Restorative effects of exposure to greenways : A systematic review 1. Introduction Urbanization is a prevailing global phenomenon that is experiencing significant growth. According to forecasts from the United Nations Population Division1, the percentage of urbanization is anticipated to increase, with an estimated 68% of the global population residing in urban areas by 2050. Nevertheless, the process of urbanization has been associated with detrimental impacts on human psychology and physical well-being, resulting in a higher prevalence of depression2 and an elevated susceptibility to obesity and accompanying health complications3. With the increasing severity of these health ailments afflicting contemporary urban populations, there is an urgent need to provide spaces and places for physical and mental health recovery.
Restoration theory is a significant concept in the field of mental health, focusing on the recovery of resources depleted by daily demands. 4 Restorative environments refer to natural settings that facilitate a transition towards more pleasant emotional states, favorable alterations in physiological activity levels, and improvements in behavior and cognitive functioning5,6. Most of the research on restorative environments has been guided by two theories: the Stress Recovery Theory (SRT) 7and the Attention Restoration Theory (ART)5. The ART theory explains how natural environments can restore a person's ability to focus their attention voluntarily and effectively by providing effortless fascination and reducing demands on the mechanisms that control attention. The SRT theory suggests that specific visual features in the surroundings might quickly trigger a restoration of psychophysiological well-being by eliciting