Despite our increasing longevity, modern lifestyles have become associated with a number of health problems. Our work, leisure and home activities are becoming more sedentary, our eating habits
encourage obesity and our lack of physical exercise, combined with stress from urban living, result in increasing levels of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental illness. With such
pressures on public health, we need to understand better how interaction with the outdoor environment might impact or improve health.
This book addresses the growing interest in salutogenic environments - those that support healthy lifestyles and promote well-being - and the particular need for appropriate methods to research
the links between landscape and health. Drawing on multidisciplinary approaches from environmental psychology, health sciences, urban design, landscape architecture and horticulture, it goes
beyond the conventional theories and methods to explore what new possibilities might offer.
The authors are international leaders in their fields, brought together by the directors of the OPENspace research centre, Edinburgh. Their unique contribution is a resource to help the
research, policy and practice community identify key issues, and commission, undertake and apply research in landscape and health. It also contributes to framing research questions and
developing appropriate methods to address the urgent needs for a healthy society.
