An Assessment of the Impact of Green Areas on Public Health Indicators of Tirana Prefecture

Public health policy in Albania should be based on evidence. Researches relevant to public health policy increasingly use a statistical technique called multilevel analysis. A quick literature search of academic literature shows that during last decade there are many studies that generally support the view that green space has positive effects on health. At any case establishing a causal relationship is difficult, as the relationship is complex. This study uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to examine the relationships between the presence of green space and administrative unit level mortality in the prefecture of Tirana. This research shows that the percentage of green space in people's living environment has a positive association with a generally improved health situation of residents. The study concludes that the development of green space should have a more central position in urban and rural planning policy.