People who live in areas with clusters of trees have been found to have lower mortality risks.
A long-term study conducted in Switzerland has found that neighbourhoods with numerous, well-arranged trees were healthier for residents.
The benefits were greater if the trees were clustered rather than fragmented.
Researchers from Future Cities Lab operated in Singapore by ETH Zurich and the National University of Singapore (NUS) said trees filtered pollutants, provided shade, lowered the ambient temperature in hot weather and encouraged people to spend more time outdoors.
“Many governments have set ambitious tree-planting targets for the decades ahead, partially in response to climate change and rising temperatures,” the study report, published this week, said.
“In densely developed cities, however, space for new green space is at a premium. In this context, the key question is how to plant trees in existing green spaces to optimal effect.”
The researchers examined high-resolution tree canopy data to determine the structure of tree-covered green spaces within a radius of 500 metres of a person’s place of residence.
They linked this information with the “survival time” of the resident in the respective neighbourhood for over six million adults.
“The study identified a significantly lower mortality risk in people who live in neighbourhoods with large, contiguous and well networked areas of tree canopies than for people who live in areas with fewer, fragmented areas of tree canopies with complex geometries,” the report said.
“This correlation is particularly evident in densely developed peri-urban and urban areas with poor air quality and high temperatures.”
The full report is on the ETH Zurich website.
