Is blue is the new green?

In cities all over the world the importance of green spaces are being recognized and taken advantage of. The advantages of parks are many, and include better social connections, more chances for recreational activities, and the chance of a brief escape from the concrete jungle. Some green spaces, like New York’s Central Park, are famous for the scope of their reprieve from the stresses of the modern world.

But, it seems blue is the new green

In a recent study by Nutsford et al, a better way of reducing stress in urban populations is proposed, and found, in blue spaces. For the purposes of the study, blue spaces included watery places such as lakes, oceans, and rivers; but did not include manmade structures such as fountains.

Using national databases to determine the prevalence of green and blue space around the city of Wellington, New Zealand, the scientists were able to determine how visible each space was using a variety of methods including the location, how busy the area is, and even the topography of the region, taking things such as being stuck in a tall building surrounded by other ones as a limiting factor to how much green you can see.

The data on the visibility of blue and green spaces was then compared to answers given on the New Zealand Health Survey, which included data not only on psychological distress, but also on the socio-economic status of the population. These studies, of health and the visibility of blue and green spaces, were then compared. The results were clear: more blue lead to less stress.

Oddly, the tests showed no relation between the visibility of green space and lowered stress. This was suggested to be related to the vast amount of green space New Zealanders get to enjoy regularly. While the authors note that other studies have pointed towards the notion of blue space reducing stress, they could not rule out the notion that “blue space” was perhaps merely a better indicator of true escape from societal stress than green space.

Source
BigThink