A rock garden at the Science Museum of Virginia
Taking a stroll through the park is even better for us than we thought, according to a study that found walking in a quiet, green setting has physiological and psychological advantages over walking in noisy, gray spaces.
Published in September, the study, “The Impact of Urban Walking on Psychophysiological Well-being,” was a collaboration between Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and the Science Museum of Virginia.
“We can now scientifically defend that access to a quiet, calm, green space is much better than being constricted to a really busy and loud gray space,” says Jeremy Hoffman, study co-author, VCU geology professor and the science museum’s David and Jane Cohn Scientist.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 40 volunteers from the museum’s Community Science Program took 20-minute walks along two routes in the summer of 2020. The first walk took them down and back along a noisy, developed section of West Broad Street that began near the museum and ended at North Allen Avenue. The second route offered a quieter and shadier trek through the Fan that went from West Broad Street, around The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design’s pocket park and back toward the science museum.
“Participants said they felt better after the green walk, and that was confirmed by the various scientific sensors attached to them,” Hoffman says. “We were able to measure and observe just how much better the green condition is from the gray condition.”
The data revealed that body temperature, air quality, stress levels, attention and even working memory were better after walking in the green space. “The pandemic taught us just how important public spaces are,” Hoffman says. “The study gives further evidence to support that we need more connected, safe, accessible green spaces for everyone.”
The study also acknowledges the importance of walking as a form of exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking, each week. Richmond residents reach only a third of that goal, according to the study.
“In much of the Southeast region, for a variety of reasons, including more sedentary lifestyles and more dependance on personal vehicles, residents tend to get a lower amount of exercise than the rest of the country,” Hoffman says. “That has cascading effects across all forms of our public health.” Increasing safe green spaces and improving access to them encourages residents to walk more and helps them support a healthier lifestyle, Hoffman adds.
The study’s release last fall came just as the science museum was finishing the first phase of The Green, a park that replaces the asphalt parking lot connecting the campus with the Children’s Museum of Richmond. The Green opened in January; construction for the second phase is set to begin later this year. After all three phases are complete, guests and residents will have access to 6 acres of green space along Broad Street.
The Green at the Science Museum of Virginia
“What was a flat, impervious surface is now a gathering space for our guests, neighbors and residents all over Richmond,” Hoffman says. He says the space is already being used by employees of the nearby Department of Motor Vehicles building, residents of the William Byrd Senior Apartments retirement community and patrons of the Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
Designed by local firm Glavé & Holmes Architecture, The Green features a paved walking trail through green space, along with a natural trail through pine straw. Native Virginia plants were added to optimize maintenance and support migratory birds and pollinators. Picnic tables and benches invite guests to linger and enjoy the outdoors.
The design of the park also contains an Easter egg: the distance from one end of the park to the other is 460 feet, which is perfectly scaled to the earth’s age of 4.6 billion years. Hoffman says it’s a great way for museum guests to get a visual representation of geologic time. For the average adult, each step represents 10 million years.
“The Green at the science museum is wonderful,” says Laura Thomas, director of the Office of Sustainability for the city of Richmond. “It’s a great example project of what we can be doing throughout the entire city.”
Hoffman’s urban walking study helps validate the city’s efforts to increase green space at the Diamond District and through the Richmond 300 master plan and RVAgreen 2050, an initiative to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Thomas says, and the study supplements the city’s research on climate change and urban heat islands, as well as the correlation between asthma and environmental conditions.
The city is currently hiring its first urban forester to increase the tree canopy. In addition, the city is developing urban agriculture programs and enhancing partnerships to expand green spaces, among other climate-action initiatives.
“As the city’s plans become implemented, studies like ours can help us apply the findings in a scientific world view about how to make walking even better. Making it safe and accessible is one thing; making it beautiful and calm and green is another level,” Hoffman says. “Having scientific data helps us to make the best and most informed decisions. We’re really excited to see where these plans are going to go.”
