title: Residential exposure to visible blue space (but not green space) associated with lower psychological distress in a capital city.
abstract: As urbanisation escalates globally, urban neighbourhood features which may improve physical and mental health are of growing importance. Using a cross-sectional survey of adults and the application of novel geospatial techniques, this study investigated whether increased visibility of nature (green and blue space) was associated with lower psychological distress (K10 scores), in the capital city of Wellington, New Zealand. To validate, we also tested whether visibility of blue space was associated missing teeth in the same sample. Cluster robust, linear regression models were fitted to test the association between visibility of nature and K10 scores, adjusted for age, sex, personal income, neighbourhood population density, housing quality, crime and deprivation. Higher levels of blue space visibility were associated with lower psychological distress (β=-0.28, p<0.001). Importantly, blue space visibility was not significantly associated with tooth loss. Further research is needed to confirm whether increased visibility of blue space could promote mental well-being and reduce distress in other cities.
authors.affiliation: University of Canterbury, Department of Geography, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nutsford
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, Department of Geography, 673 Auditorium Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; University of Otago, Department of Public Health, 23A Mein Street, Wellington 6242, New Zealand. Electronic address: apearson@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: University of Canterbury, Department of Geography, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kingham
authors.affiliation: University of Canterbury, Department of Geography, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Femke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reitsma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002947:Cities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D045483:Rivers; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Blue space; Green space; Mental health; Urban planning; Visibility analysis