Greenspace exposure may increase life expectancy of elderly adults, especially for those with low socioeconomic status

Di Wei; Yi Lu; Xueying Wu; Hung Chak Ho; Wenjie Wu; Jinglu Song; Yuan Wang

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103142

Greenspace exposure may increase life expectancy of elderly adults, especially for those with low socioeconomic status

Health Place. 2023 Nov:84:103142. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103142. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Authors

Di Wei¹, Yi Lu², Xueying Wu³, Hung Chak Ho⁴, Wenjie Wu⁵, Jinglu Song⁶, Yuan Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Engineering and Technology Research Center of Urbanization, Wuhan, China; Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: diwei3-c@my.cityu.edu.hk.
² Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: yilu24@cityu.edu.hk.
³ Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: xueyingwu8-c@my.cityu.edu.hk.
⁴ Department of Public and International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: hungcho2@cityu.edu.hk.
⁵ School of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: caswwj@foxmail.com.
⁶ Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: Jinglu.Song@xjtlu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; Hubei Engineering and Technology Research Center of Urbanization, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: wangyuan@hust.edu.cn.

PMID: 37989007
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103142

Abstract

With an increasing aging population in many cities worldwide, promoting and maintaining the health of elderly individuals has become a pressing public health issue. Although greenspaces may deliver many health outcomes for the elderly population, existing evidence remains inconsistent, partly due to discrepancies in the measure of greenspace and health outcomes. In addition, few studies examined the effect of greenspace exposure on life expectancy at the individual level. Thus, this study comprehensively investigated the association between greenspace exposure and life expectancy among elderly adults in Guangzhou, China, based on the individual-level mortality dataset. The data were analyzed at both the individual level and aggregate level, and two types of buffers (straight-line vs. street-network buffer) were used to define individual greenspace exposure. After controlling for the random effects and multiple types of covariates, we found that 1) elderly individuals with higher greenspace exposure were associated with an increased life expectancy; 2) elderly individuals with lower socioeconomic status benefit more from greenspace (i.e., equigenesis hypothesis); 3) different greenspace measurements lead to different results; 4) greenspace had the highest effects on life expectancy and equigenesis within the street-network buffer distances of 3000 m and 2500 m, respectively. This study underscores the potential health benefits of greenspace exposure on elderly individuals and the importance of provision and upkeep of greenspace, especially among socially disadvantaged groups.

Keywords: Equigenesis hypothesis; Greenspace; Individual-level study; Life expectancy; Older adults.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Cities
Humans
Life Expectancy
Low Socioeconomic Status*
Parks, Recreational*
Social Class