Children living near green spaces ‘have stronger bones’:
The link between stronger bones and green space for children is likely to be the result of more physical activities, Damian Carrington writes for The Guardian.
Carington says, “Scientists found that children living in places with 20-25% more natural areas had increased bone strength that was equivalent to half a year’s natural growth. The study, the first of its kind, also found that the risk of having very low bone density was about 65% lower for these children.”
The study took place in Belgium with Professor Tim Nawrot at Hasselt University.
Nawrot said, “So the real public health message from this study is that urban planners can make stronger bones of children, and that has long-lasting consequences.”
Carington adds, “The researchers said the results were important as low bone growth at a young age was as crucial to the onset of osteoporosis as bone loss through ageing.” Read the full article.
How should organisations be held accountable for promoting environments that foster social connection?
Humans are social creatures and need connection for security and safety. The AMA Journal of Ethics reports that loneliness and social isolation exceed the health risk of obesity and is comparable to smoking. Written by a number of experts, the article asks whether organisations should be held accountable for promoting social connection.
The article outlines the ‘health risks of loneliness’ and addresses design processes that promote the building of social connection through community engagement.
The authors write: “Design interventions for physical environments—structures, spaces, and soundscapes, for example—can foster social connection, support and resilience.
“However, because social connection is often regarded as a natural outcome of most public space or infrastructure ‘improvement,’ few projects incorporate research-based design interventions, which are most effective when woven into the fabric of a community and inclusive of diverse community voices.
“Specifically, the presence of public and private community gathering places frequently called third places (eg, cafes, parks, plazas) can increase social connection, social capital and well-being by serving as “enabling places,” promoting recovery from hardships or providing material and social resources.” Read the full article.
Street Furniture Australia’s entire product range and manufacturing operation has received carbon neutral certification through Climate Active™. Achieving carbon neutral certification marks a significant milestone in our operation and the culmination of a four year long process of detailed measurement and analysis. Climate Active™ is the only Australian government-backed carbon neutral certification programme for businesses to measure, reduce, and offsets their carbon emissions. It is one of the most rigorous carbon-neutral programs in the world. An approved Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS) is central to achieving certification through Climate Active. Street Furniture Australia has elected to use SBTi validated science-based targets to ensure their ERS is meaningful and aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global temperature rises to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. For those emissions that can’t be …
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Image: Carroll Go-Sam. Are yarning circles the new decal? With requests for yarning circles becoming increasingly commonplace in design briefs, Carroll Go-Sam, Indigenous research fellow in the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre at the University of Queensland’s School of Architecture, writes on ArchitectureAU how they might be more meaningfully incorporated into projects. In the early stages of a project design, she writes, a yarning circle concept is often supported by Indigenous engagement. “But, after the initial meeting and discussion, human-centred design, iterative development, empathetic accommodation, questioning and dialogue all stop, with the result that poor built examples outnumber good ones,” she said. Go-Sam is concerned when yarning circles become “quasi-sacred zones of exclusion, set aside for one day a year during NAIDOC Week.” She outlines five recommendations for designing a yarning …
Plant diversity in urban green spaces led to sevenfold increase in insect species New research suggests that the introduction of even small green urban spaces can dramatically improve local biodiversity. A study lead by Dr Luis Mata of the University of Melbourne and Cesar Australia examined the ecological outcomes of planting 12 indigenous plant species on a small 195 square metre plot in Melbourne, adjacent to a major road. The research, Mata told The Guardian, “Was conducted in a very densely urbanised area, completely surrounded by streets and relatively tall buildings, and with limited access to surrounding green space.” The researchers identified the presence of 94 insect species, with 91 indigenous to the Australian state of Victoria. They estimated that by the final year of the study there were about …
Playful expectations Children learn and grow with play, especially outdoors, though research shows that children are now only spending two hours or less outside – 36% less than previous generations. Hayball associate and Landscape Australia writer Natalia Krysiak returns from her travels in Tokyo feeling inspired with ideas of how to create cities that support the wellbeing of children and encourage outdoor play. Krysiak describes the excitement of active children in the densest city in the world, Tokyo. She says, “Scattered among the trees are a mud kitchen, a zip-line, a secret tree house and makeshift cubbies used by children of all ages and abilities: the type of play that childhood dreams are made of.” Tokyo offers 80 playparks like this connecting children to unstructured nature-based play and Krysiak sees …
