Exploring the association between campus environment of higher education and student health: A systematic review of findings and measures

Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between the neighborhood environments and residents' health. However, other important settings, such as university campuses, have received little attention. This paper conducted a systematic review and synthesized existing empirical works examining the association between the university/college campuses built and natural environments and students' health. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched nine databases using keywords related to higher-education campuses and health-related outcomes. A total of 19 articles were identified, including fifteen cross-sectional studies, three experimental studies, and one longitudinal study. The majority of the studies were conducted in Asian countries and published in the past five years. The findings indicate that active transportation infrastructure, such as increased road intersections and better walkability, were found to be positively associated with students' physical activity. The natural environments, including perceived naturalness, blue space, and greenness was shown to support student's mental health and quality of life. Specifically, blue space was found to be the most preferred place for mental restoration, and scattered trees demonstrated a supportive effect in reducing depression symptoms. Even just viewing virtual trees had a restorative effect and feel less anxiety. Additionally, during the summer, tree shadows were identified as the most important factors for enhancing thermal comfort. This review emphasizes the crucial role of campus environments in promoting college students' health. Future longitudinal studies and investigations using multiple campuses would provide a more comprehensive understanding of this relationship. Such endeavors can contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies for designing and planning healthy campus environments that optimize students' well-being.