Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess healthy people’s psychological and physical changes when spending time in an green area in the middle of the urban square.
Method: 10 subjects (20–26 years old) were asked to remain for one hour in a green area area in the JR Akihabara station square, in the middle of the urban square, on a sunny September morning. 10 other control subjects were asked to remain in a tent erected near the green area which was positioned so that the participants could not see the green area.
Results: Participants in the green area showed a reduced Profile of Mood State (POMS) for anger-hostility (p<.01), whereas control participants showed no significant change on the same test. Furthermore, subjects in the green area showed either positive results or no change using Wartegg Zeichen Test, whereas control subjects showed negative scoring (p<0.05). Recorded quantities of salivary cortisol of subjects in the green area also reduced.
Conclusion: Green areas in the center of busy towns have a positive effect on health psychologicaly and physiologicaly. These results were obtained from a study commissioned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and undertaken by the Organization for Landscape and Urban Greenery Technology Development in which the author participated.
