People’s preferences and perceptions toward low-input versus conventional park design approaches using 3D images and interview-based questionnaires

Future urban planning and public satisfaction will be significantly impacted by understanding people's preferences and perceptions of urban landscape design scenarios, particularly innovative sustainable development approaches. This study examined residents' preferences in Mashhad, Iran, for low-input park design versus conventional park design techniques. The research method integrated questionnaire-based interviews with 3D-simulated images of a site designed with the two approaches. Ninety-three respondents answered validated questions regarding their preference towards the planting and architecture of the parks, their perceptions about social sustainability, psychological feelings, and their perceptions of low-input and maintenance of the spaces. T-test analyses showed that people preferred the low-input park design more than the conventional design for the first four factors. However, the respondents needed to recognize significant differences between the two plans for the low-input and maintenance character of the parks. These results showed that people have positive views and perceptions toward sustainable design approaches like low-input park design. This approach can attract the public and meet their social, psychological, and aesthetic needs with appropriate planning and designs. However, people require education and awareness about the maintenance and sustainability aspects of landscape design approaches. Architecture and planting design visual preferences were suitable predictors for people's overall preference toward the low-input park design approach. The research outputs and the applied method provide insights into sustainable landscape planning in the urban environment.     

公共设施系统设计在景观中的指示作用

楼盘小区、商业用地、学校、公园的规划完成后,设计师经常会把目光集中在一些具体的公共设施单体设计上,我们把这个设计称为城市家俱设计,这些家俱具体表现为:园区指示系统、公共座椅、垃圾箱、路灯、公共厕所、候车厅等。文章着重以园区指示系统为例来介绍城市景观设计的几个着眼点。     

Park user preferences for establishing a sustainable forest park in Taipei,Taiwan

In Taiwan, urban parks have mainly cared for demands associated with recreational use and landscape aesthetics, while ecological functions have often been neglected. The purpose of this study was to examine park users’ awareness of the functions of urban parks, their attitudes toward Amsterdam Bos Park as well as their preferences and support for a sustainable forest park in Taipei metropolitan area. Moreover, the study intended to inform the decision makers in Taiwan about people's perception of urban parks. The findings suggested that participants were moderately aware of the economic benefit of urban parks, and highly aware of urban parks’ benefits regarding landscape beauty, social values, health and safety, and ecological conservation. Participants moderately agreed with the financial demand, and highly agreed with the development strategy, managerial operation, and design approach of the Bos Park. In addition, participants liked the concept of the Bos Park very much, and strongly supported the establishment of a sustainable forest park in Taipei metropolitan area. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to the Taipei City government for the decision-making in the development of a metropolitan park, as well as to landscape architects in the planning and design of urban parks.     

Relationship between visitor characteristics,physical activity levels and park environment in subtropical areas’ urban parks

Urban parks are of great significance improving the physical and mental health of residents. However, there is still a lack of systematic discussion of the relationship between visitor characteristics, physical activity (PA) levels, and urban park environments, especially within subtropical areas of Asia. We took 12 urban parks in Guangzhou, China as the research objects, comprehensively used BRAT and SOPARC to observe the microenvironment and visitors’ PA in the urban parks, and supplemented the research with interviews. The results of the study revealed that: (1) The urban parks in Guangzhou cannot fully encourage visitors to engage in high PA levels, and due to the temperature of subtropical areas most visitors chose medium and high PA levels in the morning. (2) Leisure preferences and environment features determined that females tended to engage in medium and high PA levels more than males. Minors preferred high PA levels, while other age groups preferred low PA levels. (3) All groups attached great importance to rest facilities and shade. Among them, the youth paied more attention to the quality of the landscape and the middle-aged were attracted by the scent. (4) Low PA levels were affected largely by the site elements and high PA levels were greatly affected by varying terrains and shade. (5) Areas that including recreation and sport facilities had the highest concentration of medium and high PA levels; however, were insufficient to meet the needs of multiple age groups. Finally, we made recommendations to improve the PA levels of visitors in subtropical areas and gave advice concerning more humanized park planning.     

Park features that encourage park visitation among older adults: A qualitative study

BackgroundParks provide many opportunities for promoting physical, social, and mental wellbeing among older adults and are therefore considered a good setting to promote healthy ageing. However, older adults are the age group least frequently observed visiting parks. To attract more older adults to parks, it is important to understand their needs and preferences for park design. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain in-depth information about older adults’ preferred park features for park visitation.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 older adults aged > 60 years who visited a recently renewed urban park in Ghent, Belgium at least once since its renewal. The interviews were conducted in-park or in the nursing home adjacent to the park until saturation of information was obtained. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, pseudonymised, and analysed by inductive content analysis using NVivo 12 software.ResultsThe most preferred park activities were walking, sitting, and watching the environment. The park features liked by older adults were good quality and accessible walking paths, nature and vegetation, openness and structural layout of the park, and sufficient and good quality sitting areas. The park features that they did not like mostly related to poor park maintenance.ConclusionsThis study provides an overview of park features that older adults perceive as important for park visitation. It is the first qualitative study in Belgium to assess which park features entice older adults to visit parks, and it contributes to the limited European knowledge on this topic. The evidence can help urban planners, landscape architects, and policymakers to (re)design attractive local parks that promote healthy ageing.     

Matrix configuration and patch isolation influences override the species–area relationship for urban butterfly communities

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of urban public parks in maintaining connectivity and butterfly assemblages. Using a regression framework, we first test the relative importance of park size and isolation in predicting abundance and species richness of butterfly assemblages across a set of 24 public parks within a large metropolitan area, Marseille (South-East France). Then, we focus on landscape features that affect diversity patterns of the recorded butterfly communities. In this second part, the urban landscape surrounding each park is described (within a 1 × 1 km window) according to two major components: vegetated areas (habitat patches) and impervious or built areas (matrix patches). Specifically, we aim to test whether the incorporation of this built component (matrix) in the landscape analysis provides new insights into the understanding of ecological connectivity in the urban environment. We found a significant effect of both matrix configuration (shape complexity of the built patches) and distance from regional species pool (park isolation) on diversity of butterflies that overrides park size in their contribution to variation in species richness. This result suggests that many previous studies of interactions between biodiversity and urban landscape have overlooked the influence of the built elements.     

Are social media data and survey data consistent in measuring park visitation,park satisfaction,and their influencing factors? A case study in Shanghai

Given the importance of urban parks for recreation, it is critical to understand how they are used and perceived. Currently, relatively few studies have examined the public’s activities and preferences at the same time. Social media data are increasingly recognized as a promising data source to study these two aspects. However, little is known regarding the utility and representativeness of social media data for urban parks. In particular, a lack of understanding exists on the comparability of research results measured by bottom-up social media data and top-down official survey data in urban park studies. This research used social media data from Ctrip and Dianping and survey data from the local government agency with park visits statistics and park satisfaction surveys to understand the public’s visitation and satisfaction of 102 urban parks in central Shanghai. We first assessed the similarities between the social media data and survey data by correlation analysis. We then used the negative binomial regression model and beta regression model to examine the matches and mismatches of the different data sources in investigating factors influencing park visitation and park satisfaction. Our correlation results showed that the social media data significantly correlated with the survey data and that social media data performed better in more frequently visited parks. Our regression results showed that the water bodies, recreational facilities, and surrounding commercial facilities were the common influencing factors of park visitation and park satisfaction for all parks. While significant correlations were noticed between these two data sources, we found that the surrounding population density was negatively associated with park visitation measured by social media data but positively associated with park visitation measured by survey data. This study provides a comparative perspective to study park visitation and park satisfaction by combining social media data and official survey data. Clarifying the consistencies and inconsistencies between the social media data and official survey data is important because it could help us to understand the representativeness and potential biases of the social media data when used in visitation monitoring and satisfaction monitoring.     

How do urban park features affect cultural ecosystem services: Quantified evidence for design practices

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) in urban parks are associated with nature contact willingness and health outcomes of urban residents. However, practical knowledge on how to manage urban park features to enhance CES is still lacking, especially on more detailed scales. This study developed a practice-oriented workflow for exploring design-related indicators that affect CES by considering four aspects of urban park features, including distance to elements, density of elements, land cover proportion, and landscape diversity. Then the workflow was implemented in a case study by taking six urban parks in Beijing as study areas. Three CES types were identified with outdoor social media images, including recreation value, aesthetic value, and social interaction value. Statistical analyses indicated that a combination of the four aspects of urban park features within a specific service radius was the most significant factor in explaining CES. The importance of design-related indicators for enhancing different CES types was also identified. Density of facilities, proportion of tree canopy-shaded ground, and richness of land cover types were proved important for all the three CES types and therefore could be concerned in urban park design practices. Based on these findings, this study further proposed landscape site design strategies and three adaptive design cases for enhancing different CES types, which could provide evidence-based and practical solutions for managers and landscape architects.     

Users’ recreation choices and setting preferences for trails in urban forests in Nanjing,China

With increased demand for outdoor recreational spaces, it is imperative to understand the experience of recreational hikers. This study explored users’ recreation choices and behavior-based setting preferences for certain trails in one forest park. Using on-site intercept surveys, a total of 1019 samples were collected from users of hiking trails and greenways in Purple Mountain Forest Park, Nanjing, China. The results from multiple regressions revealed that visitors’ recreation choices for trail settings, companions, and activities were associated with personal attributes, usage patterns, visitor motivations, and their preferences for the trail’s landscape attributes. The findings provide insights for the design and maintenance of trail settings in forest parks to satisfy the needs of various recreational hikers.     

Perceptions of parks and urban derelict land by landscape planners and residents

As urban green spaces are important for residential satisfaction, human preferences are a key criterion in their design. However, preferences may vary between landscape planners and residents, which may result in differences between residents’ demands and the actual design. With urban derelict land becoming an important part of the urban green infrastructure, information about the perception and acceptance by residents compared to formal urban parks is important for their planning and design. It was thus examined how different types of urban green spaces are perceived by landscape planners and residents. Criteria for the classification of green spaces used by both participant groups were compared, as were the criteria that influenced preference.Participants sorted and rated photographs of parks and urban derelict land in two different tasks. Hierarchical cluster analyses and multidimensional scaling analyses were used to characterize the participants’ perceptual space. By conducting multiple regression analyses the resulting perceptual dimensions were related to preference.The identified perceptual criteria used to distinguish green spaces were degree of canopy closure, artificiality vs. naturalness, prospect, physical accessibility, and beauty. For residents, the degree of canopy closure was the most important criterion for classification; for landscape planners, it was artificiality. Preferences varied between groups: whereas landscape planners preferred rather natural areas with low accessibility and high species richness, the residents showed a greater preference for formal parks.As a practical implication, the study suggests that residents generally accept urban derelict land as recreational areas if a minimum of maintenance and accessibility is provided. When designing green spaces, landscape planners may consider these differences in their preferences compared to residents.     

Manicured,romantic, or wild? The relation between need for structure and preferences for garden styles

The present research examined individual differences in preferences for three basic garden styles: manicured, romantic, and wild. Building on theoretical insights from landscape preference research, it was hypothesized that preferences for garden styles are guided by psychological needs. This hypothesis was empirically tested in two studies that used Personal Need for Structure (PNS; Neuberg and Newsom, 1993) as a predictor of preferences for allotment gardens in the Netherlands. In Study 1, 150 respondents rated the beauty of 30 photos of manicured, romantic, and wild allotment gardens. Results showed that respondents with a high PNS, as compared to respondents with a low PNS, rated wild gardens as less beautiful, and manicured gardens as more beautiful. Study 2 investigated the relationship between the PNS of allotment gardeners and the actual appearance of their gardens. One hundred and twenty-three owners of allotment gardens filled out the PNS scale and classified their garden as manicured, romantic, or wild. Gardeners with a high PNS, as compared to gardeners with a low PNS, more often owned a manicured or romantic garden, and less often owned a wild garden. In both studies, preference for garden types was also related to demographic characteristics, including gender, education level, and age. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Effects of urban waterfront park landscape elements on visual behavior and public preference: Evidence from eye-tracking experiments

High-quality urban blue-green spaces are essential to enhance the well-being of residents. Public preferences in urban landscapes are closely related to visual behavior and can meet human needs. By combining objective eye-movement data with subjective evaluation data, public preferences for blue-green typical spatial waterfront parks were analyzed based on visual behavior. Taking Wuhan, a megacity in China, as an example, four types of landscapes were identified: waterscape, plantscape, hardscape, and integrated landscape. Using visual clustering to identify eye movement indicators, we analyzed the influence of element types, proportions and combinations on public preferences based on visual behavior differences related to landscape elements. The results indicated that: (1) visual behaviors differ among elements and preferences, arbor commands overall attention, and pavilion is the element attended to first. (2) The positive correlation between water and fatigue recovery increased by 0.163 after combination with reflection, while the correlation between arbor and fatigue recovery changed from 0.353 (p < 0.01) to − 0.251 (p < 0.01) after combination with shrub and grass. (3) Plantscape and waterscape were rated as more natural, intimate, and restorative, but the most element-rich integrated landscape had the highest beauty ratings. Hardscape had significantly lower ratings but were generally considered to be fully utilized spaces. (4) The most significant visual behavior factor affecting evaluations was fixation duration, and the most critical landscape elements were arbor and pavilion. This study reveals differences in people's visual perceptions and preferences for waterfront parks through eye-movement experiments, and could lead to more judicious landscape element selections and park space compositions.     

COVID-19 pandemic changes the recreational use of Moscow parks in space and time: Outcomes from crowd-sourcing and machine learning

The limited access to urban green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the human-nature interaction in cities and human well-being. Number of visitors to green areas, initially declined due to imposed restrictions, was restored after they were lifted as established by several studies across the globe However, little is still known about changes in behavior and preferences of park visitors in the post-COVID time. In this study, we investigated spatial-temporal patterns of recreational activities in the three urban parks in Moscow (Russia) prior, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown (in 2019 and 2020). The selected parks represent two different types: a centrally located park with much infrastructure and open landscapes (Gorky Park) and parks located at the outskirts of the city center with a more forested landscape and little infrastructure (Timiryazevski and Sokolniki parks). Recreational activities were identified based on the analysis of social media photos using machine-learning algorithms. As expected, park closures during lockdown resulted in overall decrease in the number of taken photos. After the parks were re-opened, however, the number of photos did not grow immediately. The number of photos only restored after almost three months, and the visiting peak shifted to autumn. Differences between parks were related to the type of the park and its landscape structure. The lowest decrease in the number of photos was observed for the Timiryazevsky park – a semi-natural green area, while the centrally located Gorky Park was the most affected, likely due to the strictest control measures. In comparison to 2019, photos in 2020 were more evenly distributed across the area in all the three parks. Besides, ‘natural’ areas became the main attractors for the visitors - photos under ‘nature observation’ category became the most popular. Spatial distribution of the recreational activities in post-lockdown period was characterized by larger distances between photos, likely corresponding to the social distancing. COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the value of green areas for citizens, but also changed their recreational preferences and overall behavior in parks. The observed shift from high density of visitors around entertainments and attractions in 2019 to a more homogeneous and less dense distribution along the natural zones in 2020 reveals a new pattern in visitors behavior and preference, which shall be considered in spatial planning of the parks. Increasing availability of natural green areas and their integration in urban green infrastructures can become the most relevant policy to consider the crucial role of urban nature as a source of resilience in turbulent times.     

Urban residents value multi-functional urban greenspaces

Urban greenspaces are multifunctional spaces, providing services to people and biodiversity. With space in urban areas being limited creation and maintenance of urban greenspaces relies on understanding the preferences of urban residents for their characteristics. Such preferences are expected to vary with current availability, and the availability of alternatives to greenspaces such as gardens or gyms. We carried out a nationwide discrete choice experiment with Scottish urban residents to estimate values associated with greenspace attributes of: recreational features; plants and natural features; trees; accessibility; time to walk from home and size, to test the hypotheses that: (i) people are willing to pay to maintain greenspace, (ii) people have willingness to pay for greenspaces with multiple functions, including features for direct use (e.g. play equipment) and biodiversity (e.g. wildflowers), (iii) willingness to pay for individual greenspace will vary according to socioeconomic characteristics and (iv) vary with the amount of greenspace or substitute facilities available. We find a positive willingness to pay to maintain greenspace in general, and higher willingness to pay for larger greenspaces closer to home, which are multifunctional and contain both direct use features (e.g. children’s play park) and biodiversity features. Although we find significant heterogeneity in willingness to pay for maintaining greenspace, this is not well explained by either socioeconomic characteristics or the availability of substitute facilities. Our results have relevance for urban natural capital accounting, and demonstrate to urban planners the importance of the design and maintenance of multi-functional greenspaces for urban populations and would benefit from future research that further explores heterogeneity, including perceptions of greenspace access and substitutes, and greenspace quality.     

Park equity: Why subjective measures matter

Due to the various social and environmental benefits provided by urban parks and open spaces, ensuring that residents have equitable access to high-quality parks is paramount for planners and allied professionals. While research has identified inequities in park access based on race, ethnicity, and income, previous studies primarily focus on objective measures of access such as proximity to parks. Additionally, previous research typically includes single study regions that do not capture differences in distinct places. Relying on survey data from six metropolitan areas of the U.S., we address these gaps by investigating how subjective perceptions of parks vary by race/ethnicity and income (while controlling for other factors). Specifically, we employ linear mixed models to test for interaction effects between race/ethnicity and the six metro regions. We also compare subjective views of parks to ParkScore® rankings and metrics that represent park access. Overall, we found that perceived problems with park availability and quality were highest in the Baltimore area, as well as Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston; they were lowest is Phoenix and Minneapolis–St. Paul. Meanwhile, residents perceived significantly more improvements in park availability and quality in Miami and Minneapolis–St. Paul, followed by the other regions. Compared to objective ParkScore® measures, subjective perceptions of parks do not always follow the relative rankings of metrics for park access and quality. Additionally, Black and Hispanic residents perceived greater park problems than White residents, and Hispanic residents perceived more improvements than White residents. However, distinctions in public perceptions of parks by racial/ethnic groups and regions did not hold up in our mixed, multivariate models. Instead, our results highlight regionally distinct perceptions by race/ethnicity, suggesting that subjective views of park quality are context-dependent. In contrast, income is a more dominant driver of perceived improvements in local parks and open spaces. As a whole, this research underscores the need to consider both objective and subjective measures in particular geographic contexts to fully understand and plan for the equitable distribution of high-quality parks across diverse people and places.     

Urban park pathway design characteristics and senior walking behavior

Urban parks are easily available settings for seniors to engage in daily physical activity. As a type of low-cost physical activity, walking can bring seniors multiple health benefits. Among all park facilities, park pathways are most significantly related to physical activity. The present study examined the links between specific park pathway design characteristics and senior walking within urban park, through observations and interviews. This study was conducted in two neighborhood parks in Beijing, China. On-site observations were utilized to collect data on senior walking behavior (dependent variable) and pathway design characteristics (independent variable). We calculated the average number of observed seniors in all observations to represent usage of each pathway segment. Interviews were conducted to explore pathway design characteristics preferred and disliked by senior users. ANOVA analyses and correlation analyses revealed that seniors prefer pathways that have soft or even pavement (plastic track and bricks), benches, flowers, and light fixtures. Also, seniors are attracted to pathways that are long, between 3–3.9 meters wide, and without connection with activity zones. In addition, results suggest other pathway design characteristics, such as being along a water body, having shade, providing lateral visibility and visual connection with water, and without visual connection with landmarks may also encourage senior walking. By providing park pathways preferred by seniors, designers can create park environments that are supportive of senior walking, and ultimately contribute to improving senior health and life quality.     

国内外城市湿地公园游憩价值开发典型案例分析

梳理城市湿地公园游憩价值的构成要素及景观美学、休闲娱乐、康体健身、自然教育、民俗体验价值的内容.以伦敦湿地中心、香港城市湿地公园、杭州西溪湿地公园为案例,分析城市湿地公园在基础构成要素不同的背景下确立自身的规划设计和理念、开发模式、游憩产品策划.     

Protest response and contingent valuation of an urban forest park in Fuzhou City,China

Urban forest parks, such as Fuzhou National Forest Park (FNFP), provide residents with landscape amenities, recreational opportunities, and interaction with nature. Understanding the recreational quality of green spaces and visitors’ behaviors and preferences is essential for effective forest park conservation strategy. We aimed to assess the recreational use and amenities of FNFP and calculate the monetary value of provided services using a contingent valuation method (CVM). A total of 249 park visitors were interviewed face-to-face based on a questionnaire using entrance fee as the payment vehicle, in October 2015 and January 2016. A considerable number of protest responses may cause selectivity bias; consequently, we used models excluding protest zeros. Sample selection models were estimated using Heckman’s two-step and full information maximum likelihood methods The average willingness-to-pay (WTP) was estimated to be 13.79 RMB (equivalent to 2.00 USD) for the unconditional model, and the lower mean values were estimated for two selectivity bias corrected models. In this case, park visitors would be willing to pay an average 11.6 RMB (equivalent to 1.69 USD) per person according to the full information maximum likelihood estimate and an average 10.96 RMB (equivalent to 1.60 USD) per person by the two-step method. Respondents’ satisfaction of forest park facilities and service significantly influenced their WTP value for forest park improvements. Socio-demographic features could not effectively discriminate the protest bidders and the other non-protest bidders. Our results suggest that protesters may value the resource less than positive bidders. The high percentage of protest respondents may be due to the current free use of FNFP and payment vehicle of entrance fee. The CVM approach takes residents’ preferences into consideration and allows the study of heterogenous socio-demographic groups; thus, our data may help to develop effective management plans for improving urban forest parks in China.     

Flowers as attractions in urban parks: Evidence from social media data

Urban parks are among the most important urban public services. Quantifying their visitation intensity and understanding the driving forces behind their popularity is of great relevance to urban planning. We analyze the behavior of park visitors in Beijing based on phenological information extracted from social media data. Specifically, we built a dataset utilizing natural language processing techniques and co-word analysis methods to explore the connection between flowers and park visitation. Our findings revealed that: (1) According to the changing trend of visitor volumes and their peak times, urban parks can be divided into “single-peak” (visitor volumes show a single peak, with significant seasonal characteristics) and “multi-peak” (visitor volumes show multiple peaks with no obvious seasonal characteristics) parks; (2) There is an association between flowers and visitor volumes to urban parks, with a noticeable increase in the frequency of visits to parks especially in spring (i.e., during flowering); (3) Different types of flowers have varying appeal to attract visitors. Further, parks with one or few “dominant flowers” appeal to more visitors than parks without a clear dominating flower (or flowers). Our results provide implications for urban park design and management for improving their scenic qualities.     

Urban parks can maintain minimal resilience for Neotropical bird communities

Birds may use urban parks as shelter and refuge, contributing with numerous ecosystem services upon which humans and other organisms depend on. To safeguard these services, it is important that bird communities of urban environments hold some degree of resilience, which refers to the capacity of a system to absorb disturbances and changes, while maintaining its functions and structures. Here we assessed the resilience of the bird community inhabiting an urban park in the Southeast region of Brazil. We classified birds in feeding guilds and identified discontinuities and aggregations of body masses (i.e., scales) using hierarchical cluster analysis. We then calculated five resilience indices for our urban park and for a preserved continuous forest (reference area): the average richness of functions, diversity of functions, evenness of functions, and redundancy of functions within- and cross-scale. The urban park had less species, lower feeding guild richness, and lower within-scale redundancy than the reference area. However, they had similar proportion of species in each function, diversity of functions, evenness of functions, and cross-scale redundancy. The lower species richness and, consequently, the lack of some species performing some ecological functions may be responsible for the overall lower resilience in the urban park. Our results suggest that the bird community of the urban park is in part resilient, as it maintained many biological functions, indicating some environmental quality despite the high anthropogenic impacts of this area. We believe that urban forest remnants with more complex and diverse vegetation are possibly more likely to maintain higher resilience in the landscape than open field parks or parks with suppressed or altered vegetation. We propose that raising resilience in the urban park would possibly involve increasing vegetation complexity and heterogeneity, which could increase biodiversity in a large scale.