The features and quality of the areas we live in can have relevant impacts in our mental health. Many studies have shown that living closer to green spaces such as parks or in areas with more trees and vegetation can improve mental health and well-being. On the contrary, living in highly polluted areas may make people more susceptible to develop mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Most studies addressing this issue use samples of participants that are permanent residents in a given address and compare the mental health of those living in better quality areas to those doing so in worse quality ones. However, many people move to different locations within the city they live in along their lives and the impact that such changes may have in their mental health has been hardly studied. If people moved to a better quality area, with increased availability of parks and lower air pollution, we could expect their mental health to improve after the move. On the other hand, moving to a less green and more polluted area could imply a mental health deterioration. We will test these hypotheses with data from the Connected Bradford project and see whether changes in residential greenness and air pollution do actually affect mental health.
01/10/2023
2 years
