The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological well-being of European tourists on the Mediterranean coast. The cross-sectional BlueTORRE study analyzed a sample of 534 unselected adult tourists through face-to-face interviews (October-November 2023). Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate factors associated with good psychological well-being. Overall, 22.3% of tourists reported good psychological well-being (WHO-5 > 50), while mean subjective happiness was 4.9 out of 7. Factors associated with good psychological well-being included younger age, greater weekly walking activity, lower screen use, and higher levels of happiness. These findings suggest that walking in coastal areas and reduced screen use are behaviours that may be relevant for supporting tourists' well-being during their stay.

The effect of natural blue space on subjective well-being and self-perceived stress among residents of P & euml;rmet, Albania (N = 203), with 80.3 per cent of whom reside within 1 km of the Vjosa River was examined. Three exposure indicators - visit frequency, proximity and time spent in the river surroundings - were focused on using the PYER framework (PY = physical activity; E = exposure; R = years of residence). Moderation models and structural equation modelling with Emotional Attachment to the River (EAR) as a mediator were included in the analyses. It was indicated by the results that physical activity near the river is strongly associated with stress reduction, whereas the benefits for well-being depend on interactions among activity, visit frequency and residency duration. Stress reduction was partially mediated by EAR, with visit frequency identified as the strongest predictor. The findings also indicate that frequent and high-quality interaction with wild rivers are enhanced for mental health, particularly among long-term residents, by whom stronger emotional bonds are developed through repeated use.

Urban blue spaces are increasingly recognised as important determinants of mental health. This empirical study investigates the mental health benefits of blue space exposure in Shkodra, Albania. Data from 534 respondents were collected through the Albanian Urban Blue Spaces (AUBS) Survey. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted to test whether physical activity and sleep quality mediate the relationship between blue space exposure and psychological distress and whether life satisfaction, lifestyle habits and demographic factors moderate these pathways. Results indicate that blue space exposure directly improves mental health, while physical activity and sleep quality do not serve as mediators. The relationship was significantly moderated by life satisfaction, lifestyle habits and education. Better health outcomes occurred when individuals reported approximately 110 min of blue space exposure, combined with healthier lifestyle behaviours and higher education levels. The findings highlight the role of blue spaces in urban planning and public health policy.

Urban green spaces (UGS) play a vital role in fostering physical health, mental well-being, and social connectivity, particularly in rapidly urbanizing environments. This study examines the relationship between access to UGS and health outcomes in Tirana, Albania a city undergoing significant urban transformation. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we conducted a comprehensive survey with 493 respondents to assess the impact of UGS usage on self-reported health, well-being, and clinical depression. Statistical analyses revealed that frequent and quality interactions with UGS were associated with better mental health, increased physical activity, and stronger social bonds. Conversely, individuals reporting poor access to or negative perceptions of UGS quality experienced diminished well-being and higher incidences of depression. This study underscores the urgent need for urban planning policies that prioritize equitable distribution and enhancement of green spaces. By addressing these challenges, cities like Tirana can leverage UGS to enhance urban resilience, promote public health, and create more inclusive and livable environments.

Although previous studies have shown that exposure to nature has a positive impact on physical and mental health, the factors that produce such benefits are still not well established, especially in high- and middle-income countries. In the present study, we implemented a mediation approach between green space exposure and psychological distress, body fat percentage and well-being index in Tirana (Albania), through the mediation of physical activity. The significant direct effects of green space on body fat percentage index (BFPI), psychological distress index (PDI) and well-being index, together with the relatively smaller mediating role of physical activity, offer insightful implications for the design and prioritization of urban green spaces. The differential impact on health outcomes suggests a complex association that is not only mediated by physical activity, but also offers clear benefits by reducing psychological distress (as indicated by PDI scores) and significantly improving overall well-being. This dichotomy highlights the multifaceted role of green spaces in public health, requiring a broad lens that goes beyond physical health metrics to include mental health and subjective well-being. Our findings also confirm the intrinsic value of green spaces in improving well-being and reducing psychological distress, independent of the physical activities they may promote.

In the framework of place attachment we explore how green spaces contribute to life satisfaction in a context of high emigration rates. We propose that green spaces affect life satisfaction of the population through the mediation of physical health and mental health, and this relationship is moderated by migration willingness. We conducted our study in March–April 2021 in the city of Tirana, Albania. Using physical and mental health indicators, our results demonstrate that urban green spaces directly and indirectly affect life satisfaction. The mediators with the highest impact on life satisfaction are psychological distress and well-being. Green space exposure plays a role in influencing health outcomes, but the relationship is not moderated by migration willingness, and it shows a higher impact on participants with better mental health. Designing more and improved urban green spaces is a pathway to positively affect the health and well-being of urban populations.

AbstractUrban residents commonly spend a considerable proportion of their time indoors, and it is, therefore, important to pay particular attention to the characteristics of their home. During the time that humans remain indoors, the only bridge connecting them with the natural environment was through the views from their windows. Studies on the effect of these views have highlighted the restorative effects that nature views can provide, including feelings of calmness and relaxation. Likewise, such views can help better manage stress, anxiety and scape from loneliness, because they make a connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. At a time of lockdown and isolation following the COVID-19 pandemic, window views were for many the only option for contact with the natural environment, which provided significant positive effects. With the aim of assessing the benefits that views can bring to humans, we set out to study the role of views of nature from windows by analysing the GreenCOVID survey, conducted during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, England and Ireland.

BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures have had important consequences on the mental health of the population, although little is known about the role played by nature and its benefits.OBJECTIVES:The present study aims to evaluate the risk of anxiety and depression during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and to identify the factors most strongly associated with anxiety and depression, including sociodemographic, household characteristics, and access to or contact with natural environment.METHODS:GreenCOVID is an online cross-sectional study promoted by the Health & Territory Research (HTR) of the University of Seville in Spain, Maynooth University in Ireland, and the University of Winchester in the United Kingdom. This study includes only data from Spain which were collected between April 8, 2020 and April 27, 2020. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify the factors associated with anxiety and depression through the HADS scale.RESULTS:Of the total of 2,464 adults who participated in GreenCOVID Spain, mean age was 38.1 years, 72.6% were female, 58.1% were at risk of anxiety, and 32.3% of depression. In the multivariable logistic regression, the factors associated with risk of anxiety were female: gender, being a student and problems at home. Regarding the risk of depression, the factors most associated were being a student, female gender, problems at home, worse evaluation of views from home and less help from outside views to cope with lockdown.CONCLUSIONS:Our findings show that during COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to sociodemographic factors female gender and being a student, problems at home, lack of natural elements in the home, and worse appreciation of views from home were associated with mental health problems. Thus, housing conditions and access to the natural environment were important for mental health during COVID-19 lockdown.

Since ancient history, human beings have travelled to other places in search of remedies to improve their health or find a cure for their disease. In the last decades, the number of people traveling in search of medical and wellness treatments and interventions has grown significantly, making health tourism an important sector of the global economy. Therefore, health tourism, due to its potential, represents a great opportunity for business, wealth, and employment development. Spain, thanks to its geographical position and a series of environmental, climatic, cultural and lifestyle characteristics, has become the second most visited country by tourists. Its wide range of health services and its availability of resources have made it one of the main tourist destinations for medical and/or wellness reasons. Despite the innumerable benefits of international health tourism, the development of this tourism typology can also have adverse effects. These disadvantages must be overcome through healthcare strategies - by the responsible governments and institutions - to guarantee and accredit the veracity and quality of these services in the visited countries. This would give greater certainty and trust to health tourists without affecting access and health care for residents in the receiving country. Desde la antigüedad, los seres humanos han viajado a otros lugares en busca de remedios para mejorar su salud o encontrar una cura a su enfermedad. En las últimas décadas, el número de personas que viajan en busca de tratamientos e intervenciones médicas y de bienestar ha crecido notablemente, convirtiendo al turismo de salud en un importante sector de la economía mundial. Por ello, el turismo de salud, debido a su potencial, representa una gran oportunidad de negocio, creación de riqueza y empleo. España, gracias a su posición geográfica y a una serie de características ambientales, climáticas, culturales y estilos de vida se ha convertido en el segundo país más visitado por los turistas. Su amplia oferta de servicios sanitarios y su disponibilidad de recursos la han convertido en uno de los principales destinos turísticos por motivos médicos y/o de bienestar. A pesar de los innumerables beneficios del turismo de salud internacional, el desarrollo de esta tipología también puede tener efectos adversos, tanto en el país receptor, como en el país emisor. Estos inconvenientes deben superarse mediante estrategias sanitarias - por parte de los gobiernos y las instituciones responsables - que permitan garantizar y acreditar la veracidad y calidad de estas prestaciones en los países receptores. De este modo, se daría mayor tranquilidad y confianza a los turistas de salud sin que ello repercuta en el acceso y la atención sanitaria por parte de los residentes en el país receptor.

For decades, coastal destinations have been facing the need to renew their traditional tourism models, marked by high seasonality and spatial exploitation, the latter justified by the development of accommodation for second homes. The current tourism scenario offers different challenges and opportunities, which can help to modify these tourism models. In this context, the increase in life expectancy and the generalization of the development of healthy lifestyles makes it possible for new tourism models, such as health and wellness tourism, to develop as potential drivers of change. The main objective of this paper is to understand the potential of health and wellness tourism to qualify and diversify coastal tourist destinations, as well as to analyse the recent evolution of coastal tourism and its current problems. Qualitative methods based on the review of related literature, analysis of the content of the plans and the SWOT matrix, as well as the case study of a specific destination are used for this purpose.

Since ancient history, human beings have traveled to other places in search of healing remedies to improve their health or find a cure for their disease. In the last decades, the number of people traveling in search of medical and wellness treatments and interventions has grown significantly, making health tourism an important sector of the global economy. Therefore, health tourism, due to its potential, represents a great opportunity for business, wealth, and employment development. Spain, thanks to its geographical location and a series of environmental, climatic, cultural and lifestyle characteristics, has become the second most visited country by tourists. Its wide range of health services and its availability of resources have made it one of the main tourist destinations for medical and/or wellness rea-sons. Despite the innumerable benefits of international health tourism, the development of this tourism typology can also have adverse effects. These disadvantages must be overcome through healthcare strategies -by the responsible governments and institutions -to guarantee and accredit the veracity and quality of these services in the visited countries. This would give greater safety and security to health tourists without affecting access and health care for residents in the receiving country.

Electrical power outages are of increasing interest to US urban scholars, government officials and stakeholders, as they have increased in number and duration with significant health and economic, among other, impacts. This analysis examines reports of power outages in New York City in relation to socioeconomic and health characteristics of neighborhoods. Using the city's 311-call database we examine complaint calls for power outages from 2014 to 2022. While 311-calls for power outages occur all year long, volume trended higher during the warmer months (June, July and August), and as minimum daily temperatures exceeded 20 degrees C (68 degrees F), the number of calls increased dramatically. Spatial clusters of high call areas were in Census tracts with high energy burdens, lower-income households, and high percentages of people of color. Furthermore, we found the higher call areas were associated with higher vulnerability to heat-exacerbated deaths. As climate change is expected to raise temperatures and increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves around the world, and as power outages are becoming more common, these findings will help to provide guidance for adaptation and energy reliability policies in New York City and have implications for other cities globally.

Commuting to work is an important part of many people's daily life, with travel times increasing constantly and becoming a growing problem. The aim of the present study is to assess the associations between commuting and poor mental health in workers. This is a cross-sectional study extracting information from the 'Commuting, Daily Habits and Urban Health Survey' in Mairena del Aljarafe (Spain), including a representative sample of 294 workers. Poor mental health was accessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Associations were tested using Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests, while Pearson's correlation was used for each item of the GHQ-12, and multiple linear regression was applied to explore factors associated with poor mental health. Of the 294 workers, the mean age was 43.1 years old, 46.6% female, 49% had a university education, 38.4% smoked, and 44.5% were overweight/obese. For their commute, 77.1% used a private motor vehicle (vs. 6.9% public and 16.0% active), spent 51.9 min/day (54.8 min/day private, 44.2 min/day public, and 39.3 min/day active), and expended euro91.9/month (euro99.7/month private, euro59.0/month public and euro59.5/month active). The multiple linear regression model shows that people who used their private motorised transport and those who spent more time on their commute to work are associated with poorer mental health. The results of this study show that both driving a motor vehicle and commuting time are associated with poorer mental health. Therefore, the use of public and/or active travel should be encouraged, as well as better management to improve traffic congestion and thus reduce travel times.

For decades, coastal destinations have been facing the need to renew their traditional tourism models, marked by high seasonality and territorial exploitation, the latter justified by the development of accommodation for second homes. The current tourism scenario offers different challenges and opportunities, which can help to modify these tourism models. In this context, the increase in life expectancy and the generalization of the development of healthy lifestyles makes it possible for new tourism models, such as health and wellness tourism, to develop as potential drivers of change. The main objective of this paper is to understand the potential of health and wellness tourism to qualify and diversify coastal tourist destinations, as well as to analyse the recent evolution of coastal tourism and its current problems. Qualitative methods based on the review of related literature, analysis of the content of the plans and the SWOT matrix, as well as the case study of a specific destination are used for this purpose. Los destinos litorales se enfrentan desde hace décadas a la necesidad de renovar sus modelos turísticos tradicionales, marcados por una elevada estacionalidad y la depredación territorial, esta última causada por la construcción de alojamiento destinado a segundas residencias. El escenario turístico actual ofrece distintos retos y oportunidades, que pueden ayudar a complementar estos modelos turísticos. En este contexto, el aumento de la esperanza de vida y la generalización de desarrollo de estilos de vida saludables posibilita que nuevos modelos turísticos, como el turismo de salud y bienestar, puedan desarrollarse como potenciales palancas de cambio. El principal objetivo de esta investigación es comprender la potencialidad del turismo de salud y bienestar para cualificar y diversificar los destinos turísticos litorales, así como analizar la reciente evolución del turismo litoral y su actual problemática. Para ello, se utilizan métodos cualitativos sustentados en la revisión bibliográfica relacionada, análisis de contenidos de planes y matriz DAFO, así como el caso de estudio de un destino concreto.

This study presents the perception of Higher Education students on the effect of the use of the technological tool Wooclap on their learning experience, after returning to the classroom after the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 74 students of Geography subjects of the Primary Education Degree and the Tourism Degree of the University of Seville completed an online survey -using the SurveyMonkey survey platform -on their perception of the use of the Wooclap tool in class. Most of the students felt that Wooclap was a dynamic and easy-to-use tool, that it had helped them to concentrate better, that its use had facilitated the learning process and had allowed them to interact more with the teacher. These results demonstrate how the use of the Wooclap technology tool can facilitate the learning process, as well as communication between students and teachers. However, most students prefer to be assessed by combining classical assessment with technological tools (and not only by being assessed by combining classical assessment with technological tools). The results of the present study corroborate the benefits of promoting the use of the Wooclap tool in graduate teaching.

Este estudo apresenta a percepção dos alunos do Educação Superior sobre o efeito do uso da ferramenta tecnológica Wooclap em sua experiência de aprendizagem, após o retorno à sala de aula após as restrições impostas pela pandemia COVID-19. Neste estudo, 74 alunos das disciplinas de Geografia do Ensino Fundamental e de Turismo da Universidade de Sevilha completaram uma pesquisa on-line - utilizando a plataforma de pesquisa SurveyMonkey - sobre sua percepção do uso da ferramenta Wooclap na sala de aula. A maioria dos alunos sentiu que o Wooclap era uma ferramenta dinâmica e fácil de usar, que os tinha ajudado a se concentrar melhor, que seu uso tinha facilitado o processo de aprendizagem e que lhes tinha permitido interagir mais com o professor. Estes resultados demonstram como o uso da ferramenta de tecnologia Wooclap pode facilitar o processo de aprendizagem, bem como a comunicação entre alunos e professores. Entretanto, a maioria dos estudantes prefere ser avaliada através da combinação da avaliação clássica com ferramentas tecnológicas (e não apenas através da combinação da avaliação clássica com ferramentas tecnológicas). Os resultados do presente estudo corroboram os benefícios de promover o uso da ferramenta Wooclap no ensino do terceiro ciclo.

People living in urban areas must face several challenges to improve their health and well-being. The purpose of this research is to further explore how the use of urban blue and green spaces is related to the people’s mood feelings when visiting these spaces. A cross-sectional study is carried out with an adult sample population in Albania with people between 16-74 years old by an online survey. Respondents have been asked to complete the survey via the platform Google Form, from April to May 2021. The questionnaire included questions related to socio-economic characteristics, urban green and blue spaces (GBS), and self-reported feelings information. After the validation and cleaning process, a representative sample (95% level of confidence) of 530 respondents was obtained. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze indicators such as (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) frequency of visits in GBS in the last 4 weeks; (3) time spending during the visit; (4) activities carried out during the visit; (5) type of accompaniment; (6) the reason for not visiting GBS and the quality of GBS. The SPSS software platform was used for the statistical analyses. The frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation calculations were used to calculate data from the sample. The Chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between the frequency of visits in blue space and the people’ mood. The study shows a significant relationship among the frequency of visits of blue and green spaces and positive mood feelings.

This paper addresses the role of living spaces, neighborhood environments, and access to nearby nature in shaping individual experiences of health and well-being during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key data is drawn from the GreenCOVID study across Spain, England and Ireland. The survey gathered contextual information about home environments, neighborhood spaces, and access to nature elements, and standardized measures of health and wellbeing between April and July 2020 (n = 3,127). The paper used qualitative data from the survey to document flows between home and nearby nature. These were framed as barriers/mediators with specific focus on differing interpretations of home as both trap and refuge, with additional dimensions of loss, disruption and interruption shaping the broad responses to the pandemic. By contrast nearby nature was an enabler/moderator of health and wellbeing, offering healthy flows between home and nature as well as respite and additional health-enabling factors. Differences were identified between the three countries but important commonalities emerged too, recognising the role nature plays as an asset both within and immediately beyond the home. The use of flow as metaphor also recognises the importance of embodiment and the elastic nature of connections between home and nearby nature for wellbeing. More broadly, flow provides a valuable way to trace affective relational geographers to develop a wider understanding of assemblages of health during pandemics.