Page - 404 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

404 programmes to promote the use of the green space), including pocket parks for health and well-being benefits, and no evidence (i.e. an absence of studies) for green walls, allotments/community gardens and urban agriculture-based interventions. There was a lack of evidence regarding adverse or unintended consequences, the long-term impact, economic benefits or the differential impacts of urban green space interventions on various equity indicators. There was also a lack of studies from low income countries. None of the studies directly assessed their impact on climate change. This could be due to inadequate observation time to detect such changes. The next section outlines recommendations for practitioners (including urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects, civil engineers, transport engineers, property developers and public health professionals), policy-makers and researchers regarding intervening in urban green space. These recommendations were informed by the evidence review, case studies and discussions at a WHO expert working group on urban green space interventions. 17.3.1 Practice Recommendations The following section builds on the previous recommendations by the WHO (2006) and NICE (2018), Public Health England (2014) and Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) (2016), and also broadens these recommendations to incorporate other health, social and environmental outcomes. The following factors should be considered when designing urban green space interventions: 1. Given the complex social and economic dynamics that occur at scale, implemen- tation of green infrastructure requires both a multi-disciplinary (urban planning, landscape architecture, civil engineering, ecology, environmental science, urban design, public health, health economics, environmental science) and multi- sector (academic, government, nongovernmental organizations, private sector) approach. 2. Urban green space interventions should be designed with foreseen long-term impacts from the outset. Those responsible for planning and delivering interven- tions should ‘design-in’ components that specifically focus on long-term health, social and environmental effects, ensuring to take direction from the large and conclusive cross-sectional evidence base in their intervention design. 3. Local communities, and indeed different subgroups within these communities, use urban green space in a variety of ways. Future interventions need to consider how the green space may be used and what the needs of the local community are. 4. Engage the local community throughout the design process and across the life course (i.e. children to older adults) to ensure that their needs are incorporated into the intervention. This will also encourage community to take ownership for the urban green space and its future management and maintenance at a commu- R. F. Hunter et al.