Study: Greener Streets Are Linked to Longer Sleep

Sleep is increasingly recognized as one of the key pillars of good health. Insufficient sleep has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, as well as reduced productivity. As cities look for ways to improve residents’ well-being, researchers are exploring whether features of the urban environment could help people get better sleep.

A new study suggests that greener neighborhoods and streets with greater “visual enclosure” — for example, where buildings or trees frame the street — are associated with longer sleep. By contrast, neighborhoods with more pedestrian-friendly street networks were associated with shorter sleep duration.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan examined how the appearance of neighborhoods and residents’ perceptions of safety affect sleep among working adults aged 40 to 59 who lived no higher than the third floor of buildings in Tokyo.

The research team used artificial intelligence to analyze more than 200,000 images from Google Street View, identifying visual characteristics of urban neighborhoods. They then compared these data with self-reported sleep quality and duration among 1,089 working adults living on lower floors of apartment buildings, Euronews reports.

The researchers found that streets creating a kind of corridor framed by buildings or trees were associated with fewer symptoms of insomnia and longer sleep duration. There was also evidence that this relationship was partly explained by residents perceiving such neighborhoods as safer and more vibrant.

“Our findings also confirm a significant positive association between subjective perceptions of safety and sleep duration,” the authors wrote.

Greener neighborhoods were associated with a greater sense of safety and, consequently, longer sleep. In contrast, neighborhoods with more pedestrian-friendly street networks were associated with a lower sense of safety and shorter sleep duration.

The authors note that their findings broaden our understanding of how the urban environment can influence sleep quality. They also identify practical indicators that could be useful in future research and in designing healthier urban spaces focused on residents’ well-being.

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