Understanding the mechanisms driving the effects of urban green spaces on human health conditions : a case study of the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Abstract : Urban green spaces (UGSs) provide important services to humans, including health services. However, the mechanism driving the UGS-health relationships are still a matter of debate, and common approach to measuring key variables involved in the mechanism may be tedious and time-consuming. Here, the present study proposes that data collection centred on people’s own knowledge of UGSs (community-based dataset) might be a better approach as it is quicker and applicable at large scale. The study tested this expectation by collecting such dataset using a semi-structured interview of 102 residents of the city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. Data were then analyzed by fitting a structural equation model (SEM). The SEM analysis revealed that data collected can be used to explain the framework linking UGS to human health conditions. Furthermore, in the overall analysis, three models provide a better fit to the data collected. The first two models correspond to when UGS provision is measured as quantity, and exposure as either duration of visit to UGS or intensity. This is perhaps indicative of the importance of the influence of number of UGS available (quantity), how long people visit UGs for (duration) and what type of activity they perform (intensity) on their health condition. The last overall best model corresponds to when UGS provision is measured as distance (distance from home to UGS) and exposure as again intensity. This model reveals perhaps how important is the distance effect in determining the type of activities taken place during the visit to UGS. Furthermore, the investigation of each scenario reveals that the best model in each scenario is always the model where Exposure is measured as intensity, irrespective of how provision is measured. This is a key finding as it suggests that it is not UGS provision (number of UGS, its quality or accessibility) that matters most, but rather intensity, i.e. the type of activities people engage in when they visit UGSs. Overall, this study shows that community-based dataset can be used to explain different paths linking UGSs to human health.M.Sc. (Environmental Management