This article was a very interesting read because it gave experimental evidence as to how green environments have an effect on us. A lot of us who live in urban environments don’t realize how these green areas can help reduce stress, even though most of us try to get away from the city and go elsewhere on vacation. The findings from this paper suggest that even short-term visits to nature areas have positive effects on perceived stress relief compared to built-up environment. In urban cities, stress is very common since people work long hours trying to make ends meet, etc. The real problem, however, is how can we manage our time in urban areas and in green environments so that we can get the best of both worlds. In New York City, we have a few green areas (i.e. Central Park, Washington Square Park, etc) but these aren’t enough to alter our stress levels. But in a very busy city, these are better alternatives to being stuck inside buildings with no nature in sight. Whenever I go deep into Central Park, I’ve felt nature take its course and it helps me take my mind off of all the problems. This in turn reduces my stress for that specific period of time. However, once I’m back in the city, the stress is back as well. What can we do so that destressing isn’t only a temporary thing for those who are permanent dwellers of the city? People go on vacations to areas with beaches, mountains, etc. but they can’t stay on vacation forever. We need to find a way to incorporate more greenness into our cities so that this exposure to nature can help us on a psychological as well as physiological level.
