ABSTRACT
Memories from early childhood in the center of Stockholm emerge after being invited to contribute the chapter. A pioneering study on 41 million Britons below the age of retirement showed that the differences in health, which are related to socioeconomic status-and reveal themselves as differences in premature mortality were lower in residential neighborhoods with more greenery. The authors compared the relations between greenery and health with age and health, and noted that, in general, a one percent decrease in greenery corresponded to the increase by one year in morbidity. It showed that a higher incidence of greenery during childhood is associated with a lower risk for psychiatric disorders from adolescence to adulthood. The analyses showed that even when taking into account estimates of a large number of other environmental factors along the routes, including ugliness/beauty, exhaust fumes, noise, flows and velocities of motorized vehicles, the relationship still remained.
