1.52×
Less greenspace linked to higher odds of substantiated child maltreatment reports
Exact: 1.52 times the odds
Census blocks with <10% greenspace had 1.52× the odds of a substantiated CPS report compared to blocks with >30% greenspace
Using logistic regression on over 66,000 CPS reports across 13,336 census blocks in Philadelphia (2008–2018), researchers found that blocks with less than 10% greenspace had 1.52 times the odds of a substantiated CPS report compared to blocks with more than 30% greenspace (95% CI 1.30–1.76, p < 0.001). The model adjusted for sociodemographic information and the area deprivation index, a composite measure of education, employment, housing, and poverty characteristics.
In the adjusted model, compared to blocks with >30 % greenspace, blocks with <10 % greenspace had 1.52 times the odds of a substantiated report (95 % CI 1.30-1.76, p < 0.001) and 1.52 times the odds of a case accepted for CPS services (95 % CI 1.30-1.77, p < 0.001).
Related findings
16.1%
nature exposure around schools offers the highest financial return of all interventions tested
Nature exposure achieved the highest return on investment at 16.1% with a 6.2-year payback period
Yingjie Li et al., 2026, SSRN Electronic Journal
-5.49%
combining lighting and mechanical retrofits with nature exposure reduces student absences
Combined lighting, pumps, motors, and drives retrofits with nature exposure were associated with 5.49% lower chronic absenteeism
Yingjie Li et al., 2026, SSRN Electronic Journal
-6.88%
more nature exposure around schools linked to fewer chronically absent students
Schools with greater nature exposure had 6.88% lower chronic absenteeism
Yingjie Li et al., 2026, SSRN Electronic Journal
Read more in
Workplace Pricing biophilia: what the evidence is worth
Read at the primary sources, the business case for nature in buildings is narrower than advertised and strong enough to act on.
Healthcare 
Education What school spaces do to children
Where the evidence on classroom air, acoustics, light and green is robust, where it is thin, and what to measure before the build.
More from The Built Review
Healthcare Built to Wake: How Hospital Noise and Light Undermine Patient Sleep
Of the two environmental levers on inpatient sleep, noise control is the better proven and the cheaper, while tunable lighting for the general ward is the one the evidence does not yet support.
Workplace Germany's missing indoor-air bill
France, Britain and Australia have priced bad indoor air. Germany's missing number is a political choice, not a methodological limit.
Housing What insurers don't ask about buildings
Health insurers price age, tobacco and zip code. Building quality is in no model, and the law is only half the reason.