{"id":6343,"date":"2019-11-27T07:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T13:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arch.tamu.edu.staging2.juiceboxint.com\/news\/2019\/11\/27\/scholars-find-irregularly-shaped-parks-reduce-mortality-risk\/"},"modified":"2022-06-15T12:37:33","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T17:37:33","slug":"scholars-find-irregularly-shaped-parks-reduce-mortality-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2019\/11\/27\/scholars-find-irregularly-shaped-parks-reduce-mortality-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholars find that irregularly shaped parks reduce mortality risk"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some community parks are square, a reflection of the city block where they\u2019re located \u2014 but irregularly shaped parks reduce the mortality risk of residents who live near them, concluded a study<\/a> by Huaqing Wang, a Ph.D. Urban and Regional Sciences<\/a> student and Lou Tassinary, professor of visualization<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Nearly all studies investigating the effects of natural environments on human health are focused on the amount of a community\u2019s green space,” said the scholars in a paper describing their project. “We found that the shape or form of green space has an important role in this association.”<\/p>\n Their paper was published in the Nov. 2019 issue of The Lancet Planetary Health.<\/p>\n In the study, Wang and Tassinary performed statistical analyses of Philadelphia land cover data to assess links between landscape spatial metrics and health outcomes.<\/p>\n They found that residents in census tracts with more connected, aggregated, and complex-shaped greenspaces had a lower mortality risk.<\/p>\n \u201cOur results suggest that linking existing parks with greenways or adding new, connected parks might be fiscally accessible strategies for promoting health,\u201d said Wang and Tassinary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lou Tassinary<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe showed that the complexity of the park shape was positively associated with a lower risk of mortality,\u201d they said in the paper. \u201cThis association might be attributable to the increased number of access points provided by complex-shaped green spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n Irregularly shaped parks are either designed that way or shaped by the parcel they\u2019re established in, said Wang. Lower mortality risk wasn\u2019t associated with any particular form, but the data supports the idea that the more complex the park shape, the better, she said.<\/p>\n The relationship between park shape and mortality is important to city designers and planners who seek to create healthier living environments, they said in the paper.<\/p>\n \u201cOur findings bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of green space on mortality,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n For more information, contact rnira@pvfa.tamu.edu<\/a> or doswald@tamu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some community parks are square, like the city block where they\u2019re located, but irregularly shaped parks reduce the mortality risk of residents nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[63,90],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n