Urban green space and well-being in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Introduction
Urban green spaces include private, communal or publicly accessible natural vegetated areas within urban landscapes, commonly used for recreation and other leisure activities (Cilliers, 2015; Zupancic et al., 2015). Urban green spaces may be large or small, have trees, open areas, water bodies and are sometimes equipped with equipment for games and exercise. Examples of urban green spaces include parks, gardens, children’s playgrounds, mountain trails, golf courses and other open natural areas (Cilliers, 2015; Lee and Kim, 2015; Lee et al., 2015). These urban green spaces are increasingly seen as important for residents to balance their hectic city life by providing areas for restoration and to address mental fatigue and stress, helping to compensate for the negative psycho-physiological effects suffered from living and working in densely built urban environments (Lee et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2015; Braubach et al., 2017).
Being in nature provides mental and physical health benefits, which researchers call ‘green exercise’. Green exercise means exercise usually performed in natural environments such as in parks (Mackay and Neill, 2010). It positively effects all people regardless of age, wealth, and culture and regardless of whether the green space is small or large, an urban park or nature reserve (Pretty, 2017). Green exercise such as walking or cycling in green spaces brings well-being benefits and has been shown by a number of studies to have positive effects on mental and physical health for all age groups (Pretty et al., 2005; Barton and Pretty, 2010; Pretty et al., 2016) providing relief from stress and mental fatigue (Grahn and Stigsdotter, 2003; Groenewegen et al., 2012). Along with the direct health benefits from green exercise there are indirect effects from green spaces through facilitating nature-based activities and improving social capital and cohesion (NEA, 2011; Pretty et al., 2011; Jackson et al., 2013; Braubach et al., 2017). Researchers have reported measurable positive effects on health and well-being including reduced blood pressure, improved mental well-being, reduced stress, enhanced longevity of the elderly, increased attentional functioning, positive effects on cognitive functions and psychophysiological states, and healthier cortisol profiles (e.g. Ulrich, 1981; Takano et al., 2002; Lee et al., 2011; Barton and Pretty, 2010; Bratman et al., 2012; Ward-Thompson et al., 2012; Horiuchi et al., 2013; Jiang et al., 2018; Silva et al., 2018). The overall impact of access to green spaces is significant with residential populations in cities which take part in physical activity having a ‘lower the risk of chronic health conditions like obesity or cardiovascular disease’ (Jennings et al., 2016).
Another key role for urban green spaces is providing for social spaces and cultural activities (Lee et al., 2015; Braubach et al., 2017). The presence of common green spaces attracts residents to outdoor spaces, leading to more frequent social interactions (Coley et al., 1997; Arnberger, 2012) which can promote a general sense of community, decrease feelings of loneliness and increase social support, leading to greater personal resilience and wellbeing and the generation of social capital (Prezza et al., 2001; Haq, 2011; Dinnie et al., 2013; Jennings et al., 2016).
The loss of green space can have tangible impacts on residents even beyond the loss of opportunities for being in nature, social cohesion and green exercise. It has been reported that people tend to have much faster recovery in hospital from illness or injury, when provided with views of green landscapes (trees, green space, water) rather than views of built up concrete spaces (Pretty et al., 2007; Gladwell et al., 2012; Project Evergreen, 2017). Less green space or the loss of familiar green spaces cause tangible distress, flattened cortisol profiles indicating poorer capacity to recover from stress and increased incidence of obesity (Lachowycz and Jones, 2011; Roe et al., 2013).
Green exercise, green care, physical activities and viewing scenic landscapes in green spaces bring positive impacts on human well-being through psychological, social and direct health benefits. The association between green space and well-being has been extensively studied particularly in developed countries such as in Australia, Europe and the USA (Pretty et al., 2007, 2011, 2016; Pataki et al., 2011; Zupancic et al., 2015; Pretty, 2017), however, in tropical countries, especially in developing countries there are few examples. In Malaysia, there have been some important studies on urban green spaces such as Nor Akmar et al. (2011, 2012) who examined the planning and management of green space in Klang valley and impacts on health. While, Aida et al. (2016) and Karuppannan et al. (2014) studied the relationship between urban biodiversity and green spaces. Nor Akmar et al. (2012) made the observation that more research is needed in Malaysia on the linkages between the use of green spaces and residents’ health and well-being. Across Asia, there are other studies on urban green space and well-being such as Zhu et al. (2017) in Beijing, Paul and Nagendra (2017) in Delhi, Chang and Chen (2015) in Taiwan and Pham et al. (2012) in Vietnam.
This study, carried out in three selected parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, explored the perception of park users on their health and well-being outcomes associated with urban green spaces. Following Wolf and Wohlfart (2014), we defined well-being as mental health or state of mind incorporating physical health outcomes including a feeling healthy, general fitness, relaxation, and body weight. We also looked at users’ characteristics, quality of parks, and users’ willingness to contribute towards park management. We assumed that parks’ attributes, recreational, leisure and physical activities would have positive impacts on well-being. It is expected that our findings will provide significant baseline information on the importance of urban green space to park users, in order to support and promote the management of park resources for better public services and also the protection of these parks as they are being lost to urban development. Peoples’ perceptions are becoming increasingly relevant as a central component of social and environmental sustainability because their knowledge, attitudes, needs and support help decision-makers in the management and preservation of natural resources (Macura et al., 2011; Paletto et al., 2013; Bakhtiari et al., 2014).
Section snippets
A brief description of study sites
Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, has developed from a small-unknown state in the 1870s, to a booming mining town and eventually became the capital city of Malaysia, inheriting all the challenges associated with rapid and often unplanned urban growth (Nor Akmar et al., 2011). The population of KL in 2000 was 1.42 million and by 2020 it is expected to be around 2.2 million (DBKL, 2017). If the surrounding 10 municipalities which forms a contiguous region of urbanisation, known as Greater KL, are
Respondent profile
Both female (39%) and male (61%) visitors participated in the study and their average age was about 43 years (Table 1). The response rate for park visitors approached was approximately 70%, as some visitors were busy with activities and so could not take part in the survey. We did not have an intention to interview equal number of male and female respondents. The majority of respondents (56%) were of working age1 or
Future research and limitations
This sociological study is one of the first studies in the region assessing peoples’ perception on well-being impacts of urban green spaces and thus provides a useful baseline for future research. Further research can address some of its methodological limitations and build on our study. One of the key limitations of this study is that the number of parks’ users and their characteristics from which samples were drawn are unknown as such data would need to be gathered consistently by government
Conclusions
Urban green spaces in the form of parks, open space, gardens, and urban forests provide visitors, neighboring residents and children with various opportunities for physical activities including walking, jogging, cycling as well as social interactions and viewing nature. The findings of this study reveal that majority of the parks’ users were satisfied with the quality of green space, leisure and recreation activities and above all current management activities. The officials of park management
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