Urban Green Micro-Environments and Embodied Environmental Regulation among Midlife Arab Women

Diana Saadi

doi:10.65773/ure.2.1.102

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Section

Research Article

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026): In Progress

How to Cite

Saadi, D. (2026). Urban Green Micro-Environments and Embodied Environmental Regulation among Midlife Arab Women. Urban-Regional Ecology, 2(1), 19-34. https://doi.org/10.65773/ure.2.1.102

Authors

Diana Saadi

Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract

Background:Urban green environments are consistently associated with improved emotional well-being and stress regulation. However, most research focuses on large-scale green spaces, younger populations, or short-term experimental exposure, leaving limited understanding of how small-scale urban greenery supports embodied well-being among midlife and older women from socially marginalized groups.Objectives:This study examines how exposure to urban green micro-environments, particularly green walls and small vegetated elements, relates to emotional regulation and positive bodily experience among Arab women aged 50–65. By integrating quantitative measures with walking interviews, the study explores how everyday encounters with urban greenery are emotionally and bodily interpreted during midlife. Methods:The study employed a mixed-methods design. Quantitatively, participants were exposed to a green wall and a comparable built environment, with assessments of positive affect and state body appreciation. Qualitatively, walking interviews were conducted along participants’everyday routes, focusing on embodied sensations, emotional responses, and place meanings associated with green and non-green urban settings. Data were analysed using linear mixedeffects models and reflexive thematic analysis.Results:Exposure to green micro-environments was associated with higher positive affect and more positive bodily experience. Walking interviews revealed that greenery was repeatedly described as enabling bodily relaxation, ease of breathing, and emotional softening rather than joy or excitement. Green elements functioned as low-threshold resources for emotional regulation and bodily comfort, particularly salient during midlife. Conclusions: Urban green micro-environments may function as everyday restorative infrastructure supporting embodied well-being among midlife Arab women. These findings extend restorative environment theories by emphasizing partial, maintenance-oriented regulation and highlight the importance of equity-oriented green design in urban neighbourhoods.

Keywords:

urban green micro-environments, green walls, urban wellbeing, environmental buffering, emotional regulation, psychophysiological stress, Arab women

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