Exploring public preferences and preference heterogeneity for green and blue infrastructure in urban green spaces

Green and blue urban infrastructure (GBI) has many positive functions often not recognised by residents (e.g., microclimate regulation, water retention, etc.). The question for urban planners who are aware of these functions when planning new GBI elements or revitalising existing GBI is how much they need to account for the preference heterogeneity of locals, who typically consider only aesthetic and recreational value. This study uses data from a discrete choice experiment among residents of the medium-sized Czech city of Liberec to reveal which combinations of nature-based or semi-natural GBI and recreational facilities respondents prefer and how strong their preferences are in terms of their willingness to pay. Overall, study respondents preferred nature-based GBI to semi-natural ones. A mixed-latent class model identified two groups of respondents who differ in preferences, trade-offs, and socio-demographic characteristics: (i) mostly older educated women who prefer nature-based elements and enjoy park infrastructure; (ii) mostly less educated men who dislike urban gardens and semi-natural streams and do not value park infrastructure. Based on the results, we recommend that spatial planners and green space managers design and implement more nature-based elements in Liberec, which are in line with the respondents’ preferences.     

Residents and urban green spaces: The case of Bari

The total area of public green spaces in the city of Bari, Italy is more limited than in most other Italian cities (2.9 m²/inhabitant). This fact makes it an interesting subject for research into the general perception that the residents of the city have of green spaces and their behaviour patterns when using them.

A questionnaire (27 questions) was presented by telephone to a representative sample (n=351) of the population of Bari. The aims of the study were: (a) to gain insight in the perception of green spaces with particular reference to those green areas within the city itself; (b) to examine behaviour during visits to parks and gardens and means of transport used to reach them; (c) to investigate what kind of relationship should be set up between the local authority and the population regarding information and participation.

The results show that respondents perceive the green areas as a life quality enhancer in accordance with some previous studies carried out in Italy and in other countries. Citizens are moreover conscious of the limitations in quality and quantity of green areas in their own city, although this result needs to be more closely analysed in the future. Patterns in the use of public green areas proved to be strictly connected with age, sex, marital status, area of residence. Another conditioning factor was the system of mobility. The results moreover underline how citizens see the public and private green areas as single beneficial system.

The research also demonstrates the potentials of applying telephone surveys in studies concerning urban forests.     

The effect of spontaneous wild vegetation on landscape preferences in urban green spaces

The use of spontaneous wild vegetation (SWV) in the plans for urban greening in many cities is beginning to be discussed. However, little is known about how it is perceived and valued by citizens. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of SWV on landscape preferences. An online questionnaire was designed and given to a sample of 708 people in Latin America. The results show that they prefer more formal green spaces to those dominated by SWV. Once informed of the benefits that SWV brings to the city, preferences change, with wild vegetation spaces being more appreciated than formal ones. However, this pattern of preferences changes after 30 days. Preferences return to their initial point, with formal green spaces being appreciated again over wild spaces. The analyses show the importance of environmental education in urban greening strategies to communicate clearly, repeatedly and participatively the benefits of using SWV in public green spaces.     

Patterns of human behaviour in public urban green spaces: On the influence of users' profiles,surrounding environment,and space design

Public urban green spaces (PUGS) play a vital role in the dense urban fabric as places of Nature-Society contact and socialization. Despite some advances in the field, the relationship between the PUGS surroundings and their users' behaviours remains unclear. This study examined the patterns of human behaviour in four PUGS of the city of Porto, on the north Portuguese coast, where the behavioural mapping method was applied. Observational data regarding 979 PUGS users' socio-demographics and behaviours were recorded on a base map and a grid between August and November 2020. The use patterns during different times of the day were disaggregated across behaviours and users' profiles, and their relationship with the surroundings and design elements was assessed with ANOVA, Chi-Square test, and Pearson correlation. The findings presented may pave the way for future studies and inform the urban planning and design of the effectiveness of new interventions, namely providing more accurate aligning between the greenspace design language with users' needs. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of considering the sociodemographic background of PUGS users and the surroundings to guide designers and planners.     

Public perceptions and attitudes toward green infrastructure on buildings: The case of the metropolitan area of Athens,Greece

As the impact of green space shrinkage in urban centers becomes obvious, local and regional authorities must adopt environmental planning policies that can help create new green areas to ensure a good quality of life for citizens, along with the rehabilitation of the natural environment. One approach is the promotion of green infrastructure on buildings, including multi-dwelling apartment buildings. In order to effectively promote green infrastructure on buildings, it is essential to comprehend public attitudes toward green infrastructure, so that suitable and effective strategies can be implemented by policy makers. In this study, eight hundred respondents were asked to provide their views on green infrastructure on buildings, on construction that should take place on blocks of apartments in order to accommodate green infrastructure and on the related benefits that may arise from creating green spaces on buildings. A structured questionnaire and stratified sampling were used for the interviews, which were conducted with apartment owners in two regional units of Athens. The results showed that most citizens are willing to proceed with the installation of a green roof, trellis or vertical garden, in order to improve the aesthetics and functionality of the building they live in. Most of the respondents are not familiar with the energy savings that may occur from the installation of a green roof, vertical trellis or garden and wish for a subsidy from the state in order to implement green building solutions. To conclude, the participants in our study are not environmentally aware, since they are not interested in energy conservation but only about the aesthetics of their building; furthermore, they expect to receive financial support from the state in order to make any changes to their home.     

Attitude and willingness toward participation in decision-making of urban green spaces in China

Urban green spaces serve a variety of residents with various perceptions, preferences and demands. Their effective governance and precision provision increasingly require public input. Due to the unique political regime, public decision-making in China has long been controlled by governments with the public neglected. With increasing civic consciousness in recent years in urban China, this research investigated attitudes and willingness toward participation in planning, management and design of urban green spaces in Guangzhou. Face-to-face questionnaire surveys were conducted at the 24 green sites across the city with 595 respondents successfully interviewed. The results demonstrated the positive attitudes and strong willingness toward participation despite socioeconomic variations, fitting into a global trend of increasing civic consciousness and strengthening the theoretical base of public participation. Practically, the positive findings lay a sound social foundation for the participatory decision-making in urban China, and help to drive local governments more open and inclusive and develop effective governance strategies and mechanisms to promote public participation in decision-making of urban green spaces.     

The influence of subjective perceptions on the valuation of green spaces in Japanese urban areas

This study focuses on the importance of subjective perceptions in the valuation and conservation of urban green spaces. Because physical attributes of the natural environment are filtered through individuals’ perceptions, their self-reporting of the extent of green spaces fluctuates according to their biases. However, the determinant of people’s self-reporting of the extent of green spaces within neighborhoods remains unclear. An examination of the relationship between the physical attributes of green spaces and the self-reported extent of green spaces is required to address this uncertainty. Accordingly, two separate studies were conducted by establishing two types of data on green spaces: physical data derived from a Geographical Information System and questionnaire-derived self-reported data. Multiple regression analysis was performed to compare the effects of different types of physical green spaces on the self-reported extent of green spaces. The results indicated that residents’ perceptions of same-sized green spaces differed considerably depending on their type. To ascertain the effects of subjective perceptions on economic valuation, a life satisfaction approach was subsequently applied within two separate analyses. In the first analysis, reflecting a normal pattern, the relationship between life satisfaction and the area of green space was examined, and in the second analysis, the self-reported extent of green spaces was used as an intermediate variable between green spaces and life satisfaction. A comparison of the estimated values from the two analyses revealed significant differences, depending on whether self-reported green spaces were used as an intermediate variable. Specifically, values of urban green spaces fluctuated more than those of forests in the case of self-reported green spaces. Although urban planners and experts generally emphasize the physical attributes of green spaces, such as area, these results indicate that it is critical to consider people’s perceptions.     

Evaluating the risk of accessing green spaces in COVID-19 pandemic: A model for public urban green spaces (PUGS) in London

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) at the beginning of 2020 has restricted the human population indoor with some allowance for recreation in green spaces for social interaction and daily exercise. Understanding and measuring the risk of COVID-19 infection during public urban green spaces (PUGS) visits is essential to reduce the spread of the virus and improve well-being. This study builds a data-fused risk assessment model to evaluate the risk of visiting the PUGS in London. Three parameters are used for risk evaluation: the number of new cases at the middle-layer super output area (MSOA) level, the accessibility of each public green space and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation at the lower-layer super output area (LSOA) level. The model assesses 1357 PUGS and identifies the risk in three levels, high, medium and low, according to the results of a two-step clustering analysis. The spatial variability of risk across the city is demonstrated in the evaluation. The evaluation of risk can provide a better metric to the decision-making at both the individual level, on deciding which green space to visit, and the borough level, on how to implement restricting measures on green space access.     

Carbon sinks in urban public green spaces under carbon neutrality: A bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review

Urban green spaces play essential roles in regulating the global carbon cycle and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. However, research on the carbon sequestration efficiency of urban public green spaces, which is closely related to the human settlement environment, has not received enough attention. Thus, we systematically analyzed the existing literature in the Web of Science core database using bibliometrics and network analysis combined with the CiteSpace visualization tool. The aim of this review was to elucidate the focus and development trend of research conducted between 2007 and 2022 on carbon sinks in urban public green spaces. Our results demonstrated that: 1) Numbers of related publications are increasing annually, indicating that the subject is receiving increasing global attention. Related research topics primarily focus on two aspects: carbon sink measurement methods and sustainable carbon sink design for urban public green spaces. 2) Methods for measuring and monitoring carbon sinks in the urban public green spaces include sample plot measurement, the assimilation method, the micrometeorological method, the remote sensing (RS) estimation method, and laboratory work. Most methods follow the forestry system approach and lack the methods and techniques to directly assess the carbon sink effectiveness of urban public green spaces. 3) Key factors affecting the carbon sink capacity of urban public green spaces are: plant species selection, plant community structure, green space characteristics, and maintenance management. 4) Future research should focus on encouraging public participation in the design of sustainable carbon sinks in urban public green spaces, advancing biodiversity research on carbon sinks in urban public green spaces, and enhancing the precision of measurements while addressing regional differences. This study contributes to the integration of research on the effectiveness of carbon sinks in urban public green spaces and provides a theoretical reference and guidance reduces prospective urban emission and achieves climate goals.     

Density,diversity and richness of woody plants in urban green spaces: A case study in Chennai metropolitan city

A tree diversity inventory was carried out in urban green spaces (UGSs) of Chennai metropolitan city, India. This inventory aims to study the diversity, density and richness of trees in UGSs of Chennai. A total of one hundred 10 m × 10 m (total 1 ha) plots were laid to reveal tree diversity and richness of UGSs. Trees with ≥10 cm girths at breast height (gbh) were inventoried. We recorded 45 species in 42 genera and 21 families. Caesalpiniaceae and Fabaceae each with 6 species dominated the study area followed by Arecaceae (3). Density and stand basal area of the present study were 500 stems ha^?1 and 64.16 m², respectively. Most of the inventoried trees were native (31 species) and deciduous (28 species). Fabaceae and Caesalpiniaceae dominated the present study area in terms of stand basal area and density. The Shannon diversity index and evenness of study area were 2.79 and 0.73, respectively. The most important species and families based on species important value index (IVI) and family important value index were Albizia saman, Polyalthia longifolia and Azadirachta indica; Fabaceae, Caesalpiniaceae and Annonaceae respectively. We find Chennai's urban forest is relatively superior to many urban forests of the world in terms of stand basal area and species richness. Results emphasize the importance of enhancement of urban green spaces in Chennai metropolitan city.     

Urban green space qualities reframed toward a public value management paradigm: The case of the Nordic Green Space Award

The change toward a public value management (PVM) paradigm in the public sector has challenged urban green space managers to rethink how they define and assess their services. In the Nordic countries, the challenge has resulted in the development of the Nordic Green Space Award (NSGA), as a new shared standard. This article reviews the NGSA scheme and its development. The development of the scheme embodies a methodology for how the question of ‘what makes for a good urban green space' collectively can be addressed within a particular regional context. The resulting scheme relies on ‘structure and general aspects', 'functionality and experience', and ‘management and organisation', as three principal themes and provides an easily manageable, unified and affordable approach to assessment of a variety of urban green spaces. Conceptually, the scheme resembles other comparable assessment schemes; however, its credibility rests on its regional grounding in the Nordic context.     

The role of green spaces and their management in a child-friendly urban village

Environmental child-friendliness is affected by how built environments and green spaces are planned and designed, but also by their ongoing management, including both development and maintenance. This study examined children’s perspectives on their local environments with focus on green spaces and their management in an urban village. Five groups totalling 16 children aged 10–11 were interviewed through child-led walks. Both the qualities of the village as a whole and of specific places within it added to the child-friendliness of the local environment. The children showed planned and managed spaces including playgrounds and parks, and unmanaged places such as abandoned gardens. They found many qualities in multifunctional planned places with a varied, rich content. In unmanaged areas the lack of management was seen as positive for exploration, play possibilities and for the place to be children’s own. The findings suggest that children’s perspectives can play an important role not only in planning and design, but also in the ongoing process of landscape management, including the provision of more variation in local green spaces.     

The influence of green space on community attachment of urban and suburban residents

Although community attachment and urban green space provide many benefits to local residents, the relationship between them seems to be unknown. The aim of the study was to analyse this relationship. The objective was to investigate the influence of public green space and recreation behaviour on community attachment and explore differences in community attachment between urban and suburban residents of the Vienna region. To a large degree, both study areas border on, and share, the same recreation areas along the Danube River and are subject to urban sprawl. A mail survey was carried out in 2006 to ask local residents (N = 602) about community green space, recreation behaviour, community qualities, ownership of private green space and community attachment. Urban residents showed higher community attachment, valued the community green space higher and perceived a better quality of life in their community than the suburban sample. Regression analysis identified perceived green space supply and qualities, recreation behaviour, and residential variables predicting community attachment. Different predictors were found for the community attachment of the samples, while several public green space-related items were consistent and strong predictors. The study findings suggest that the perceived supply and quality of green space can foster community attachment.     

The fate of urban green spaces: Assessment of the ownership,availability and conditions of parks in Accra,Ghana

Globally, the loss of green spaces threatens the sustainability of many cities. Among other factors, complex land ownership and management regime reportedly disrupt land administration and development; but with inconclusive empirical evidence on how this influences the conditions, availability and development of parks. This study, using Accra, thus employs document analysis, 16 key informant interviews and observation of majaor parks to: (i) explore the spatial location of parks and the relationship between their ownership and conditions, (ii) examine the factors which have influenced the decline in park size and conditions, and (iii) examine the institutional response to improving upon park planning, availability and conditions. The findings show distributive injustice of parks as most of them are located in high- and middle-income neighborhoods. There is also evidence of decreasing available park land per 1000 population between 1991 and 2022. Parks managed by private institutions were found to be in very good state compared to those managed by state institutions. The existing dualistic and complex land tenure regime have largely led to the decline in park availability and conditions. Other reported factors were rapid urbanization, land litigation, low priority to park development and planning, laxity in the enforcement of regulations, and political interference. The study makes recommendations to improve upon existing practices and generally enhance park creation, availability and conditions.     

Assessment of joint soil ecosystem services supply in urban green spaces: A case study in Northern Italy

The multiple functions of urban soils secure the supply of ecosystem services to the urban population, but they are seldom taken into account in current urban planning. The purpose of this study is to highlight the multifunctionality of the soils of urban green spaces and to assess the influence of different types of urban green (i.e. parks and gardens, roadside green and agricultural fields) on the joint supply of soil-based ecosystem services. In a case study area in the city of Carpi (NE Italy), we focused on a set of soil functions underpinning ecosystem services and on possible synergies and trade-offs between them. We surveyed and sampled 19 urban green areas to assess the following soil functions: biological fertility, potential habitat for organisms, water regulation and storage, soil buffering capacity and carbon stock. Results showed differences and trends in the bundles of ecosystem services provided by the soils of urban green areas, highlighting the relevance of soil disturbance and vegetation cover density in affecting soil functions. For biological indicators, results showed a negative significant correlation to CaCO₃ content, which is associated with the degree of soil disturbance, and that soils in urban areas do not always have compromised soil fauna and may provide the same level of biological quality as agricultural soils or forests.     

Influence of green spaces on environmental satisfaction and physiological status of urban residents

Influence of urban green spaces on human was evaluated with subjective questionnaires as well as physiological measurements. Five sample plots vary in color, size and scent of major plants and one no-vegetation area located in Shanghai Botanical Garden, China were chosen. 249 questionnaires on subjective satisfaction evaluation were collected; in addition to 64 visitors took the measurement of physiological parameters like Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Electrocardiogram (ECG). Questionnaire results show that color is one of the most important factors which affect the overall satisfaction of people with their vegetation environment. The way how people perceive vegetation environment was probed by PCA analysis. Age difference analysis show children and elder people presented higher satisfaction with vegetation environment than adults. Significant negative correlation between the ratio of low-frequency to high-frequency (LF/HF) values in heart rate variability (HRV) analysis and satisfaction values indicated HRV may be an effective parameter for green spaces influence evaluation.     

Refining the accessibility evaluation of urban green spaces with multiple sources of mobility data: A case study in Shenzhen,China

Urban green space (UGS) is an important component of urban resources which contributes to human physical and mental health. Studies on the accessibility of UGS under the two-step floating catchment (2SFCA) framework have recently received much attention. However, the effects of people’s actual mobility patterns have not been fully considered in current studies. Proposed in this study is an improved accessibility model called AM-Ga2SFCA, which refines the traditional Gaussian 2SFCA method with the actual mobility information extracted from mobile phone big data and online map. A new attractiveness index of UGS is implemented by combining the popularity evaluated by the PageRank algorithm and the actual utilisation based on buffer analysis. In addition, realistic travel time between each demand point and UGS is retrieved from the online map, which is further introduced into AM-Ga2SFCA as the travel cost. A case study is conducted in Shenzhen, China to validate the proposed model. Results show that the accessibility of UGS is strongly correlated with regional urbanization level, for example, higher accessibility generally occurred in the region with developed transportation and rich green resources. From the perspective of age groups and travel modes, we found that the environmental justice issue had already occurred in Shenzhen especially for the non-elderly: under the walk mode, nearly 80% of the non-elderly only shared 20% of UGS whilst approximately 80% of the elderly shared 30% of UGS. However, taxi or private vehicles can effectively alleviate the aforementioned phenomenon by reducing the Gini index to less than 0.5. The proposed model is expected to advance the understanding of UGS accessibility and facilitate effective planning to reduce environmental justice.     

The use and appreciation of botanical gardens as urban green spaces in South Africa

There are few formal studies on the contribution of botanical gardens as urban green spaces, particularly within developing countries. Therefore, this paper reports on an assessment of the use and appreciation of botanical gardens as urban green spaces in South Africa. Users and staff were surveyed in six national botanical gardens. The gardens provided numerous benefits in terms of conservation, education and recreation. However, the people using the gardens were not demographically representative of the general population of the surrounding city or town. Generally, most of the visitors were middle- to old-aged, well-educated professionals with medium to high incomes. Most were white and English was their home language. There was an even gender representation. Most visited only a few times per year. The majority of users visited the gardens for recreation and psychological reasons rather than educational ones. However, the staff of each garden placed emphasis on education in the gardens and amongst surrounding schools. Most visitors appreciated the conservation dimensions of botanical gardens, and felt that there was insufficient public green space in their town or city. Understanding how people perceive and use the botanical gardens of South Africa is important to inform future research and strategies regarding the conservation of urban green space within a developing country.     

Pond area and distance from continuous forests affect amphibian egg distributions in urban green spaces: A case study in Sapporo,Japan

We examined factors that affect egg distributions of amphibians, which are currently declining globally, in urban areas. We counted the number of egg masses of two amphibian species (Hynobius retardatus and Rana pirica) in ponds in urban green spaces during two years (2011 and 2012) and investigated the effects of local and landscape factors on them. Forest area in green spaces and pond area had positive effects, and distance from continuous forests in the suburbs and the rate of pond shore protection had negative effects on the number of eggs. Among these factors, distance from continuous forests and pond area had strong effects on egg distributions. These results suggest the importance of water habitat size and the need for colonization by amphibians from surrounding continuous forests. To conserve urban amphibian assemblages, the preservation of ponds with sufficient area and continuous forests close to urban habitats would be important.     

Classification of institutional barriers affecting the availability,accessibility and attractiveness of urban green spaces

The main goal of this article is to identify and classify institutional barriers which prevent the use of urban green spaces (UGS) at three levels: availability (whether a UGS exists), accessibility (whether it is physically and psychologically accessible, e.g., not fenced off), and attractiveness (whether it is attractive enough for potential users to visit). We reviewed the impacts on UGS provision exerted by different actors (individuals, formal and informal groups, community councils, city authorities, national governmental and non-governmental organizations), along with the relevant institutional foundations of those impacts. As a result, we identified and classified the different barriers for which these actors are responsible in the case of fifteen UGS types in our case study city, Lodz (Łódź) in Poland. The main barriers at different levels concern conflicting interests, physical barriers (private green spaces), and the lack of funds, together with legal and governmental failures (public green spaces). These barriers result from the different actors’ mandates or lack thereof. Our analysis has implications for the operationalization of UGS availability, accessibility and attractiveness, and, in particular, for mapping UGS and setting the relevant indicators and thresholds for UGS availability, accessibility and attractiveness.