Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic
In recent years, there has been growing concern about the decline in human green space use and nature-based recreation in Western countries. While some evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased recreational mobility in urban green spaces, it is unclear whether the pandemic led to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004634 |
| _version_ | 1827793668883349504 |
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| author | Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset Zander Venter Michal Kozák Emma Charlott Andersson Nordbø Tilmann von Soest |
| author_facet | Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset Zander Venter Michal Kozák Emma Charlott Andersson Nordbø Tilmann von Soest |
| author_sort | Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, there has been growing concern about the decline in human green space use and nature-based recreation in Western countries. While some evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased recreational mobility in urban green spaces, it is unclear whether the pandemic led to nationwide changes in green space use in both densely and less densely populated neighborhoods, as well as whether social inequalities in green space use were reinforced or attenuated by the pandemic. To address these questions, we used daily nationwide aggregated mobility data from more than 2 million cell phone subscribers in 14,331 geographical grids across Norway to examine potential changes in mobility in green spaces as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the pandemic. Additionally, we controlled for weather conditions, holiday periods, and neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics. The results from linear mixed model analyses showed a 9.4% increase in recreational visits in the greenest spaces during the pandemic. Notably, this increase was most prominent in neighborhoods of low socioeconomic status (SES) and was observed in both high- and low-population density neighborhoods, although the increase was somewhat stronger in neighborhoods with low population density. Our study findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in increasing nationwide green space use in Norway and potentially narrowing the gap of green inequalities, thus highlighting the importance of preserving and promoting green spaces as a public health resource, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:22:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1adf442dc74b4781ad1fd0b21e19b4a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:22:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj.art-1adf442dc74b4781ad1fd0b21e19b4a52023-10-15T04:36:24ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202023-10-01180108190Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemicVidar Sandsaunet Ulset0Zander Venter1Michal Kozák2Emma Charlott Andersson Nordbø3Tilmann von Soest4PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway; Corresponding author.Terrestrial Ecology Section, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, NorwayPROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Public Health Science, Faculty of Landscape and Society, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Elizabeth Stephansens v. 15, 1430 Ås, NorwayPROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, NorwayIn recent years, there has been growing concern about the decline in human green space use and nature-based recreation in Western countries. While some evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased recreational mobility in urban green spaces, it is unclear whether the pandemic led to nationwide changes in green space use in both densely and less densely populated neighborhoods, as well as whether social inequalities in green space use were reinforced or attenuated by the pandemic. To address these questions, we used daily nationwide aggregated mobility data from more than 2 million cell phone subscribers in 14,331 geographical grids across Norway to examine potential changes in mobility in green spaces as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the pandemic. Additionally, we controlled for weather conditions, holiday periods, and neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics. The results from linear mixed model analyses showed a 9.4% increase in recreational visits in the greenest spaces during the pandemic. Notably, this increase was most prominent in neighborhoods of low socioeconomic status (SES) and was observed in both high- and low-population density neighborhoods, although the increase was somewhat stronger in neighborhoods with low population density. Our study findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in increasing nationwide green space use in Norway and potentially narrowing the gap of green inequalities, thus highlighting the importance of preserving and promoting green spaces as a public health resource, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004634Green space useCOVID-19 pandemicRecreational mobilityNDVISosioeconomic status |
| spellingShingle | Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset Zander Venter Michal Kozák Emma Charlott Andersson Nordbø Tilmann von Soest Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic Environment International Green space use COVID-19 pandemic Recreational mobility NDVI Sosioeconomic status |
| title | Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | increased nationwide use of green spaces in norway during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | Green space use COVID-19 pandemic Recreational mobility NDVI Sosioeconomic status |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004634 |
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