Health and Landscape

If we are to feel well and stay healthy, we need attractive places where we can meet other people; however, we should also be able to retreat to a quiet place where we can relax, shielded from noise, disturbing odours and constant lighting. We also need near-natural spaces or areas with an urban character that invite us to take exercise and engage in sport.
A varied landscape that enables us to satisfy our needs for social interaction, rest and physical activity thus makes a significant contribution to healthcare and also to equal opportunities for the population. These factors make it important for this country to have architecturally well-designed urban neighbourhoods as well as green spaces that are close to nature outside the cities, so we can enjoy diverse experiences of nature.

Demands on the landscape and its use are changing; and this change gained even more momentum during the pandemic. It is difficult to assess how (for example) forest parties or the trend towards more outdoor activities will have repercussions for Health and Landscape in the longer term. It will be critically important to create and maintain suitable landscape spaces. This will not only involve developing the necessary spatial and landscape planning instruments; it will also require us to define rules that prevent usage from placing too much pressure on the landscape and thus damaging it.

Numerous landscape elements also strengthen our health by eliminating harmful effects: trees and soil filter out pollutants, preventing them from penetrating the air or water. Rich biodiversity can also benefit health – for example, by providing raw materials for medical remedies or preventing the uninhibited propagation of organisms that can transmit diseases.
Landscape qualities also play a key role in response to global warming: shade-giving trees and parks, for instance, can make a decisive contribution towards cooling down urban heat islands.

Collaboration among multiple authorities is an essential factor in addressing the impact of landscape on health. This is because urban, spatial and transport planners, the energy industry, food production, environmental protection, the healthcare sector and many other players are all required to participate. The example of mobility illustrates the closely intertwined relationships among different areas of policy: on the one hand, private car traffic emits exhaust fumes and particulate matter, causes noise, pollutes soil and water due to tyre abrasion and thus ultimately presents a threat to human health. But on the other hand, many people use their cars in their leisure time to drive into the countryside and go hiking or engage in other recreational activities in a green environment. The gaping contradiction between the pursuit of health-promoting relaxation and health-damaging mobility can be resolved thanks to forms of non-motorised transport. Anyone who uses a bicycle will combine mobility with physical fitness.

The pathogenic effect of certain environmental influences such as air pollutants has been medically proven. However, there has been far less investigation of the impact of landscape qualities on our health, so FoLAP sees a major need for research here. For example, we do not know which qualities of the landscape that can be perceived with the senses have the ability to improve preventive healthcare, and to what extent. It is also unclear whether certain characteristics of the landscape can produce different impacts on the health of different population groups – such as children, older people, or those with a migration background. Light should also be shed on the importance of landscape changes in relation to health, and on the effects that the alienation from nature of certain groups of the population has on their health.
FoLAP also intends to draw attention to the consequences for landscape of more recent health trends. How, for example, could changed dietary habits be reflected in the landscape? Furthermore, it is unclear which landscape services will be in greater demand if more people attach greater importance to health aspects in their everyday lives than in the past.

The realisation that landscape has major importance for human health has been incorporated into various political strategies. The European Landscape Convention, for instance, designates landscape as a key element in the wellbeing of individuals and society.

The Swiss Landscape Concept (SLC) also states that attractive landscape and the experience of nature motivate many people to engage in sport and take exercise. Likewise, the Federal Council's health policy strategy requires that the quality of nature and landscape should be maintained because they contribute to the structural promotion of health.