At Home with Nature

TLDR

The nearby natural environment plays a far more significant role in the well‑being of children residing in poor urban environments than has previously been recognized. The study aims to rule out extraneous variables and examine how the naturalness or restorativeness of the home environment affects cognitive functioning in low‑income urban children. A pre‑move/post‑move longitudinal design measured objective naturalness indicators and administered a standardized cognitive assessment before and after relocation. Children whose homes became greener after relocation showed the greatest gains in cognitive functioning, underscoring the importance of natural environments for urban child development.

Abstract

The nearby natural environment plays a far more significant role in the well-being of children residing in poor urban environments than has previously been recognized. Using a premove/postmove longitudinal design, this research rules out the effects of various extraneous variables that have plagued previous studies and explores the linkage between the naturalness or restorativeness of the home environment and the cognitive functioning of low-income urban children. Both before and after relocation, objective measures of naturalness are employed along with a standardized instrument measuring the children’s cognitive functioning. Results indicate that children whose homes improved the most in terms of greenness following relocation also tended to have the highest levels of cognitive functioning following the move. The implications with respect to policy and design are also discussed.