Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Environ Res. 2024 Dec 15;263(Pt 1):120095. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120095. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
The healthcare burden has intensified with urbanization and aging populations in many global cities. While the health effects of urban greenspaces have been well documented, little is known about the associations between greenspace morphological features and health, especially in a high-density city with significant aging populations. Drawing on land use data with 10-m resolution, we assessed seven greenspace morphological metrics in terms of size (the percentage of greenspace, the largest pixel index, the average greenspace area), fragmentation (the patch density), shape (the average weighted shape index), connectedness (the cohesion index), and proximity (the aggregation index). We further conducted an ecological study to examine their associations with all-cause and three cause-specific (cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer) mortality. Results from the negative binomial regression models revealed protective effects of five greenspace morphology metrics, including the percentage of greenspace, the largest pixel index, the average weighted shape index, the cohesion index, and the aggregation index, on mortality. The shape index showed the greatest effects, with every 1 Standard Deviation (SD) increase in the shape index linked to a reduction of 22.1% (95% CI: 22.0%-31.0%) in all-cause mortality, 22.1% (12.2%-30.8%) in mortality from cardiovascular diseases, 25.0% (14.0%-34.6%) in mortality from respiratory diseases, and 22.0% (12.3%-30.6%) in mortality from cancers. Moreover, stratified analyses revealed that the health effects of the cohesion index and the aggregation index were significantly more pronounced in neighborhoods with higher aging levels. Our findings highlight the significance of greenspace morphology features, beyond greenspace quantity, in improving residents' health, particularly for societies with high aging populations.
在许多全球城市，随着城市化和人口老龄化，医疗负担加剧。虽然城市绿地的健康影响已得到充分证明，但对于绿地形态特征与健康之间的关系，尤其是在人口老龄化程度较高的高密度城市中，人们知之甚少。本研究利用分辨率为 10 米的土地利用数据，从大小（绿地面积百分比、最大像素指数、平均绿地面积）、破碎化（斑块密度）、形状（平均加权形状指数）、连通性（内聚指数）和接近度（聚集指数）等方面评估了 7 个绿地形态指标。我们进一步进行了生态研究，以检验它们与全因和三种特定病因（心血管疾病、呼吸疾病和癌症）死亡率之间的关联。负二项回归模型的结果表明，五种绿地形态指标均具有保护作用，包括绿地面积百分比、最大像素指数、平均加权形状指数、内聚指数和聚集指数。其中，形状指数的影响最大，形状指数每增加 1 个标准差（SD），全因死亡率降低 22.1%（95%CI：22.0%-31.0%），心血管疾病死亡率降低 22.1%（12.2%-30.8%），呼吸疾病死亡率降低 25.0%（14.0%-34.6%），癌症死亡率降低 22.0%（12.3%-30.6%）。此外，分层分析表明，在老龄化程度较高的社区，内聚指数和聚集指数的健康效应更为显著。本研究结果强调了绿地形态特征的重要性，超越了绿地数量，对于人口老龄化程度较高的社会，改善居民健康具有重要意义。
