Shulika, Elias (2022) A Lone Walk in a Park: the Non-social Effect of Urban Greenery on Loneliness. Master thesis.
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Abstract
Background: Green areas have been shown to reduce loneliness in urban citizens, howev- er, the mechanism behind the relationship has not been widely investigated. In the present study two possible mechanisms are distinguished: (i) social — green areas providing oppor- tunities for social contacts; and (ii) non-social — green areas in themselves alleviating lone- liness through such possible means as solace, reminders of social connections and anthro- pomorphisation of nature. Anthropomorphisation of nature was theorised to be amplified by pro-environmental attitudes. The main objective of the study was to assess the likeli- hood of both mechanisms with particular emphasis on the non-social mechanism. Methods: A 57-item questionnaire based on validated instruments including scales of loneliness, social isolation, positive affect and environmental attitudes was administered to the residents of Groningen, the Netherlands. The number of respondents who finished the questionnaire was 43. The spatial data were analysed with QGIS (distance to the nearest point and amount of points within an area) and statistical data with SPSS (Kendall’s τ and ordered logit regression). Results: The data showed support for the social mechanism, however, not the non-social mechanism. Pro-environmental attitudes were not shown to have an amplifying effect on the non-social path. Conclusion: Although, the study found support for the existence of the social mechanism but not the non-social mechanism, the efforts to study it do not need to be abandoned yet. It is possible, that the present study did not have enough power to uncover the small effect due to the low number of respondents. The framework of the study and suggestions for ad- justments could be utilised in future research.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Degree programme: | Environmental & Infrastructure Planning |
| Supervisor: | Rijnks, R.H. |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2022 10:54 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2022 10:54 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3997 |
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