W C Sullivan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3464430 |
|---|---|
| NAME | W C Sullivan |
| GIVEN NAMES | W C |
| FAMILY NAME | Sullivan |
| SIGNATURE | SULLIVAN W C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5270-8869 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 126 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Perceived Family Conflict Under High Household Density
Families in high-density urban settings often experience elevated conflict, yet the role of nearby outdoor spaces in shaping these dynamics is underexplored. We examined whether frequent visits to approachable outdoor spaces—defined as within a 5-minute walk and perceived safe from common threats—buffer the link between household crowding and family conflict. Survey data were collected from 142 married women with children living in higher-income …
Greenness, Deprivation, and Fatal Police Shootings
Police shootings are a serious form of violence that have profound impacts on social well-being. Although the impacts of socioeconomic, demographic, and regulatory factors on fatal police shootings were well established, the relationship between greenness levels and police shootings remains unclear, especially across varying levels of social deprivation. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a three-step analysis. First, an analysis of 3,10…
Impacts of sights and sounds on anxiety relief in the high-density city
Racial disparities in environmental exposures and Sars-CoV-2 infection rates
Effects of virtual exposure to urban greenways on mental health
Urban greenways (UGW) are increasingly recognized as vital components of urban green infrastructure (UGI). While existing research has provided empirical evidence on the positive impacts of UGW on physical health, studies focusing on the effects on mental health remain limited. Moreover, previous investigations predominantly compare UGW as a whole with other built environments, neglecting the influence of specific vegetation designs along UGW on …
Green spaces, especially nearby forest, may reduce the Sars-CoV-2 infection rate
Nature deficit and senses
A national research agenda supporting green schoolyard development and equitable access to nature
The diverse benefits of nature are increasingly well-known, but access to nature and its associated benefits are inequitable. In parallel, because school attendance is compulsory, schools are ubiquitous in every community. However, only a small fraction extend classroom settings into outdoor spaces developed as educational resources richly endowed with nature. By greening schoolyards, every community in the United States would provide safe, acces…
Connections Between Daily Greenness Exposure and Health Outcomes
A compelling body of research demonstrates that exposure to nature, especially trees, is beneficial to human health. We know little, however, about the extent to which understory vegetation that does not reach the height of trees, impacts human health. An additional gap in our knowledge concerns the extent to which daily variations in exposure to various forms of vegetation are related to human health outcomes. Many previous findings describing s…
Moving beyond the neighborhood
Exposure to nature for children with autism spectrum disorder
Measuring Neighborhood Walkable Environments
Multiple studies have revealed the impact of walkable environments on physical activity. Scholars attach considerable importance to leisure and health-related walking. Recent studies have used Google Street View as an instrument to assess city streets and walkable environments; however, no study has compared the validity of Google Street View assessments of walkable environment attributes to assessments made by local residents and compiled from f…
Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue
A Dose-Response Curve Describing the Relationship Between Urban Tree Cover Density and Self-Reported Stress Recovery
Although it is well established that viewing nature can help individuals recover from a stressful experience, the dose-response curve describing the relationship between tree cover density and stress recovery is totally unclear. A total of 160 participants engaged in a standard Trier Social Stress Test to induce stress. Participants were then randomly assigned to watch 1 of 10 three-dimensional videos of street scenes that varied in the density o…
Social Life Under Cover
To what extent does the density of the tree cover in a city relate to the amount of social capital among neighbors? To address this question, we linked social survey data ( N = 361) from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study with socioeconomic, urban form, and green space data at the census block group level using a geographic information system. We found a systematically positive relationship between the density of urban tree canopy at the neighborhood …
A dose of nature
Nature, culture, and civil society
Civil societies are related in complex ways with the nature that surrounds them. Drawing upon ecological principles, social, economic, and political theories, and empirical evidence from environmental psychology, we explore the ongoing dialectic between nature and culture—how humans alter nature and nature alters humans, their cultures and associations—with particular reference to civil society. In our view, civil society scholars overlook much b…
The Fruit of Urban Nature
What makes a neighborhood space vital? This article explores the possibility that the presence of trees and grass may be one of the key components of vital neighborhood spaces. We report on 758 observations of individuals in 59 outdoor common spaces in a residential development. Twenty-seven of the neighborhood common spaces were relatively green, whereas 32 were relatively barren. Results indicate that the presence of trees and grass is related …
Views of Nature and Self-Discipline
Aggression and Violence in the Inner City
S. Kaplan suggested that one outcome of mental fatigue may be an increased propensity for outbursts of anger and even violence. If so, contact with nature, which appears to mitigate mental fatigue, may reduce aggression and violence. This study investigated that possibility in a setting and population with relatively high rates of aggression: inner-city urban public housing residents. Levels of aggression were compared for 145 urban public housin…
Coping with add
Attention Restoration Theory suggests that contact with nature supports attentional functioning, and a number of studies have found contact with everyday nature to be related to attention in adults. Is contact with everyday nature also related to the attentional functioning of children? This question was addressed through a study focusing on children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). This study examined the relationship between children’s na…
Environment and Crime in the Inner City
Although vegetation has been positively linked to fear of crime and crime in a number of settings, recent findings in urban residential areas have hinted at a possible negative relationship: Residents living in "greener" surroundings report lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities, and less aggressive and violent behavior. This study used police crime reports to examine the relationship between vegetation and crime in an inner-city neighborhood. …
Growing Up in the Inner City
Children growing up in the inner city are at risk for a range of negative developmental outcomes. Do barren, inner-city neighborhood spaces compromise the everyday activities and experiences necessary for healthy development? Sixty-four urban public housing outdoor spaces (27 low vegetation, 37 high vegetation) were observed on four separate occasions. Overall, inner-city children's everyday activities and access to adults appeared remarkably hea…
Transforming Inner-City Landscapes
How would inner-city residents respond to the incorporation of trees and grass in their neighborhoods? Law enforcement officials have argued that, in these settings, trees and other forms of vegetation increase fear. Tree density, tree placement, and levels of grass maintenance were manipulated in photo simulations of neighborhood outdoor space. One hundred residents of Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes living adjacent to the space rated the images w…
Green Common Spaces and the Social Integration of Inner-City Older Adults
For older adults, social integration and the strength of social ties are profoundly important predictors of well-being and longevity. Can the physical environment be designed to promote older adults' social integration with their neighbors? We examined this possibility by testing the relationships between varying amount of exposure to green outdoor common spaces and the strength of ties among neighbors. Results of interviews with 91 older adults …
Environment and Crime in the Inner City
Although vegetation has been positively linked to fear of crime and crime in a number of settings, recent findings in urban residential areas have hinted at a possible negative relationship: Residents living in "greener" surroundings report lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities, and less aggressive and violent behavior. This study used police crime reports to examine the relationship between vegetation and crime in an inner-city neighborhood. …
Fertile Ground for Community
Research suggests that the formation of neighborhood social ties (NSTs) may substantially depend on the informal social contact which occurs in neighborhood common spaces, and that in inner‐city neighborhoods where common spaces are often barren no‐man's lands, the presence of trees and grass supports common space use and informal social contact among neighbors. We found that for 145 urban public housing residents randomly assigned to 18 architec…
Assessing the impact of environmental impact statements on citizens
Exposure to nature for children with autism spectrum disorder
Communicating with citizens
Assessing the impact of environmental impact statements on citizens
Where Does Community Grow?
This study examines how the availability of nature influences the use of outdoor public spaces in two Chicago public housing developments. Ninety-six observations were collected of the presence and location of trees and the presence and location of youth and adults in semiprivate spaces at one high-rise and one low-rise public housing development. Results consistentiy indicated that natural landscaping encourages greater use of outdoor areas by r…
Communicating with citizens
Growing Up in the Inner City
Children growing up in the inner city are at risk for a range of negative developmental outcomes. Do barren, inner-city neighborhood spaces compromise the everyday activities and experiences necessary for healthy development? Sixty-four urban public housing outdoor spaces (27 low vegetation, 37 high vegetation) were observed on four separate occasions. Overall, inner-city children's everyday activities and access to adults appeared remarkably hea…
Transforming Inner-City Landscapes
How would inner-city residents respond to the incorporation of trees and grass in their neighborhoods? Law enforcement officials have argued that, in these settings, trees and other forms of vegetation increase fear. Tree density, tree placement, and levels of grass maintenance were manipulated in photo simulations of neighborhood outdoor space. One hundred residents of Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes living adjacent to the space rated the images w…
Green Common Spaces and the Social Integration of Inner-City Older Adults
For older adults, social integration and the strength of social ties are profoundly important predictors of well-being and longevity. Can the physical environment be designed to promote older adults' social integration with their neighbors? We examined this possibility by testing the relationships between varying amount of exposure to green outdoor common spaces and the strength of ties among neighbors. Results of interviews with 91 older adults …
Fertile Ground for Community
Research suggests that the formation of neighborhood social ties (NSTs) may substantially depend on the informal social contact which occurs in neighborhood common spaces, and that in inner‐city neighborhoods where common spaces are often barren no‐man's lands, the presence of trees and grass supports common space use and informal social contact among neighbors. We found that for 145 urban public housing residents randomly assigned to 18 architec…
Aggression and Violence in the Inner City
S. Kaplan suggested that one outcome of mental fatigue may be an increased propensity for outbursts of anger and even violence. If so, contact with nature, which appears to mitigate mental fatigue, may reduce aggression and violence. This study investigated that possibility in a setting and population with relatively high rates of aggression: inner-city urban public housing residents. Levels of aggression were compared for 145 urban public housin…
Coping with add
Attention Restoration Theory suggests that contact with nature supports attentional functioning, and a number of studies have found contact with everyday nature to be related to attention in adults. Is contact with everyday nature also related to the attentional functioning of children? This question was addressed through a study focusing on children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). This study examined the relationship between children’s na…
Environment and Crime in the Inner City
Although vegetation has been positively linked to fear of crime and crime in a number of settings, recent findings in urban residential areas have hinted at a possible negative relationship: Residents living in "greener" surroundings report lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities, and less aggressive and violent behavior. This study used police crime reports to examine the relationship between vegetation and crime in an inner-city neighborhood. …
Views of Nature and Self-Discipline
The Fruit of Urban Nature
What makes a neighborhood space vital? This article explores the possibility that the presence of trees and grass may be one of the key components of vital neighborhood spaces. We report on 758 observations of individuals in 59 outdoor common spaces in a residential development. Twenty-seven of the neighborhood common spaces were relatively green, whereas 32 were relatively barren. Results indicate that the presence of trees and grass is related …
Nature, culture, and civil society
Civil societies are related in complex ways with the nature that surrounds them. Drawing upon ecological principles, social, economic, and political theories, and empirical evidence from environmental psychology, we explore the ongoing dialectic between nature and culture—how humans alter nature and nature alters humans, their cultures and associations—with particular reference to civil society. In our view, civil society scholars overlook much b…
A dose of nature
Social Life Under Cover
To what extent does the density of the tree cover in a city relate to the amount of social capital among neighbors? To address this question, we linked social survey data ( N = 361) from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study with socioeconomic, urban form, and green space data at the census block group level using a geographic information system. We found a systematically positive relationship between the density of urban tree canopy at the neighborhood …
Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue
A Dose-Response Curve Describing the Relationship Between Urban Tree Cover Density and Self-Reported Stress Recovery
Although it is well established that viewing nature can help individuals recover from a stressful experience, the dose-response curve describing the relationship between tree cover density and stress recovery is totally unclear. A total of 160 participants engaged in a standard Trier Social Stress Test to induce stress. Participants were then randomly assigned to watch 1 of 10 three-dimensional videos of street scenes that varied in the density o…
Measuring Neighborhood Walkable Environments
Multiple studies have revealed the impact of walkable environments on physical activity. Scholars attach considerable importance to leisure and health-related walking. Recent studies have used Google Street View as an instrument to assess city streets and walkable environments; however, no study has compared the validity of Google Street View assessments of walkable environment attributes to assessments made by local residents and compiled from f…
Moving beyond the neighborhood
Exposure to nature for children with autism spectrum disorder
A national research agenda supporting green schoolyard development and equitable access to nature
The diverse benefits of nature are increasingly well-known, but access to nature and its associated benefits are inequitable. In parallel, because school attendance is compulsory, schools are ubiquitous in every community. However, only a small fraction extend classroom settings into outdoor spaces developed as educational resources richly endowed with nature. By greening schoolyards, every community in the United States would provide safe, acces…
Connections Between Daily Greenness Exposure and Health Outcomes
A compelling body of research demonstrates that exposure to nature, especially trees, is beneficial to human health. We know little, however, about the extent to which understory vegetation that does not reach the height of trees, impacts human health. An additional gap in our knowledge concerns the extent to which daily variations in exposure to various forms of vegetation are related to human health outcomes. Many previous findings describing s…
Green spaces, especially nearby forest, may reduce the Sars-CoV-2 infection rate
Nature deficit and senses
Impacts of sights and sounds on anxiety relief in the high-density city
Urban Green Space and Health (26 works) · Geography (16 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Medicine (12 works) · Place Attachment and Urban Studies (11 works) · Demography (8 works) · Environmental health (7 works) · Noise Effects and Management (7 works) · Urban Heat Island Mitigation (7 works)