Increased monetary equity and health wellbeing benefits for marginal urban socioeconomic groups from access to green space

Abstract

Health benefits from access to nature are well known and increasingly cited as a supporting argument for the conservation of biodiversity, particularly in cities. However, calculating the benefits from access to nature in economic terms is challenging due to a lack of data linking benefits, number of beneficiaries, and monetary values. This study used mobile phone ‘ping’ data to estimate the use of large biodiverse green spaces (e.g., metropolitan National Parks) surrounding Adelaide, the World’s second National Park City. This ping data was combined with park user and general population data to calculate a health benefit from access to green spaces for citizens across socio-economic groups in the city. Additional data on health burden costs was then used to calculate reduced health costs from access to nature in 20 metropolitan National Parks by 2,842,503 visitors in 2018–19. Across all socio-economic groups, an estimated AU$140 million worth of reduced healthcare costs was generated through access to biodiverse green spaces adjacent to the city. This is equivalent to around 4 % of the total South Australian healthcare budget. Importantly, citizens from the relatively lowest 40 % of socio-economic areas in the metropolitan area received a disproportionately high reduced health cost from access to public green space, despite the additional private cost of accessing National Parks. This study thus provides an opportunity to frame both health and biodiversity conservation decisions at a city and state scale.