title: Development of an urban green space indicator and the public health rationale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study, the aim was to develop and test an urban green space indicator for public health, as proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, in order to support health and environmental policies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We defined the indicator of green space accessibility as a proportion of an urban population living within a certain distance from a green space boundary. We developed a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based method and tested it in three case studies in Malmö, Sweden; Kaunas, Lithuania; and Utrecht, The Netherlands. Land use data in GIS from the Urban Atlas were combined with population data. Various population data formats, maximum distances to green spaces, minimum sizes of green spaces, and different definitions of green spaces were studied or discussed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results demonstrated that with increasing size of green space and decreased distance to green space, the indicator value decreased. As compared to Malmö and Utrecht, a relatively bigger proportion of the Kaunas population had access to large green spaces, at both shorter and longer distances. Our results also showed that applying the method of spatially aggregated population data was an acceptable alternative to using individual data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on reviewing the literature and the case studies, a 300 m maximum linear distance to the boundary of urban green spaces of a minimum size of 1 hectare are recommended as the default options for the indicator. The indicator can serve as a proxy measure for assessing public accessibility to urban green spaces, to provide comparable data across Europe and stimulate policy actions that recognise the importance of green spaces for sustainable public health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Work Science, Business Economics and Environmental Psychology; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Alnarp; Sweden Matilda.van.den.bosch@slu.se.
authors.forename: Matilda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Annerstedt van den Bosch
authors.affiliation: World Health Organisation (WHO) European Centre for Environment and Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mudu
authors.affiliation: State Public Health Service, Ministry of Health, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Valdas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Uscila
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Malmö; Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrdahl
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kulinkina
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Brigit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Staatsen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Swart
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Malmö; Sweden.
authors.forename: Hanneke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kruize
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Education and Disease Prevention, Ministry of Health, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Ingrida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zurlyte
authors.affiliation: World Health Organisation (WHO) European Centre for Environment and Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrey I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Egorov
mesh_terms: D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania; D009426:Netherlands; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden; D014504:Urban Health
keywords: Green spaces; indicator; parks; physical activity; public health; stress; urban life; urban planning; well-being