Scientific knowledge of the health benefits of urban green and blue spaces is not being translated fast enough into practical and policy changes. Such changes are needed to improve the liveability of communities in large urban areas and to address the dual and growing challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. A vast array of options can facilitate better design of urban settings to enhance natural environments and improve health. One is to increase tree coverage and green space to reduce the higher temperatures in cities and towns compared with rural areas. These green spaces can also provide respite during heatwaves, which are projected to increase in frequency and intensity because of climate change.

Urban greening could also address the inequities that arise because poor and marginalised populations generally live in hotter areas of cities.

Access to green spaces, such as forests, parks, grasslands, and recreational areas, and blue spaces, such as rivers, oceans, seas, and lakes, improves health and wellbeing.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, green and blue spaces proved beneficial for mental

and physical health,

although it is important to note that these benefits were not felt equitably. In New York, for example, wealthy, White residents were more likely to use urban green space during the pandemic than people who self-identified as being part of non-exclusive, census-based race and ethnicity categories, (eg, Asian, Black, African American, Hispanic or Latinx, or Native American),

raising important questions about how to increase equitable use.