Road traffic modifies green space and self-rated health associations across urban England and Wales
Author(s)
Belcher, Richard N
Murray, Kris A
Reeves, Jonathan P
Fecht, Daniela
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Urban green space is increasingly linked to better public health. Natural environments in parks and woodlands may promote physical activity and prosocial behaviour, reduce stress, and restore cognition, yet modifiers of these benefits are poorly understood. Road traffic may reduce a sense of “being away” and deter activity, potentially limiting health gains. We tested whether traffic modifies green space–health associations using a novel exposure metric based on green space visibility from footpaths. In a cross-sectional ecological study of Census output areas within built-up urban areas in England, and we related the prevalence of self-rated positive (good/very good) health (2011 Census) to “experienceable” green space visible from footpaths with and without adjacent traffic. Non-linear spline models adjusted for age, sex, and area-level confounders showed strong positive associations for trees outside woodland visible from roadside footpaths with traffic and for woodland visible from footpaths without traffic. Associations for ground cover adjacent to footpaths were generally positive but smaller. By contrast, woodland adjacent to footpaths with traffic showed a negative association. The findings support provision of woodland experiences away from traffic while also suggesting benefits of roadside tree planting.
Date Issued
2026-09-01
Date Acceptance
2026-03-25
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2026, 36 (9), pp.2719-2733
ISSN
0960-3123
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Start Page
2719
End Page
2733
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Environmental Health Research
Volume
36
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41967041
Subjects
Greenspace
ecosystem services
visibility analysis
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2026-04-12