Unveiling the Essential Role of Green Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the essential role of urban and rural green spaces for societies coping with global public health crisis. During this particular time, a significant body of research was devoted to human–nature relationships, as well as the use and importance of green spaces, both from the management and visitors’ perspectives, along with the vital role of nature in human health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the pandemic experience induced new paradigms in spatial and urban planning, along with the management of forest and protected areas seeing the crucial role of green spaces in shaping long-term socio-environmental resilience and sustainability. Thus, after the official end of the pandemic, our study aimed to provide a systematic review of the international research related to green spaces within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on those published between 2020 and 2023. The literature search within SCOPUS and Web of Science databases was conducted on 16 May 2023. A dataset of 161 articles was analyzed using a two-stage analysis. In the first stage, screening based on the title, abstract, and keywords was carried out. In the second stage, a detailed full text analysis was carried out, resulting in a final dataset of 66 articles related to the scope of this review. This article gives an in-depth methodological and conceptual overview, also referring to the applied research and management context related to green spaces in urban and rural environments. It concludes with lessons learned and poses open questions for future research related to green space planning and management. The literature review shows that institutions managing green spaces in cities and forests are facing new challenges. These include pursuing sustainable management policies in cities, ensuring equitable access to urban green space and community participation in the decision-making process, adapting suburban forest management to social expectations, and the recreational development of forest areas taking into account social needs and ecosystem sustainability.