The connection with nature in Brazilian urban parks and its contribution to the wellness of the population and to child development

Cunha, André de Almeida; Rodrigues, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira; Sancho-Pivoto, Altair; Casals, Francesc Romagosa

doi:10.14393/SN-v34-2022-65411x

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Papers • Soc. nat. 34 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.14393/SN-v34-2022-65411x copy

The connection with nature in Brazilian urban parks and its contribution to the wellness of the population and to child development

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

In the global environmental crisis, the importance of natural environments for society has been increasingly studied and incorporated into urban, environmental, leisure, and health public policies. The growing urbanization of the world population highlights the role played by green areas in the protection of diverse ecosystem services. Mostly, with emphasis on the benefits to health and well-being, both for the adult population and for children and adolescents. In this sense, this work aims to investigate the motivations and benefits perceived by visitors of urban parks in Brazil, related to ten dimensions of well-being, and child development. From a survey carried out with 816 visitors of parks located in the cities of Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and Juiz de Fora, a similar sociodemographic profile was identified. The motivations to visit and the perceived benefits of visiting urban parks were high for all dimensions of well-being, with emphasis on the emotional dimension, followed by physical, environmental, spiritual, and social well-being. Significant differences were identified between cities. Three out of four visitors agree or strongly agree that urban parks bring benefits to children's development, mainly physical, respiratory, social, cognitive development, and anxiety reduction. The results, therefore, highlight the importance of urban parks in Brazil, promoting the well-being of society and benefits to child development. This reinforces the need for investment in public policies aiming at the creation and implementation of accessible and suitable green areas to allow everyday enjoyment to all citizens, particularly in the urban context.

Keywords
Leisure; Visitation; Health; Protected areas; Ecosystem services

Well-being Dimension	Description
Physical	Involves activities such as walking, cycling, running and gymnastics.
Emotional or Psychological	To recover from tiredness/mental stress, relax, rest and chill.
Social	For opportunities for more social interaction/union with family and/or friends.
Intellectual	For opportunities of getting involved in intellectual, creative, and stimulating activities.
Spiritual	To feel connected with nature, seek inspirations from nature, seek meaning/life purpose, meditate.
Ecologic	To experience, and know the natural environment, develop ecologic citizenship.
Environmental	To make use of an open-air environment, with more desirable weather conditions; the possibility of making connections with the place.
Cultural	To experience cultural and historical heritage, cultural events, and/or traditional knowledge.
Occupational/labor	To improve working conditions after the visit.
Economic	To support local economy and commerce.

	Brasília		Juiz de Fora		Rio de Janeiro		Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Male	158	57.5%	181	47.3%	71	44.9%	410	50.2%
Female	117	42.5%	202	52.7%	87	55.1%	406	49.8%
Age
Up to 15 years old	2	0.7%	4	1.0%		0.0%	6	0.7%
15 to 24 years old	58	21.1%	68	17.8%	34	21.5%	160	19.6%
25 to 34 years old	62	22.5%	123	32.1%	36	22.8%	221	27.1%
35 to 44 years old	66	24.0%	95	24.8%	45	28.5%	206	25.2%
45 to 65 years old	60	21.8%	81	21.1%	36	22.8%	177	21.7%
Older than 66 years old	27	9.8%	12	3.1%	7	4.4%	46	5.6%
With Children
No	174	87.0%	304	79.4%	54	34.2%	532	71.8%
Yes	26	13.0%	79	20.6%	104	65.8%	209	28.2%
Schooling^*
Primary Education	4	1.5%	25	6.5%	5	3.2%	34	4.2%
Elementary Education	57	20.7%	101	26.4%	28	17.7%	186	22.8%
Unfinished Higher Education	36	13.1%	75	19.6%	36	22.8%	147	18.0%
Finished Higher Education	119	43.3%	141	36.8%	57	36.1%	317	38.8%
Post-Graduate Education	59	21.5%	40	10.4%	32	20.3%	131	16.1%
Family Income^*
Up to 2 MW	33	12.0%	113	29.5%	43	27.2%	189	23.2%
2 to 4 MW	50	18.2%	96	25.1%	45	28.5%	191	23.4%
4 to 10 MW	106	38.5%	99	25.8%	46	29.1%	251	30.8%
10 to 20 MW	63	22.9%	39	10.2%	18	11.4%	120	14.7%
Above 20 MW	23	8.4%	6	1.6%	6	3.8%	35	4.3%
Did not wish to inform		0.0%	30	7.8%		0.0%	30	3.7%

	Brasília			Juiz de Fora						K	P
	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	K	P
Psychological/Emotional	4.65	0.70	1	4.62	0.70	1	4.78	0.46	1	4.42	0.11
Environmental^*	4.65^a	0.65	1	4.37^b	0.90	3	4.73^a	0.53	2	32.83	>0.0001
Spiritual^*	4.35^b	0.99	4	4.44^ab	0.95	2	4.53^a	0.94	4	6.51	0.04
Physical^*	4.60^a	0.80	2	4.16^b	1.17	5	4.47^a	0.91	5	33.40	>0.0001
Ecological^*	4.49^b	0.80	3	3.96^c	1.23	7	4.68^a	0.64	3	61.39	>0.0001
Social^*	4.15^b	1.05	6	4.15^b	1.10	6	4.53^a	0.73	4	14.06	>0.001
Occupational	4.23	0.95	5	4.23	1.06	4	4.04	1.23	8	2.88	0.24
Cultural^*	4.11^a	1.04	7	3.89^b	1.19	8	4.29^c	1.02	6	15.82	>0.001
Intellectual^*	3.99^a	1.13	8	3.64^b	1.29	9	4.15^a	1.08	7	22.80	>0.0001
Economic^*	3.52^ab	1.27	9	3.56^a	1.30	10	3.16^b	1.51	9	7.69	0.02

	Brasília			Juiz de Fora			Rio de Janeiro			K	P
	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	K	P
Psychological/Emotional^*	6.73^a	0.72	1	6.46^b	0.75	1	6.61^c	0.72	1	42.18	>0.0001
Physical^*	6.57^a	0.71	2	6.28^b	0.95	3	6.39^ab	0.95	4	13.83	> 0.001
Environmental^*	6.45^a	0.79	3	6.11^b	0.96	5	6.49^a	0.73	2	31.13	>0.0001
Spiritual^*	6.21^b	1.00	5	6.42^a	0.88	2	6.42^a	0.98	3	9.89	> 0.01
Social^*	5.91^b	1.19	7	5.92^b	1.18	6	6.33^a	0.87	5	13.90	> 0.001
Ecologic^*	6.31^a	0.87	4	5.67^b	1.22	7	6.28^a	0.89	6	56.63	>0.0001
Occupational	6.09	1.03	6	6.15	1.07	4	5.91	1.42	9	2.27	0.32
Cultural^*	5.72^a	1.16	9	5.48^b	1.20	8	5.97^c	1.27	7	26.48	>0.0001
Intellectual^*	5.76^a	1.18	8	5.43^b	1.19	9	5.92^c	1.38	8	30.38	>0.0001
Economic^*	5.19^a	1.30	10	5.14^a	1.27	10	4.70^b	1.78	10	7.55	0.02

	Brasília			Juiz de For a			Rio de Janeiro			K	p
	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	$\bar{x}$	±SD	Rank	K	p
Physical^*	6.68^a	0.71	1	6.48^b	0.68	1	6.49^ab	1.01	1	10.27	0.006
Respiratory^*	6.54^a	0.87	2	6.32^b	0.94	3	6.37^a	1.23	2	6.541	0.04
Social	6.44	0.84	3	6.34	0.73	2	6.36	1.02	3	3.03	0.22
Anxiety	6.37	0.88	4	6.34	1.11	2	6.34	1.17	4	2.03	0.36
Cognitive Development	6.34	0.95	5	6.30	0.88	4	6.18	1.07	5	1.41	0.49
Communication	6.27	0.91	6	6.19	0.93	5	6.09	1.13	7	1.58	0.46
Hyperactivity and Lack of Attention	6.25	1.08	7	5.97	1.26	6	6.12	1.28	6	3.28	0.19
Personal Development	6.13	0.95	8	5.96	0.97	7	6.08	1.19	8	3.16	0.21

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[1] AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

André de Almeida Cunha, Francesc Romagosa Casals, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira Rodrigues and Altair Sancho-Pivoto designed the study; André de Almeida Cunha, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira Rodrigues and Altair Sancho-Pivoto collected the data and wrote the text. André de Almeida Cunha analyzed the data.