Green spaces in urban centres bring many health benefits

Spending time in nature, like the family in this filepic, promotes not only better health, but also creativity and a positive body image.

The idea that nature has the potential to promote physical health and well-being has a very long history.

Around 290 BCE, for example, the Roman-Jewish writer Josephus wrote about a remarkable feat of engineering in Babylon, with a series of ascending tiered gardens containing a wide variety of trees, shrubs and vines – what we now know as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.