![]() ![]() Making access to nature a luxury that few can afford continues to reinforce existing patterns of deep inequality. Growing evidence suggests that access to green space has the most pronounced benefits among the lowest socioeconomic groups. Nevertheless, as our research shows, the contribution access to nature makes to people’s well-being is important. Many also described how visiting nature eased feelings of hardship, stress, and loneliness.Įmployment, housing, water and sanitation remain urgent priorities for urban and rural development. ![]() Even though many had limited access to natural spaces, and seldom visited them, they valued such spaces for their contribution to a sense of well-being, identity and shared heritage. ![]() We found that across a range of urban to rural locations, age and gender, most people we interviewed had a strong appreciation for nature. Our definition of “nature” includes anything from dense natural forest in rural areas, to patches of bush and communal grazing land around towns and villages. We have been researching for the past decade the relationships isiXhosa-speaking people in urban and rural settings in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province have with their natural environment. It includes highly uneven distribution of city trees and green spaces, a situation that has been dubbed “ green apartheid”. In South Africa, there remains a stark contrast in access to nature and green spaces between areas that were divided along racial lines during apartheid. And as with many other types of amenities, access to nature and green spaces is highly skewed along socio-economic lines. In an era of accelerating urbanisation, particularly in developing countries, nature experience is becoming increasingly rare. While they rightfully emphasise economic development, housing and sanitation, they commonly treat access to green space as a luxury to enjoy once basic needs are met. There’s little research that has been done in developing countries on the benefits of being in nature.ĭevelopment and urban planning approaches in developing countries reflect this. But much of the research on these benefits has been done in relatively affluent countries in the global North. The benefits of experiencing nature for physical, psychological and spiritual well-being are widely documented. ![]()
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