EAST: Town walk into Urban Grey and Urban Green
14. 8. 20, 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Arnulf Hartl is head of the Institute of Ecomedicine at the Paracelsus Medical Private University in Salzburg. With his team, he researches the effect of nature on people's health and wellbeing, and will accompany the group on a walk through the grey and green areas of Salzburg.

The discussion will deal with the settlement structure and the variously designed living environments of rich and poor, natives and migrants, young and old, along Salzburg's main axis, the River Salzach. The correlations between urban planning, nature and health, and the resultant influence on social harmony will be considered.

The worldwide growth of urban populations is leading to increasing alienation from the natural environment; wellbeing, life satisfaction and happiness seem endangered through densely populated urban areas. It would seem all the more important, then, to create islands of nature to allow urban dwellers places to relax and experience the natural world. The subject under discussion here will be how environmental medicine can contribute to a successful implementation of this idea.