Environmental Factors and Innovation: The Role of Urban Green Spaces in Entrepreneurial Creativity and Stress Reduction

Abstract

Urban green spaces are identified as important parts of sustainable cities by providing psychological and cognitive benefits that can help nurture creativity and innovation. This work explores the impact of time spent in urban green spaces on the entrepreneurial creativity of university students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, with stress relief as a mediator. Quantitative cross-sectional data were collected from 250 undergraduate and graduate business and entrepreneurship students through stratified random sampling. Instruments included a researcher-developed questionnaire detailing time spent in green spaces, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and an adapted Entrepreneurial Creativity Scale. Correlational and mediation analysis provided conclusive evidence for positive relationships between green space usage, stress relief, and entrepreneurial creativity, with stress relief as a significant mediator. These results corroborate emerging findings on the psychological effects of natural environments on creativity and stress. Theoretical findings inform the design of the study by underscoring the significance of stress reduction as a mediating variable in environmental psychology and entrepreneurship research. Practical findings urge urban planners and university administrators to include greenery in campuses and cities to enhance creativity and promote wellness. The work calls for more socio-culturally diverse studies to broaden the scope of these conclusions.