Nature Contact, Health, and the Built Environment

Abstract

Enjoying the great outdoors has been a natural pastime for as long as people have considered it ‘recreation’. But before the late Nineteenth Century, being outdoors was a way of life. We worked the land, got our food from the land, and built communities around agricultural centers or waterways. In fact, being inside and away from the elements was often considered a respite. But life as we now know it does not exist like that anymore – at least not in Twenty-first Century America.