Can parkland mitigate mental health burden imposed by the COVID-19? A national study in China

Highlights

Provision of parkland is positively associated with mental well-being during the COVID-19 epidemic.
The geographical distance to Wuhan city, rate of return to work, and travel intensity within the city are also positively associated with mental well-being.
The number of COVID-19 infections and the proportion of migrants from Hubei Province for each city are negatively associated with mental well-being.
Parkland buffers the association between the COVID-19 epidemic and mental well-being in China.

Abstract

The worldwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has seriously affected the physical health and mental wellbeing (i.e mental stress and suicide intention) of numerous urban inhabitants across the globe. While many studies have elucidated urban parkland enhances and mental wellbeing, the potential for parkland to mitigate mental health burden imposed by the COVID-19 has received no attention. This nationwide study systematically explored the association between parkland, the COVID-19 epidemic and mental wellbeing from 296 cities in China. The study innovatively used big data from Baidu Search Engine to assess city-level mental wellbeing, thereby enabling comparisons among cities. The results show that the provision of parkland is positively associated with mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 epidemic. For COVID-19-related indicators, the geographical distance to Wuhan city, work resumption rate, and travel intensity within the city are also positively associated with mental wellbeing, while the number of COVID-19 infections and the proportion of migrants from Hubei Province for each city are negatively associated with mental wellbeing. Last, the most important finding is that parkland reduces the negative effect of COVID-19 on mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 epidemic. To achieve the goal of promoting mental wellbeing through urban planning and design during the future pandemics, policymakers and planners are advised to increase the provision of parkland and encourage residents to use them with proper precautions.