Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
June 15, 2022
Summary:
Urban public space has been associated with increased physical activity, social interaction, neighbourhood cohesion and subjective well-being. Yet, the vast majority of literature focuses on green and blue space, excluding the potential therapeutic value of “hard-surfaced” public space, such as a civic or market square. Therefore, for the first time in the public space literature, we quantify hard-surfaced public space's variation across a major city (Greater London). We merge this with data on residents' well-being (taken from the Understanding Society Survey Wave 6, n = 3684). Using a multivariate linear model, we initially found no direct association between hard space and well-being, whilst we found a significant positive correlation for green space. Interaction effects of 1) the perception of neighbourhood safety and 2) housing tenure, were then considered. Hard space was significantly positively correlated to well-being in high-safety neighbourhoods, yet this relationship was inversed in low-safety areas. This interaction effect was especially large and significant for social housing residents, who seem to reap the greatest benefits from, but are also most susceptible to the dangers of, hard-surfaced space. It is suggested that hard space, through its ability to foster pro-social behaviour, may be related to well-being through separate causal mechanisms than green space.
Published in
Cities
Volume
Volume: 125:103569
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103569
ISSN
2642751
Subjects
Notes
Open Access
Under a Creative Commons license
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