The psychological benefits of indoor plants: A critical review of the experimental literature

People have been bringing plants into residential and other indoor settings for centuries, but little is known about their psychological effects. In the present article, we critically review the experimental literature on the psychological benefits of indoor plants. We focus on benefits gained through passive interactions with indoor plants rather than on the effects of guided interactions with plants in horticultural therapy or the indirect effect of indoor plants as air purifiers or humidifiers. The reviewed experiments addressed a variety of outcomes, including emotional states, pain perception, creativity, task-performance, and indices of autonomic arousal. Some findings recur, such as enhanced pain management with plants present, but in general the results appear to be quite mixed. Sources of this heterogeneity include diversity in experimental manipulations, settings, samples, exposure durations, and measures. After addressing some overarching theoretical issues, we close with recommendations for further research with regard to experimental design, measurement, analysis, and reporting.     

The Application of the Ecological Footprint: A case of passenger transport in Merseyside

The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is believed to be responsible for climate change. In the UK, road transport emits 22% of the total output of carbon dioxide. This study applies the ecological footprint to Merseyside to ascertain the global environmental impact of passenger transport (expressed in hectares). Results show that car travel has a footprint of 704 000 hectares, which is 87% of the total footprint. It is demonstrated in scenarios that Policy initiatives involving the Local Transport Plan will cause the footprint to increase. It is also shown that individual behaviour could be influenced when highlighting the impacts of different modes of transport along the same route. By using the ecological footprint in educational programmes, the effect can be shown of carbon emissions and land appropriation on the 'school run'; these issues could be promoted alongside others such as health, safety, congestion, global equity and fairness.     

Stuck between the historic and modern China: A case study of children’s space in a hutong community

Physically and psychologically, children demand special-purpose space for activities. With the fast urbanization and population growth in modern China, the conflict between the needs for economic development and human-friendly environment becomes increasingly prominent. The study adopts an in-depth ethnographic research method and applies the research framework of Sudeshna Chatterjee (2005) to investigate children’s environmental friendliness of a hutong community in Beijing. The study investigated spatial preferences of those children and the characteristics and affordance of their space. This study suggests that different emotional dimensions demand different spatial attributes, which are lacking in the hutong community. The results show that in China’s historical residential areas, children’s environmental and spatial needs remain unfulfilled. The researchers suggest that improving specific environmental affordance could help enhance the overall child-friendliness.     

Disruption to place attachment and the protection of restorative environments: A wind energy case study

Deepening understanding of public responses to large-scale renewable energy projects is of academic and practical importance, given policies to lessen fossil fuel use in many countries. Although the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) concept is commonly used to explain public opposition, the concept has been extensively critiqued. This study applies an alternative approach based upon the notion of disruption to place attachment, and the theory of social representations, with a focus upon the symbolic meanings associated with a proposed project and the places affected by it. Empirical data is provided from a case study of a proposed 750 MW offshore wind farm in North Wales, using group discussions and questionnaires distributed to local residents in two coastal towns (n = 488). Results indicate significant differences between each town's residents in their responses to the project, and how opposition arises from nature/industry symbolic contradictions: between a place represented in terms of scenic beauty that provides a restorative environment for residents and visitors, and a wind farm that will industrialise the area and ‘fence’ in the bay. In one of the towns, the data suggests that contradiction between project and place was experienced as a threat to identity for those with strong place attachment, leading to negative attitudes and oppositional behaviour. Levels of trust in key actors moderated the relation between place attachment and negative attitudes to the wind farm. The results provide further evidence of the role of place attachment in shaping so-called ‘NIMBY’ responses to development proposals, and challenge the assumption that offshore wind farms will prove less controversial than those onshore.     

When mobility makes sense: A qualitative and longitudinal study of the daily mobility of the elderly

A majority of North Americans hopes to grow old in the suburbs. This aspiration depends upon their ability to drive and their access to a car. Because it is essential for everyday travel, car-mobility in the suburbs is becoming a symbolic goal. The meanings of mobility for elderly will evolve over time, notably as a result of changes in autonomy. However, the mobility of older adults is mainly understood in terms of daily trips. Little research has considered the temporal dimension of aging as an evolving process. This study aimed at understanding with a qualitative and longitudinal perspective how older people stay (auto-)mobile in their house and their neighborhood against the need to adapt to reduced autonomy and mobility over time. A group of 22 suburbanites aged from 62 to 89 was interviewed in 1999 and in 2006. The results show that even if older people succeed in increasing their mobility, they are headed for inevitable immobility. Among the environmental adaptation strategies that were observed, the constructed behaviors, the dependencies demanding additional supports as well as the social life modulate different evolving experiences of the city: the shrinking city, the fragmented city, and the city by proxy. The built environment is at the heart of a complex process in which the adaptation of mobility contributes to the emergence of new residential experiences.     

The environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes

Environmental attitudes (EA), a crucial construct in environmental psychology, are a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favour or disfavour. There are hundreds of EA measures available based on different conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and most researchers prefer to generate new measures rather than organize those already available. The present research provides a cumulative and theoretical approach to the measurement of EA, in which the multidimensional and hierarchical nature of EA is considered. Reported are findings from three studies on the development of a psychometrically sound, multidimensional inventory to assess EA cross-culturally, the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI). The EAI has twelve specific scales that capture the main facets measured by previous research. The twelve factors were established through confirmatory factor analyses, and the EAI scales are shown to be unidimensional scales with high internal consistency, homogeneity and high test-retest reliability, and also to be largely free from social desirability.     

竞合模式:粤西与海南旅游发展的新思路

以湛江、茂名、阳江三市为一级核心的粤西沿海旅游区与海南旅游区的主导旅游资源相似且地域临近，存在竞争关系。分析了粤西、海南实施竞合模式所具有的条件，并利用“竞合模式”探讨了粤西沿海旅游区和海南旅游区的竞争与合作关系，以建立粤西—海南旅游体系为目标，提出了合作战略，以期增强整体的竞争实力，促进旅游业的发展。     

钢铁领域CO2减排协同发展的实现策略——以京津冀为例

本文运用C-D生产函数修正传统的LMDI指数分解法并构建Tapio及交叉脱钩模型,结合灰色预测模型GM(1, 1),实证分析2006—2025年京津冀钢铁领域碳排放的碳强度、驱动因素、脱钩指数及协同关系。结果发现：(1)京津冀从“十一五”到“十四五”时期钢铁领域碳排放由快速增长变为缓慢增长,北京市和天津市钢铁领域的碳排放强度均低于地区平均水平,河北省则高于平均水平;(2)碳增排因素为能源消费碳强度和资本投入,碳减排因素为能源强度和技术进步,劳动投入逐渐从碳增排效应转变为碳减排效应;(3)京津冀钢铁领域碳排放与工业增加值未实现脱钩,且京津冀三地间脱钩协同关系多表现为不协同。鉴于京津冀城市群钢铁领域聚集,需推进钢铁领域实现协同脱钩,积极引领“双碳”行动。