This article talks about an experiment in which a sample of mostly female workers were put through different environments and tested for several stress related parameters. The results of the experiment was not particularly surprising as two of the three stress related statistics that were tested showed that people were more likely to be stressed out in an urban environment, in comparison to nature parks or nature woodlands. The results of the experiment showed that the positive effects of being in a natural environments lasts longer if that environment is a woodland rather than a park, though the different is not significant.
The reason this point is relevant has to do with building more parks in urban cities. There is often the question when building new parks on whether to make the park be natural and untouched by humans or completely control the look and feel of the park. Some have argued in the past that the more wild nature of woodlands are better for humans, though this experiment says otherwise. This shows that even parks in the city can be effective tools in helping people with stress.
Another major point that was brought up by the results of the experiment was the fact that the results showed that humans are positively affected by nature, even in short bursts. This is significant because it could help change urban planning. In the past, urban planning often relegated parks in most cities as being incredibly large and full of possible natural amenity. This is problematic for urban residents, however, as most New Yorkers do not have the time in the morning to go through Central Park to get to work or even go in their free time. If parks in a city like ours were more spaced out and more concerned with walking spaces for people, it is likely that more urban citizens would be able to experience the positive effects that come out of going to green environments.
