Seite - 92 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

92 Highlights • A systematic review of the association between urban green space and health is presented. • The focus has been on socio-economic and socio-demographic confounders. • Results show some positive association between urban green space, mental health and cardiovascular diseases. • Evidence is rather weak, and socio-economic confounders have the highest impact on health outcome effects. • The mediating effect of urban green space to decrease health inequality among different socio-economic groups may be more important. 5.1 Introduction The value of urban nature has been considered within a range of societal challenge areas in cities, such as water management, air quality, urban biodiversity, and human health and well-being (Raymond et  al.  2017). Assessments of these values  – mostly using the ecosystem services (ESS) concept  – are now informing urban policy and planning across the world. For example, at the international level, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services discusses the ben- efits of nature for people as one way to promote nature’s values in environmental decision-making, for example, through the ESS concept and other human-nature inter-relations (Díaz et  al. 2018). The integrated view to sustainable urban develop- ment is also highlighted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda adopted at the United Nations’ HABITAT III conference and promoted by the European Commission’s research and innovation policy on nature-based solutions. In particu- lar, Goal 11 of the SDGs underlines that “Making cities safe and sustainable […] involves […] creating green public spaces, and improving urban planning and man- agement in a way that is both participatory and inclusive” (The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2015). Urban green spaces such as parks, allot- ment gardens, street trees, urban gardens, cemeteries, green roofs and green facades were shown to increase sustainability in urban areas. Urban green spaces ameliorate high temperatures in cities (Bowler et  al. 2010), reduce noise, help filter pollutants from the air, and improve water inflow in times of extreme precipitation events (Haase et  al. 2014). When developing new green spaces to make cities (more) sus- tainable, a key component for urban planning is to consider the spatial location of urban green spaces within the urban area, in order to understand their potential role in mediating improved health outcomes for groups of people. Interest in research has recently increased regarding the role that urban green spaces may play in improving the health of urban residents (Hartig et  al. 2014). One aspect that has been discussed is whether urban green can act as a health promoter by encouraging more active lifestyles, or as a disease preventer through reducing the impact of negative environmental conditions such as extreme weather events, air pollution, noise or heat (Kabisch et  al. 2017; van den Bosch and Ode Sang 2017). N. Kabisch