatment wetlands influencing removal of stormwater pollutants. Ecological Engineering, 37(3), 474-486.

In a study conducted in a Chicago public housing development, women who lived in apartment buildings with trees and grass immediately outside reported greater effectiveness and less procrastination in dealing with...

Kuo, Frances E. (2001). Coping with poverty: Impacts of environment and attention in the inner city. Environment & Behavior, 33(1), 5-34.

An eight-year longitudinal study of 3,173 children from 12 communities in Southern California suggests that if all children had commensurate access to parkland and recreation programs near their homes, over 9.5% of...

Berhane, Kiros, Brady, Kirby, Chang, Roger, Dahmann, Nicholas, Gilliland, Frank, Jerrett, Michael, McConnell, Rob, Reynolds, Kim, Su, Jason G., Wolch, Jennifer. (2011) Childhood obesity and proximity to urban parks and recreational resources: A longitudinal cohort study. Health & Place 17, 207-214.

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