The effect of natural settings on stress reduction

The Stress Reduction Theory suggests that natural environment elicits greater calming responses which indicates a general reduction of psychological symptoms of stress by viewing natural setting features with restorative quality. The aim of this paper was to analyze literature on a range of natural settings to support the evidence of stress reduction effect related to exposure to the different types of landscape settings. A systematic review was carried out to examine 42 publications in order to identify the current state of the research. The review provides an overview of the relationship between nature setting of green spaces and stress reduction. Findings have shown that nature settings that helped in stress reduction could be divided into five main categories such as tended green spaces, forests, specific landscape elements, restorative landscape characters and nature sounds. Further research is recommended to assess the detail of the landscape characters to help establish the future framework for another population in developing countries in order to provide the best solution in restorative design and planning context.