According to the Living Conditions Survey conducted by the INE in 2018, over half of the Spanish population (50.7%) lives in cities. Furthermore, according to Eurostat data from 2023, some 65.5% of Spanish people live in flats, which limits their direct contact with nature. Easy access to technology and a broad offering of audiovisual content have led adolescents to spend ever more time at home in front of screens, reducing the time they have available to visit green spaces and limiting their exposure to nature. 

Urban green space refers to any area that is partially or fully covered by grass, trees, shrubs, or other vegetation, such as parks, gardens, meadows, and forests. These spaces favour socialisation, leisure, and physical activity for adolescents, although their access and use depend on socioeconomic factors and lifestyles. The environment in which adolescents live influences their development and identity formation, and can even determine their vulnerability to certain environmental effects, such as extreme temperatures, air pollution, or noise. 

Factors such as family income, parents’ education level, and environmental characteristics ‒ such as safety, lighting, or street cleanliness ‒ can influence access to urban green spaces and time spent in them. In this sense, a study carried out in California, including 2.15 million teenagers, showed that those with a low income level visited nearby parks less frequently.

In order to assess inequalities among adolescents in access to and use of urban green spaces in Spain, the Health & Territory Research (HTR) group at the Universidad de Sevilla designed the GreenTEENS survey, conducted in March 2024 with the support of the consulting firm Netquest. A total of 1,610 adolescents (aged 10 to 16) participated in the survey, all of them residing in one of six large metropolitan areas in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza, and Bilbao. The respondents’ households had an average household income of 35,171 euros per year, a figure similar to that of the general population in Spain (34,821 euros, INE 2023).

A total of 11.6% of adolescents visited green spaces daily; 18.3%, between three and five days per week; 37.6%, between one and two days per week; 26.2%, between one and two days per month, while 6.3% never visited them. Some 71.6% had a green space under six minutes from their home, and almost all of those who visited it went on foot (94.6%), followed by 10.7% who went by bicycle and 9.3% by car. The most common activities when they went to these green spaces were spending time with their friends (58.2%), walking or running (52.3%), and playing ball games (44.8%). On the other hand, when not visiting them, they spent their time doing homework (66%), using electronic devices (54.3%), watching series or films (46.5%), playing sports (39.6%) or doing extracurricular activities (39.0%). Overall, 72.0% of adolescents went to parks with their parents or siblings, followed by 67.0% who did so with friends, while only 5.2% went alone. With regard to the duration of their visits, 29.8% stayed at the green spaces between 30 and 60 minutes and 24.7% between 60 and 90 minutes. More than half (52.8%) would like to visit parks more often, mainly to spend time with their friends (58.6%), to be in contact with nature (42.4%), and to relax (39.5%).

Teenagers can also relate to nature by contemplating it from the windows of their home. In this study, 25.5% of adolescents could see between six and ten trees from their home, while 21.6% could see more than 25. More than half considered the number of trees in their neighbourhood to be adequate, but 25.4% perceived the amount as insufficient. Only 16.1% could see a green space (park, garden, or forest) from their room, and just 1.3% could see a blue space (sea, river, or lake).

Three socioeconomic profiles were identified – low, medium, and high – based on the characteristics of the parents (education level, employment status, income, and housing tenure) and the routines of the adolescents (use of screens, extracurricular activities, and academic performance).

A total of 9.6% of adolescents with a low socioeconomic profile did not visit any green space per week, followed by 7.3% with a medium socioeconomic profile, and 2.8% with a high socioeconomic profile. The main reasons for not visiting were: lack of time (51.0% in the low profile, 46.9% in the medium profile, and 61.9% in the high profile); boredom (32.2%, 37.3% and 25.3%, respectively), and lack of company (25.7%, 18.5%, and 16.8%, respectively). In addition, 54.2% of low-profile adolescents did not visit the green spaces due to extracurricular activities and 65.4% because of homework, while in the medium profile these figures were 39.5% and 57.1%, respectively, and, in the high profile, 82.2% and 79.5%, respectively. Despite these differences, close to 50% of adolescents of all socioeconomic profiles expressed a desire to visit green spaces more frequently. 

A total of 56.6% of adolescents lived in neighbourhoods with some type of problem, mainly dirty streets (50.8%); traffic (44.6%); crime (35.3%); insecurity (33.3%); a degraded landscape (31.0%); abandoned buildings (30.3%), and insufficient lighting (24.8%). A negative, although weak, correlation was found between the number of neighbourhood problems and the frequency of visits to green spaces by adolescents, indicating that the greater the number of neighbourhood problems, the fewer the visits to green spaces, and vice versa. When comparing the two groups, it was observed that adolescents who lived in neighbourhoods with at least one problem went to parks less frequently than those who lived in problem-free neighbourhoods.

A total of 48.2% of adolescents had witnessed insults; 29.1% had felt excluded or ignored by their peers; 21.4% had witnessed physical assaults; 17.9% had witnessed threats, and 13.6% had witnessed acts of racism or xenophobia. Among those who had felt excluded by peers or had witnessed physical assaults, 24.7% and 28.5%, respectively, visited green spaces more than three days per week, compared to 32.0% and 30.3% of those who had not experienced such situations. However, this difference was only significant among adolescents who had felt excluded by their peers. As for adolescents who had witnessed insults, the frequency of visits to parks was similar to that of individuals who had not witnessed them.

The main reason why adolescents did not visit green spaces was to do their homework (66.0%), followed by doing sport (59.3%) and using screens (54.3%). Although homework can improve academic performance, when excessive it reduces time for outdoor activities or socialising, which can have negative consequences. In fact, a previous study showed that an excessive homework load limits participation in enriching activities, such as visiting parks or museums, which complement adolescent learning and development.

As shown in the graph below, adolescents who indicated participating in healthy or beneficial activities (such as walking, running, reading, or doing sport) as a reason for not visiting parks were, in fact, the ones who visited them most frequently.

A total of 72% of the adolescents had high self-esteem; 21.2% had medium self-esteem but with room for improvement, and 6.8% low self-esteem. A positive, although weak, correlation was found between a higher frequency of visits to green spaces and higher self-esteem. Meanwhile, 30.9% of adolescents with high self-esteem visited green spaces more than three days per week (11.9% daily and 19% between three and five days per week). In contrast, only 22.9% of those with low self-esteem did so more than three days per week (9.1% daily and 13.8% between three and five days per week). 

In summary, access and exposure to green spaces seem to have a positive influence on self-esteem, although the relationship is bidirectional, so high self-esteem may also favour the frequent use of these spaces. Given the benefits of green spaces, it would be advisable for both schools and families to encourage frequent visits to them. 

The GreenTEENS study offers an in-depth view of the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours of adolescents in relation to access and exposure to green spaces in metropolitan areas of Spain, identifying those factors that influence the frequency of their visits. The results reveal inequalities in access and exposure to nature, with adolescents of lower socioeconomic status and those from neighbourhoods with problems being the ones who visited green spaces less frequently and who saw fewer trees from their homes. 

Although many adolescents had a green space near their home, their low frequency of visits was insufficient to obtain benefits for their emotional wellbeing. However, those who did visit them pointed out advantages such as socialising with friends, connecting with nature or relaxing. Over half of them expressed their desire to visit them more often.

Adolescents who visited green spaces more frequently showed higher levels of self-esteem. In contrast, those who had felt excluded or ignored by their peers, or who had witnessed threats or physical assaults, visited them less frequently.
The main obstacles to visiting these spaces were academic workload and screen use. On the other hand, those who visited them more frequently did so mainly to walk, run, do sport, or read.

Given their positive impact on the well-being of adolescents, it is key to promote the use of green spaces by schools, families, and health professionals, who could even recommend their use for improving the emotional and social well-being of this population group. 

The GreenTEENS survey focused on adolescents living in large metropolitan areas in Spain, reflecting a predominantly urban reality, not including those in rural areas, which limits the extrapolation of the results to the country as a whole. While there are advantages to collecting data using an online survey and a panel of participants, it could also have introduced certain biases into the results. In addition, the adolescents responded in the presence of one of their parents, which could have influenced their responses. The unemployment rate among the parents of the selected sample was slightly lower than that among the general population in Spain, which could be explained by the fact that it is a population residing in metropolitan areas. Finally, as this is a cross-sectional study, carried out at a given point in time, it is not possible to establish cause-effect relationships, although associations between variables can be identified.

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