Seite - 397 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

397 Table 17.3 Summary characteristics of greening interventions Reference Study design Population Intervention Outcome Branas et  al. (2011) Philadelphia, PA, USA Quasi- experiment: difference-in- difference design Cohort of 50,000 Philadelphians from household survey Greening of vacant urban land (n  =  4436); (> 725,000  m2) from 1999 to 2008 involving removing trash and debris, grading the land, planting grass and trees, installing low wooden fences around perimeter +ve: Greening associated with reductions in gun assaults (p  <  0.001), vandalism (p  <  0.001), residents reported less stress and more exercise (p  <  0.01) Garvin et  al. (2013) Philadelphia, PA, USA Pilot RCT: difference-in- difference analytical approach People living approx. two blocks surrounding the randomly selected vacant lots; 97% African–American; median income $15,417–17,743 Greening of vacant lots (4500–5500 square feet); removing debris, grading the land and adding topsoil, planting grass and trees, building a wooden fence +ve: Non-sig. decrease in the number of total crimes and gun assaults around greened vacant lots compared with control; people around the intervention lots reported feeling sig. safer after greening compared with control lots (p  <  0.01) Anderson et  al. (2014) Cape Town, South Africa Quasi- experimental, controlled (post data only) Spectrum of socioeconomic neighbourhoods, ranging from middle to lower income areas Civic-led greening interventions implemented via three sites +ive: Biodiversity in the greening intervention sites was higher than the vacant lot and comparable to the conservation sites South et  al. (2015) Philadelphia, PA, USA Quasi- experimental, controlled, pre and post N  =  12 participants completed pre- and post-intervention walks; all were African-American, eight male; majority had household income < S15, 000 Randomly selected cluster of vacant lots received standard greening treatment involving cleaning and removing debris, planting grass and trees, and installing a low wooden post-and- rail fence +ve: Difference-in- difference estimates between greened and non-greened vacant lots was sig. lower for heart rate (p  <  .001) for the greened site; being in view of a greened vacant lot decreased heart rate sig. more than a non-greened vacant lot (continued) 17 Environmental, Health and  Equity Effects of  Urban Green Space Interventions