Manuel Franco
Head of International Relations at the Spanish Society of Public Health and Healthcare Administration (SESPAS), organiser of the 2026 European Public Health Conference (EUPHA), Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and professor and researcher at the universities of Alcalá and Johns Hopkins
This is a very well designed study within a powerful and classic cardiovascular cohort study carried out in different US cities that answers a key question for the health of all those people living in cities today: is long-term exposure to urban green spaces associated with epigenetic ageing? Does the low socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood modify that effect? The results showed that the higher the exposure to green spaces, the lower the epigenetic ageing.
Therefore, we have more and better scientific evidence to increase and promote the use of urban green spaces and that these serve to slow down the epigenetic ageing process, which would help reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and improve the quality of life and life expectancy.
The authors highlight in their conclusions how these findings support policies to promote equity, the use of green spaces by the whole population, and increase their health benefits.
Research on the use of parks involves understanding the processes of gentrification and inequalities in their use. This is something we have already studied in Madrid.
This study has been carried out in the USA, with a society that uses parks less than Spanish society. In this sense, and now that the heat is coming, the use of parks as resources that promote and protect the health of citizens is fundamental.