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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