Navigating around patches of ice, Montreal drivers, lost tourists, painfully slow walkers, and those children on a rope can be frustrating for students on their way to class. Not only can the slightest mistep of a rope-attached child cause sidewalk chaos, but city walking can be seriously stressful, and may have a negative impact on memory and attention.
The results of a University of Michigan study suggest that a walk in the park is good exercise for both the body and brain. The study investigated how human interactions with nature and cities affect memory performance by sending participants on 50-minute walks in each environment. Half of the study participants walked in downtown Ann Arbor, the other in the Ann Arbor arboretum. Prior to the walk, participants were assessed for mood, memory, and attention. They were also given GPS watches to ensure that they remained on route. When they returned, researchers gave participants the same memory tests. A week later, those who walked in the arboretum repeated the same procedure, but instead walked in the city, and those who previously walked in the city walked in the park.
"We found that when the people walked in the park … they showed significant improvements in their memory and attention," says Marc Berman, a University of Michigan graduate student who worked on the study.
According to Berman, "The combination of nature's absence and constant attention to cars and other hazards causes stress."
"The idea is that when you're in nature you can let your mind wander," says Berman. "There are lots of interesting things to look at, and you can rest some portions of attention. While, in an urban environment, typically you can't rest attention so much . . . You need to be really vigilant that you don't get hit by a car or walk into people."
There are two types of attention: directed attention-voluntary control of attention on a task at hand-and involuntary attention-when the mind is captured by interesting things in the environment. The benefits of nature can be explained by the Attention Restoration Theory, developed by University of Michigan professor Steven Kaplan, who was also involved in Berman's study.
"The idea behind ART is that if you are in an environment that activates involuntary attention, it allows directed attention a chance to rest," explains Berman.
Simply put, natural settings spur involuntary attention, and therefore give directed attention a little break-so when it's called upon next it's sharper.
How to make the city greener
Simple changes like adding a few trees here and there can easily help city residents. However, large-scale changes such as green roofs may take longer to appear.
"Just adding some trees in an urban environment is beneficial. There have been studies that show that people who have apartments that have nature views-just modest nature views of just some grass or some trees-children living in those apartments have better memory and attention than those who live in apartments with views of urban areas," says Berman.
Urban planners certainly aren't oblivious to the psychological benefits of adding parts of the real jungle to its concrete counterpart.
"I think that it's been shown over and over again that having nature around really helps you a great deal in terms of dealing with the stresses of urban living," says David Brown, director of the McGill School of Urban Planning. "It's comforting to see other forms of life around us. . . . Certainly the possibility of going off and spending some time on Mont Royal is a treasured thing."
Incorporating green spaces isn't a new trend, however. Since the industrial revolution, planners have included green spaces in cities-most notably through the advent of zoning. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, green spaces became important in development.
"When we were planning developments that didn't at all incorporate green space, it was a disaster," says Brown, referring to the aftermath of the industrial revolution. "By introducing green space and by providing people with an opportunity to get together [in] an open area that's exposed to the sun, the sky … already there's a benefit that's felt both personally and communally by people who live in that area. There's a social importance, there's a psychological importance, a health importance, and there's importance as well for the health in the ecosystem."
Though green spaces have long been a consideration in urban planning, not all ideas have been successful. For example, when planners divided areas into green spaces, residential spaces, and work spaces, a separation between nature and city residents resulted. Zoning efforts reintroduced nature into the city landscape. Such ideas include green roofs, creative balcony arrangements, and vertical gardens.
Nature benefits-even at -20 Celsius
It's not that difficult to incorporate nature into everyday life, and it's not necessary to become a hiking enthusiast to reap its benefits. Simply spending time in a park and interacting with nature more regularly can help.
"We found that just a 50-minute walk showed pretty significant improvement-so it's not like you have to be doing it every day, or going far away to get the improvement," says Berman.
It doesn't even matter if the walk is pleasurable.
"You don't even have to enjoy the walk to get the benefits. We had people walking in January, when it's really cold in Ann Arbor, and people didn't like the walk. But they still showed the improvement," says Berman.
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RookieMom Heather
posted 2/19/09 @ 11:46 AM EST
That's really brilliant. We have city parks and woods out here in Berkeley, but it sounds like I need to hit the woods more.
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