Plant smellscape: A key avenue to connect nature and human well-being

IF 6 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening Pub Date : 2025-03-04 DOI:10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128757

Chun Wang , Bingtao Gao , Zezhou Hao , Le Li , Long Yang , Wendy Y. Chen , Nancai Pei

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The intrinsic connection between humans and nature, which significantly impacts human well-being in our increasingly urbanized society, has attracted considerable scholarly attention in the last decades. Urban vegetation offers city dwellers multiple ecosystem services, enabling multiple sensory experiences and interactions, thereby benefiting human health. In comparison with visual interaction, the olfactory experience of urban vegetation is less studied and undervalued. In this study, existing literature is reviewed to summarize and synthesize how plant scents increase the multiple ecological values especially cultural and health-related benefits of urban green spaces (UGS), improve environmental equity, and enhance residents’ well-being. Three key pathways have been investigated in the literature, including physiological, psychological, and social pathways, which enable both direct and indirect interactions between urban residents and vegetation. Facing the uneven distribution of plant smellscape driven by geophysical and anthropogenic factors, a research framework is proposed to integrate plant smellscape into green space planning, thereby enhancing human health and well-being.

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来源期刊

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening FORESTRY-

CiteScore

11.70

自引率

12.50%

发文量

289

审稿时长

70 days

期刊介绍： Urban Forestry and Urban Greening is a refereed, international journal aimed at presenting high-quality research with urban and peri-urban woody and non-woody vegetation and its use, planning, design, establishment and management as its main topics. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening concentrates on all tree-dominated (as joint together in the urban forest) as well as other green resources in and around urban areas, such as woodlands, public and private urban parks and gardens, urban nature areas, street tree and square plantations, botanical gardens and cemeteries. The journal welcomes basic and applied research papers, as well as review papers and short communications. Contributions should focus on one or more of the following aspects: -Form and functions of urban forests and other vegetation, including aspects of urban ecology. -Policy-making, planning and design related to urban forests and other vegetation. -Selection and establishment of tree resources and other vegetation for urban environments. -Management of urban forests and other vegetation. Original contributions of a high academic standard are invited from a wide range of disciplines and fields, including forestry, biology, horticulture, arboriculture, landscape ecology, pathology, soil science, hydrology, landscape architecture, landscape planning, urban planning and design, economics, sociology, environmental psychology, public health, and education.