Chicago officials heard that message last year. The researchers hope that the Chicago effort, combined with new greening initiatives in Providence, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, point to a change in policymakers attitudes toward trees and landscaping in urban areas. It is a change that residents of the housing developments would likely welcome. Not only do they want trees, many said they want to be involved in planting and maintaining their landscapes, the researchers said. We re not suggesting a Sherwood Forest in every neighborhood, Sullivan said, but it is important for people to be able to walk out their doors into spaces with some greenness.
Daily contact makes a significant difference in a range of ways and at different ages.
With that in mind, the researchers are planning a new component of the research to examine how green landscapes may increase the vitality and longevity of older adults. Kuo and Sullivan also want to look more closely at why and how trees affect human behavior and functioning. We ve taken a broad view that has yielded some exciting findings, but haven t even begun to see the tip of the iceberg, Kuo said. We can say now that trees make a difference, but there s a tremendous amount of work to be done before we know what the minimum daily requirement is or how to achieve that in urban environments. Tina Prow is a staff writer for The Illinois Steward and a writer with Information Technology and Communication Services in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.