Vertical gardens help reduce the stress caused by city life. I study

Living in the stressed city? Growing vertical vegetation on the outside of buildings relieves the "heaviness" of city life

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

Living in the stressed city? A scientific study suggests that vertical gardens can help us: growing vertical vegetation outside buildings relieves the "heaviness" of city life, giving us the feeling of being in the middle of nature. Which - you know - relaxes. The research was carried out by a team of psychologists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The survey was conducted on 111 volunteer participants who were asked to walk for five minutes along a virtual road through VR viewers, randomly distributed, who on a road that featured rows of plants (for example on balconies, walls and pillars of buildings), some with only buildings with green painted walls instead of real plants.

The results verified that those who saw buildings with green paint only experienced a significant increase in stress as recorded by a measure of heart rate variability, while those who saw buildings with green paint did not experience any changes in the relaxation index parameters.

After the experiment, the participants answered a questionnaire that assessed their positive (interest, excitement) and negative (hostility, upset) emotions and the level of anxiety they were experiencing: the responses highlighted that those who had virtually walked the street with buildings covered only by green walls he felt less positive than those who had experienced the sight of buildings covered with plants.

And even this time it is not just a scientific curiosity, at least it should not remain so: the results, although preliminary, should not only be investigated as soon as possible but, if confirmed, could (indeed, should) guide the greening efforts in cities - say the researchers - which, in addition to restoring oxygen in the literal sense of the term, contributes to people's well-being.

On the other hand, it is not even the first strong clue about it. In 2012, for example, the Clínica USP Sagrado Corazón in Seville was home to the first European vertical garden in a hospital and, already at the time, the hospital psychologist Paloma Carrasco Vergara, reported that the benefits associated with the were not only physical, but also psychological.

We know that environments rich in vegetation reduce the level of stress and anxiety - explained the expert - improving performance and increasing the sense of well-being, also managing to stimulate the immune system and reduce physical discomfort indoors by 50%.

Read also: The first European vertical garden in a hospital in Seville

So what are we waiting for a fill our cities with green?

The Singapore work has been accepted for publication on Landscape and Urban Planning (preview now available, full article scheduled for next September).