The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments
Disruptive change in urban landscapes, such as large-scale tree planting, is complicated by the different priorities of the wide range of urban stakeholders. Here, we demonstrate an approach to the planning of urban green spaces using virtual reality simulations. We evaluate the health benefits (res...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Land |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/290 |
| _version_ | 1797240347491827712 |
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| author | Christopher Hassall Michael Nisbet Evan Norcliffe He Wang |
| author_facet | Christopher Hassall Michael Nisbet Evan Norcliffe He Wang |
| author_sort | Christopher Hassall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Disruptive change in urban landscapes, such as large-scale tree planting, is complicated by the different priorities of the wide range of urban stakeholders. Here, we demonstrate an approach to the planning of urban green spaces using virtual reality simulations. We evaluate the health benefits (restorative benefits) and safety concerns of participants using virtual reconstructions of 10 urban parks in Bradford, UK, to simulate changes in woodland cover. Participants experienced each of the 10 parks as immersive environments with each of three scenarios: (i) no trees, (ii) real tree distribution, and (iii) doubling of tree numbers. Participants answered a short questionnaire while in each virtual park to quantify their feelings of safety and the restorative benefit that they thought they would experience. The results show that our VR approach produces reported restorative benefits that are not significantly different from those reported in the physical parks during visits by participants. We then demonstrate that increased tree cover is associated with significant increases in perceived restorative benefit, with some evidence of saturation at higher tree densities. Reductions in tree cover lead to a reduction in reported restorative benefit. We suggest that immersive technologies present a useful tool for the consultation and co-design of urban landscapes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:05:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6cdc4c762864460fbae54f3ed7fe4e3c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:05:59Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-6cdc4c762864460fbae54f3ed7fe4e3c2024-03-27T13:50:34ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2024-02-0113329010.3390/land13030290The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive EnvironmentsChristopher Hassall0Michael Nisbet1Evan Norcliffe2He Wang3School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Computing, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Computing, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKDisruptive change in urban landscapes, such as large-scale tree planting, is complicated by the different priorities of the wide range of urban stakeholders. Here, we demonstrate an approach to the planning of urban green spaces using virtual reality simulations. We evaluate the health benefits (restorative benefits) and safety concerns of participants using virtual reconstructions of 10 urban parks in Bradford, UK, to simulate changes in woodland cover. Participants experienced each of the 10 parks as immersive environments with each of three scenarios: (i) no trees, (ii) real tree distribution, and (iii) doubling of tree numbers. Participants answered a short questionnaire while in each virtual park to quantify their feelings of safety and the restorative benefit that they thought they would experience. The results show that our VR approach produces reported restorative benefits that are not significantly different from those reported in the physical parks during visits by participants. We then demonstrate that increased tree cover is associated with significant increases in perceived restorative benefit, with some evidence of saturation at higher tree densities. Reductions in tree cover lead to a reduction in reported restorative benefit. We suggest that immersive technologies present a useful tool for the consultation and co-design of urban landscapes.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/290virtual realitybiodiversitytreeurban landscapeattitudespark |
| spellingShingle | Christopher Hassall Michael Nisbet Evan Norcliffe He Wang The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments Land virtual reality biodiversity tree urban landscape attitudes park |
| title | The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments |
| title_full | The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments |
| title_fullStr | The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments |
| title_short | The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments |
| title_sort | potential health benefits of urban tree planting suggested through immersive environments |
| topic | virtual reality biodiversity tree urban landscape attitudes park |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/290 |
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