Zhang and colleagues transform urban green space from measurable surface into meaningful place. Comparing two Dutch neighbourhoods with similar quantities of green space but different levels of accessibility and usability, the study identifies four dimensions of attachment: place dependence, affective attachment, place identity and social bonding. Residents in the neighbourhood with more accessible and usable green environments report both stronger attachment and better mental health, and structural equation modelling reveals a positive pathway from green-space attachment to mental health. The conceptual distinction is decisive: environmental quantity is insufficient when the space cannot be entered, used, recognised or incorporated into everyday life. Place dependence captures functional appropriation; affective attachment records emotional bonding; place identity integrates environment into the self; social bonding emerges through shared experience. The authors’ formulation that planning should create “green places” rather than merely “green spaces” provides a precise bridge from environmental epidemiology to urban design, where usability and appropriation become conditions of wellbeing.