Living near green spaces means you can use them for walking, strolling, or just sitting around

Nine studies from seven countries involving 8.32 million people show that for every 0.1 increase in the normalized vegetation index (NDVI) within 500 meters of a home, the risk of dying during the same period drops by roughly 4%. This measures greenery right around where people live, not how often they visit parks. Naturally, neighborhoods with more greenery tend to have wealthier residents and cleaner air. So don’t interpret this as “visiting parks automatically adds years to your life”; the practical takeaway is to consider nearby green spaces when choosing where to live.

No cost at all — it’s free and easy to incorporate into daily life.

This result comes from a meta-analysis of nine long-term cohort studies spanning seven countries and 8.32 million participants. It looks at vegetation levels within 500 meters of residences, quantified via NDVI — a number that reflects ground-level greenery (bare soil or concrete scores near 0, dense vegetation near 1). A 0.1 rise in NDVI corresponds to a pooled hazard ratio of 0.96 for overall mortality (95% CI 0.94–0.97), meaning a roughly 4% reduction in death risk — with actual values likely falling between 3% and 6%. Seven out of the nine studies found lower mortality in greener areas, a pattern unlikely to be coincidental; the other two showed no clear link.

This finding remains debated. The studies themselves vary widely in results (I² = 95%, indicating substantial disagreement), and the analysis tracks neighborhood greenery rather than personal park visits. Moreover, greener areas typically feature higher incomes, cleaner air, and more active lifestyles — all factors intertwined with vegetation levels. Again, don’t read this as “parks guarantee longer life”; the key insight is that living near green spaces costs nothing and may offer health benefits. NDVI is simply a numeric way to gauge local greenery, where values near 0 represent barren or paved zones and values near 1 indicate lush vegetation — so a 0.1 increase roughly equals moving from a bare urban block to one lined with trees.

Rojas-Rueda D, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Gascon M, Perez-Leon D, Mudu P (2019). Green spaces and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. The Lancet Planetary Health, 3(11), e469-e477. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30215-3