Urban green space for environmental health in relation to pandemic crises

Abstract

Urban green spaces are a significant element in making cities more sustainable, greener, and healthier places to live in a world with an expanding population and urbanization. The growing importance of urban green space is evident as it is now becoming one of the venues for recreation quests in agreement with the fast lane of urban lifestyles. Urban green space can be related to environmental health because it reduces environmental and health inequities. It became an essential medium for preventing pandemic spread, especially in the current context of global urbanization and helped enhance public health. The research aim is to investigate the roles of urban green space for environmental health in relation to pandemics crises. The exploratory research employs mixed methods, using qualitative and quantitative methods to elicit the data consisting of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. For questionnaire surveys, there are 421 respondents, which use random sampling to ensure equal probability chances are given to everyone through an online questionnaire survey. For the semi-structured interview, a total of 17 participants were involved in the semi-structured interviews. The data from the quantitative method were analyzed by using SPSS software (Version 27). Content analytic techniques were used to analyze data from the semi-structured interview. The findings revealed that two factors influenced the roles of urban green space during the pandemic, which are social and environmental. For the social factor, the findings revealed that the roles of urban green space are improved immune system functioning, improved social capital and cohesion, reduced mortality and increased life span, potential adverse health effects, improved mental health and stress reduction, and improved physical health. For the environmental factor, the roles of urban green space are beautifying and making a healthier environment, promoting biodiversity, creating valuable, usable space for people, and reducing the risk of disease transmission. The formation of the framework of urban green space for environmental health concerning pandemic crises becomes the overall findings of the research. The framework emphasizes the seven indicators of urban green space as environmental health such as demographic, knowledge and understanding; urban green space visitation; activities in urban green space, the effectiveness of urban green space elements; urban green space for mental health treatment and urban green space for physical health lifestyles. The framework will help government agencies and policymakers to enhance urban green space usage during the pandemic. The concept of Ad-Deen, which brings the meaning of a whole way of life in reducing pandemic crises, is produced after three stages in the framework. The Ad-Deen concept that highlights three aspects which are physical well-being, mental well-being and spiritual well-being, in reducing pandemic spread, will become the fundamental framework of the function and role of urban green space in reducing the pandemics crises.