Review of psychological parameters as Certification criteria for Health Parks: Preliminary experimental study on selected indicators

Numerous studies have highlighted the positive effects that natural environments have on the physical and psychological health of individuals. Recent research further confirms that urban nature, particularly parks, serves as a potential intervention in addressing health issues (Keniger et al., 2013). However, not all natural environments are equally regenerative and beneficial (Herzog et al., 2003). There are differences between types of landscapes (Liu, 2016), landscape elements (White et al., 2010), and spatial characteristics (Peschardt & Stigsdotter, 2013) that determine varying effects on aesthetic preference, regenerative perception, and health promotion. This work represents a literature review concerning some indicators relevant to the effects of parks on user well-being. Then, an experimental study is conducted on four of the identified indicators, with the exploratory objective of evaluate the effects of their presence on participants’ ratings. After an initial review of literature, potentially relevant indicators were identified and for each of them, the following details were determined: requirement (necessary quality for certification), critical thresholds (minimum acceptable level), objective (quantifiable design characteristics) and/or subjective measurements (user judgments). After this conceptual phase, an experimental study will be conducted for a preliminary testing of four indicators: blue elements, floral coverage, chromatic biodiversity, faunal biodiversity. Images were created through an AI image generator (i.e., Adobe Firefly), with the same baseline image of an urban park, in which the targeted indicators were added creating a new image. The objective is to examine the effects of indicators’ presence on place attractiveness and willingness to visit, place perception in terms of pleasantness and relaxation, affective reactions in terms of valence and arousal, perceived restorativeness of the place, and the potential selection of the place for emotion regulation. Selected images and procedure were tested in pilot study, showing that the images were effectively perceived accordingly to presence of the manipulated indicators. Main administration of the study will be conducted in the next few weeks. In synergy with experts from other sectors, the ultimate goal of this taxonomy is to certify parks, defined as “Health Parks”, which exhibit an adequate level of identified indicators and thus have high potential for benefits. The associated certification system is promoted by various Italian entities, including Assoverde and Confagricoltura. The study holds significant importance for informing policy-making and the design of urban parks to enhance benefits and interactions.