Seite - 116 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

116 5.5 Conclusion Research studies on the association between urban green space and health shows that availability, proximity and use of urban green space such as parks or even allot- ment gardens, helps to improve the mental health of urban residents even when controlling for socio-economic or socio-demographic confounders. Studies that focus on other health outcomes, such as overweight or birth outcomes, show that significant relationships partly disappear when statistical models are adjusted for socio-economic variables. Income, deprivation or education are amongst the most important variables that confound the green space–health-outcome relationship. Nevertheless, a mediating role of urban green space for socio-economic inequality in health outcome was identified. The results have led to important planning recom- mendations and directions for future research, which have been presented and dis- cussed here. This area of research is gaining widespread attention through the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals and related larger project financing, consider- ing recent calls under the European Commission Research and Innovation Programme. A number of important studies are expected to be conducted in the near future. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the project “Environmental-health Interactions in Cities (GreenEquityHEALTH)  – Challenges for Human Well-being under Global Changes” (2017–2022) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (fund- ing code: 01LN1705A). References Abelt K, McLafferty S (2017) Green streets: urban green and birth outcomes. Int J  Environ Res Public Health 14(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14070771 Allan R, Williamson P, Kulu H (2017) Unravelling urban-rural health disparities in England. Popul Space Place 23(8):e2073. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2073 Aspinall P et  al (2013) The urban brain: analysing outdoor physical activity with mobile EEG.  Br J  Sports Med 1. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-091877 Astell-Burt T, Mitchell R, Hartig T (2014) The association between green space and mental health varies across the lifecourse. A longitudinal study. J  Epidemiol Community Health 68(6):578– 583. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-203767 Bowler DE et  al (2010) Urban greening to cool towns and cities: a systematic review of the empiri- cal evidence. Landsc Urban Plann Elsevier B.V. 97(3):147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. landurbplan.2010.05.006 Calogiuri G, Patil GG, Aamodt G (2016) Is green exercise for all? A descriptive study of green exercise habits and promoting factors in adult Norwegians. Int J  Environ Res Public Health 13(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13111165 Casey JA et  al (2016) Greenness and birth outcomes in a range of Pennsylvania communities. Int J  Environ Res Public Health 13(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13030311 N. Kabisch