Multiple factors shape the interaction of people with urban greenspace: Sweden as a case study

This study identifies and analyses multiple factors that impact people’s interactions with urban greenspace in Sweden. An unrestricted, self-selected online survey was used to collect the data. The survey questions were related to individual characteristics of respondents, including socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported nature connectedness, and self-reported constraints to greenspace usage; perceived characteristics of urban greenspace, including its availability, quality, and accessibility, and benefits and problems; and preferences of respondents regarding types of urban greenspace and activities. Additionally, several spatially explicit variables were included in the analysis. A total of 2806 respondents from 208 (of 290) municipalities completed the survey. Our findings indicate that greenspace users are highly heterogeneous and utilise diverse green spaces along the urban-peri-urban gradient for various benefits. The statistical analyses identified 61 explanatory variables that affect the frequency of interactions with urban greenspace. In addition, we identify key factors that shape critical differences between frequent and infrequent urban users, such as nature connectedness, perceptions of urban greenspace functions, and their perceived accessibility. Our results highlight the complex challenge facing urban planners and managers of green spaces, who have to consider and integrate a vast array of factors influencing the willingness of increasingly diverse urban populations to interact with greenspace.     

Trees as affordances for connectedness to place– a framework to facilitate children’s relationship with nature

This study, informed by phenomenology and ethnography, explores urban children’s relationship with trees in a garden camp context: what are trees for urban children? Studying Finnish 7- to 12-year-old children, the research employed triangulation: participant and non-participant observation methods with mixed data collection over the course of three years. Engaging in grounded theory analysis after an intermission, the study unites the theoretical constructs of affordance and connectedness to place. Based on empirical observations, this study provides a theoretical framework to clarify the phased process of how urban children’s connectedness to place is evolving. Exploitation of tree affordances during place-based play reflected connectedness to place; utilization of trees became more versatile over time. The results showed trees to be intriguing and multifaceted, satisfying many of the children’s private and social needs. Trees provided the materials, space and often purpose and contents for the actual play that could not have thrived without them. In addition, children learned to manage possible tree-related risks mainly from experience and through scaffolding with peers. Recommendations for supporting beneficial nature contact emphasize allowing child-directed, place-based play time and planning biodiverse, low-maintenance spaces with a wide variety of trees that will invite children to use green spaces according to their needs.     

Needs and expectations of German and Chinese children for livable urban green spaces revealed by the method of empathy-based stories

One of the important features of cities is to provide high-quality outdoor environments for various groups of citizens. Although children are frequent users of green spaces, the knowledge and perspectives applied in planning and design of urban green spaces are mostly defined by adults. This results in spaces and practices that may limit the daily lives and creativity of urban children. Promoting child-friendly cities benefits from knowledge produced by children themselves, regarding their perceptions and experiences, as well as ideas and suggestions. This study provides empirical results concerning children’s needs and mental images for urban green spaces in two urban areas in two countries (Chengdu, China, and Ruhr Region, Germany). 765 children, ages 8–10 were surveyed through the method of empathy-based stories (MEBS). Participants were asked to use their imagination to write stories according to given scenarios. Our study shows that MEBS can be used to gather meaningful data with children, and that children are an important stakeholder group in urban planning, landscape design and management with an ability to express their diverse needs and preferences towards green spaces. Both designed green spaces (e.g. gardens, parks) and wild nature (e.g. forests, meadows) can offer a range of activities and experiences for children in their everyday lives: opportunities for play, socializing, contact with nature, aesthetic and restorative experiences, learning and exploration. Our findings include indications of children’s awareness of the diverse ecosystem services that green spaces provide, as well as of urban sustainability and livability. While we found German and Chinese children to have corresponding needs and expectations regarding urban green spaces and nature, we also found some variation. We suggest that the use of, and experiences in green spaces are linked not only to the landscape but also to conceptual-cultural contexts.     

Connection to nature and time spent in gardens predicts social cohesion

A person’s health and wellbeing are contingent on the amount of social support that they receive. Similarly, experiencing nature has been shown to improve people’s health and wellbeing. However, we do not know how relationships between social cohesion, nature experiences and nature connection could interrelate and vary across different types of urban green spaces, and in non-Westernised cultures. We conducted a study on 1249 residents in Singapore, a tropical city-state, and measured three dimensions of social cohesion (i.e. general social cohesion; trust and sense of community; and social interactions), various types of nature experiences (i.e. amount of green space around one’s residence; frequency and duration of urban green space visits; frequency and duration of visits to gardens), and three dimensions of one’s connection to nature: self-identity with nature, desire to experience nature, and environmental concern (using the nature relatedness scale). We found that people who strongly identify with nature, who enjoy being in nature, and who had more frequent gardens visits were more likely to have a stronger sense of social cohesion across two dimensions. However, those with stronger environmental concern reported an overall weaker sense of social cohesion, possibly due to the perception that society’s contributions to conserve environmental problems was insufficient. Further, people who gardened more frequently were also more likely to visit green spaces, self-identify with nature and exhibit a stronger desire to experience nature. We propose that strategies targeted at encouraging people to engage in nature-related, collaborative activities at the local community level, such as spending time in local gardens, will increase urban residents’ daily nature experiences and its associated benefits such as improving social cohesion.     

Active student engagement within a university’s therapeutic sensory garden green space: Pilot study of utilization and student perceived quality of life

Green spaces serve as environmental sources to improve physical, mental and social health and wellbeing. Studies indicate that university students, when actively engaged in the use of green spaces, experience improved health and well-being. This study highlights the lived experience of two student participants and investigates student perceptions of a university campus therapeutic sensory garden on the quality of life based on the utilization of the green space. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to assess student use of the therapeutic sensory garden as well as student perceived quality of life related to social, mental, and physical well-being. Quantitative results included varied responses regarding the number of hours spent in the garden, number of visits to the garden, and types of sensory elements utilized in the garden. Qualitative results on student perception of quality of life identified three themes between the two participants: 1) connectedness, 2) positive emotional responses, and 3) active engagement sensory responses. The findings resulting from quantitative and qualitative analysis of the lived experiences of two student participants are consistent with that of current evidence literature indicating a positive association between time spent in a green space/natural environment and student perceptions of quality of life. These pilot study findings present structure and hypotheses related to time utilization, anticipated outcomes, and active ingredients for therapeutic sensory garden intervention with larger sampled groups of University students.     

Similar spaces,different usage : A comparative study on how residents in the capitals of Finland and Denmark use cemeteries as recreational landscapes

Several studies from the Nordic countries show that cemeteries not only fulfil an important societal function as places for the disposal of bodily remains; they are also recreational landscapes that people visit to reflect, experience nature or perhaps go for a walk with the dog. In this comparative study, based on PPGIS data collected between 2018 and 2020 from residents in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Helsinki (Finland), we explored the extent to which residents use urban cemeteries as everyday recreational landscapes. We also assessed users’ characteristics and the values they attached to the cemeteries. The results show that several of Copenhagen’s cemeteries were actively used for recreation, while those in Helsinki were used much less frequently for this purpose. Of the total 7276 mapped visiting points in Copenhagen, 16.5% were located within cemeteries, compared with 1.9% of the 4298 mapped visiting points in Helsinki, hence conclusions from Helsinki should be drawn with caution. Physical activity and experiencing nature were the most common values attached to cemeteries in Copenhagen, whereas social interaction, spirituality and tranquillity were most common for Helsinki cemeteries. The results also revealed that younger Danes were particularly inclined to use cemeteries for social interactions, physical activity and spirituality and tranquillity. In the discussion, we elaborate on spatial differences between the cases, such as the availability of other green spaces, the size of cemeteries or people living in proximity to a cemetery, as well as on differences in policies and practices, including how Copenhagen stands out in actively promoting municipal cemeteries as recreational landscapes.     

Relationships between nature connectedness,biodiversity of private gardens,and mental well-being during the Covid-19 lockdown

Private gardens have an enormous impact on urban biodiversity, making individual householder behavior critical to the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in urban areas. Nature connectedness is considered to be a prerequisite for proenvironmental behavior, but how it manifests in private gardens is largely unexplored. Nature connectedness has also been found to be associated with several well-being dimensions. The present study investigates the associations between nature connectedness, biodiversity of private gardens, and mental well-being during the Covid-19 lockdown, a stressful period in many people’s lives. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyze data from an online survey of private gardeners in two cities, one in Germany and one in New Zealand, in May 2020, approximately two months after the beginning of the first Covid-19 lockdown. Garden characteristics explained a significant amount of variance in depression symptoms during the Covid- 19 lockdown. In light of rising pressures on urban green spaces, the findings point to the importance of private garden qualities for mental health and well-being. Nature connectedness emerged as a significant predictor of feature richness, a measure of the heterogeneity of habitats that support wildlife, and plant growth form richness in people’s gardens in both city samples. Nature connectedness was also a significant predictor of the extent to which people experienced positive emotions during the Covid-19 lockdown but not negative emotions and depression symptoms. Our results suggest that nature connectedness can provide benefits for both the environment and people through its positive association with private garden biodiversity and positive emotions.     

One size does not fit all: The complex relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being

Conserving urban biodiversity is often promoted as a ‘win-win’ nature-based solution that can help align public health and biodiversity conservation agendas. Yet, research on the relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being reveals inconsistent and complex results. This body of research is also restricted to a few socio-cultural and environmental contexts and tends to ignore differences in individual characteristics, such as nature relatedness (i.e., emotional affinity to nature) and ecological knowledge, that can influence people’s experience of biodiversity. The aim of this interdisciplinary research is to explore the relationships between biodiversity and psychological well-being, and test the moderating effect of nature relatedness and ecological knowledge on these relationships. An ecological survey was conducted in 24 small urban gardens in Israel to measure the richness and abundance of birds, butterflies and plants, as well as land cover characteristics. In parallel, a social survey (close-ended questionnaires) was conducted in-situ to measure psychological well-being, nature relatedness, ecological knowledge, perceived species richness and socio-demographic variables. Psychological well-being measures were mostly associated with the cover of woody species, perceived species richness, and to a lesser extent, with actual species richness and abundance, for all taxa. Nature relatedness moderated these relationships. Respondents with high nature relatedness demonstrated positive well-being-richness relationships, while those with intermediate, or low nature relatedness showed no, or even negative relationships, respectively. Opposite relationships were recorded for bird abundance. Overall, individuals demonstrated poor ecological knowledge and this variable moderated only few relations between well-being measures, perceived butterfly richness and bird abundance. Our results demonstrate that one-size-does-not-fit-all when considering the relationship between psychological well-being and biodiversity, and that affinity to nature is a key moderator for this relationship. Designing urban green spaces that provide inclusive and meaningful nature experiences and foster emotional affinity to nature, is therefore key to aligning ecological and social objectives for sustainable urban planning.     

Emotional perceptions of people exposed to green and blue spaces in forest parks of cities at rapid urbanization regions of East China

Urbanization modifies the landscape with green and blue spaces (GBS), which further leads to a functional change along an urban-rural gradient. Emotional improvement is a critical service of GBS, which may be perceived and exposed through facial expressions by visitors. How people react, however, may vary at different locations of a city at varied phases of urbanization. In this study, happy and sad emotions were rated as scores from 7965 Sina-Weibo users who visited 77 GBS across 49 cities of East China in 2020. GBS were located in different regions of a city, either near downtown or in more rural-like regions. Compared to cities near the Hu Huanyong line, those along the eastern coast were built with parks that had smaller green spaces at lower elevations in locations near downtown. They also had larger blue spaces in parks at suburban areas of the same cities. People expressed more happiness in GBS in regions closer to remote rural regions, or in cities further from the eastern coast. Larger green spaces were associated with by the presentation more smiles in parks near downtown, while experiences in large blue spaces evoked positive emotions at suburban areas. Overall, GBS in population-dense regions of more developed cities can be perceived as an activation of exposing higher depression by visitors. More smiles can be exposed in GBS with a large green space near downtown, or with a large blue space at suburban regions of a city in East China.     

Too hot to handle? On the cooling capacity of urban green spaces in a Neotropical Mexican city

Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, which can be mitigated by urban vegetation through shading and evapotranspiration. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of spatially explicit information on the cooling capacity of green infrastructure for most Latin American cities. In this study, we employed Land Surface Temperature (LST) of the Neotropical Mexican city of Xalapa to (1) analyze its Surface UHI (SUHI) compared to its peri and extra-urban areas, (2) to assess the cooling capacity of urban green spaces larger than 1 ha, and (3) to evaluate the role of green spaces’ size, shape and their surrounding tree cover percentage (Tc) on green spaces cooling range. We evaluated the cooling range of green spaces and their relationships with green spaces metrics and Tc via a linear mixed-effect model and identified threshold values for the variables at 25 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m from the borders of green spaces through Classification and Regression Trees. Xalapa exhibits a SUHI of 1.70 °C compared to its peri-urban area and 4.95 °C to the extra-urban area. Green spaces > 2 ha mitigated heat at ~2 °C and the cooling range was influenced by the size of green spaces ≥ 2.8 ha and Tc > 21% at 50 m and only by Tc surrounding the green spaces at 100 m and 200 m. This shows that the size threshold of urban green spaces should be complemented with the presence of Tc starting at least 50 m to maximize the cooling capacity provided by the green infrastructure. Planning agendas should account for the interaction between the size of green spaces and the cumulative cooling effect of scattered vegetation inside urban areas towards compact green cities to cope with urban warming.     

Benefits and well-being perceived by people visiting green spaces in periods of heat stress

In urban environments, green spaces have proven to act as ameliorating factors of some climatic features related to heat stress, reducing their effects and providing comfortable outdoor settings for people. In addition, green spaces have demonstrated greater capacity, compared with built-up areas, for promoting human health and well-being. In this paper, we present results of a study conducted in Italy and the UK with the general goal to contribute to the theoretical and empirical rationale for linking green spaces with well-being in urban environments. Specifically, the study focused on the physical and psychological benefits and the general well-being associated with the use of green spaces on people when heat stress episodes are more likely to occur. A questionnaire was set up and administered to users of selected green spaces in Italy and the UK (n=800). Results indicate that longer and frequent visits of green spaces generate significant improvements of the perceived benefits and well-being among users. These results are consistent with the idea that the use of green spaces could alleviate the perception of thermal discomfort during periods of heat stress.     

Amenity trees and green space structure in urban settlements of Kigali,Rwanda

According to the national policy, overall forest and agroforestry cover in Rwanda is to increase up to 30% land cover by 2020. On the other hand, demographic data reveal that Rwanda's urban areas are among the fastest-growing on the continent. Unfortunately, there is only little information of the effects of such a rapid urbanization on tree cover and green space structure, knowing that data on urban plant assemblages in the country are rather rare. The paper discusses developments in Kigali's green spaces with regard to its rapid rate of expansion. An integrated approach of research, combining results from interview sessions, desk-based investigations, walk-over and vegetation surveys, and photogrammetric analyses of remotely acquired imagery was applied. The findings suggest that the city green space network consists of plant assemblages largely dominated by alien species (75%). Tree cover fraction averaged at around 10–35%. No significant difference was observed between field-drawn and photogrammetric-based fraction of tree cover estimates; making the later a quick but cheap tool for rapid tree cover evaluation. Cultivated forests, urban woodlots and domestic garden tree stands are far the most dominant types of green spaces in terms of coverage of city surface area. Street tree communities and institutional gardens appear to be the most intensively designed green space layouts. Both distribution and species composition in domestic gardens were socioeconomic-driven. For instance, palm trees were characteristic of fortunate quarters while fruitbearing ornamental such as Psidium guajava and Persea americana were common within scattered and informal settlements. Markhamia lutea, Erythina abyssinica, Euphorbia candelabrum, Phoenix reclinata and Acacia sieberiana are among native taxa that thrive to keep a place in the city. Euphorbia tirucalli, a native tree that is widespread in home compound fences within informal settlements, is significantly declining as modern housing expands and concrete-based fences replace live enclosures.     

A “magic teleportation machine”: Ethnically diverse green space users derive similar cultural ecosystem benefits from urban nature

Green spaces are vital to the wellbeing of urban communities, largely due to the many Cultural Ecosystem Benefits (CEB) that nature contributes to outdoor recreation experiences (e.g., relaxation, inspiration, spiritual enrichment). To ensure equity in the distribution of CEB, however, we require a better understanding of how they relate to ethnicity. Through 100 in-situ semi-structured interviews with green space users in the Lee Valley Regional Park, London, UK, this research explored variation in outdoor recreational CEB based on i) ethnicity and ii) green space activity and attribute preferences. We compared green space preferences and CEB of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and white users of two distinct types of urban green space: parks and more biodiverse Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Both white and BAME visitors to parks prioritized games/sports and built features whereas visitors to SSSIs more often undertook wildlife viewing and prioritized natural features. However, we found that white and BAME users of both types of urban green space derived similar CEB. Peace and relaxation were primary among these benefits, a result of both nature interaction and its contrast to the urban environment. These results demonstrate that nature does not have to be the focal point of outdoor recreation to contribute to wellbeing; rather, even as a backdrop to sports and cultural activities, nature provides similar benefits to green space users. To promote use of green space and foster intercultural understanding, we recommend integrating these shared benefits obtained from nature within marketing and engagement strategies. Future research is needed to explore CEB variation within and among distinct ethnic communities to fully capture the diversity of lived experiences.     

Recreational mapping and planning for enlargement of the green structure in greater Copenhagen

Since 1947, the development of greater Copenhagen has followed a plan that divided the city into a centre and five urban ‘fingers’. The ‘Finger Plan’ has constituted an important part of the planning framework, albeit informally. Under this plan, four green wedges and three green rings, located between the urban ‘fingers’, form a multifunctional recreational landscape of high value to the citizens. In 2006, the Greater Copenhagen Authority put forward a proposal for the enlargement of the existing green wedges and the addition of a new fourth green ring. In order to achieve this plan, detailed mapping of recreational opportunities was needed. Based on existing planning approaches combined with theoretical and empirical studies on preferences, use, and composition of green spaces, a method for monitoring and analyzing recreational experiences using seven specific categories was adapted and further developed to Danish conditions and applied to land use categories in greater Copenhagen. Areas that comprised one or more recreational experience values were designated by use of GIS techniques and map-based indicators for each of the seven ‘experience classes’ (wilderness; feeling of the forest; panoramic views, water, and scenery; biodiversity and land form; cultural history; activity and challenge; service and gathering). For incorporation into the regional and municipal planning policy, the seven experience classes were transformed into GIS, creating a decision support system for use at municipal and regional levels in order to facilitate future planning of the recreational landscape in greater Copenhagen. The method proved capable of pointing out important areas for recreational development in the enlarged but not yet developed areas. Further, the division of the recreational potential into seven classes makes possible site-specific development that utilizes existing potential.     

Elderly visitors of an urban park,health anxiety and individual awareness of nature experiences

There is increasing evidence of a positive relation between green spaces in people's living environment and self-reported indicators of physical and mental health. However, to this moment health anxiety has not been contextualized in the light of the restorative and anxiolytic experiences of urban nature nor has it been studied in reference to the awareness of nature experiences. We aimed to determine whether “awareness of nature experiences” was a significant modifier of the beneficial effects of interaction of older citizens with urban green spaces. This construct represents the purposeful and conscious interaction with nature, a specific behaviour pre-formed as a cognitive representation of the “self” in a natural context, providing an internal replica of the previously experienced external natural world which guides people when they choose to visit an urban park. A cross-sectional interview study was conducted amongst 97 elderly visitors of “Tzar Simeon Garden” Park in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After controlling for “awareness of nature experiences”, hierarchical multiple regression model accounted for 94% of the variance in health anxiety. The independent variables “appreciation of bird songs”, “appreciation of vegetation”, “weekly visits to the park” and “years of visiting the park” remained significant, but their power decreased, and “age” became non-significant predictor. The overall predictive capacity of the model rose significantly after “awareness of nature experiences” was added. In conclusion, health anxiety among Bulgarian elderly adults is somewhat higher than in other similar populations but still does not exceed acceptable levels. The actual interaction and experiences of the park were predictors of health anxiety independent from confounding factors. Their power, however, was to some extent dependent on individual “awareness of nature experiences”, which had unique contribution to the model.     

Predicting place attachment among walkers in the urban context: The role of dogs,motivations, satisfaction,past experience and setting development

Place attachment knowledge informs urban green space management to maximize positive visitor experiences. However, little is known about how place attachment differs between urban green space settings and users, particularly dog walkers or owners. This study explored place attachment and the better-known influence of variables such as motivation, satisfaction and visit frequency, as well as the understudied contributions of dog-ownership status and degree of setting development. In total, 450 on-site walkers and dog walkers in two cities and four green spaces with different levels of development were interviewed. Regression analyses revealed motivations, satisfaction and visit frequency predicted place attachment. Place attachment strength differed between walkers and dog walkers: dog walkers were more likely to have higher place identity and place dependence. Similarly, visitors to the urban green spaces with the lowest degree of development were highest on place dependence and identity. Implications and future research ideas are shared.     

Relationships between students’ demographic characteristics,perceived naturalness and patterns of use associated with campus green space,and self-rated restoration and health

There is increasing awareness of the benefits of campus green space in promoting student's health. However, information on how campus green spaces benefit students’ health is insufficient or limited to guide the planning or management process. As a result, the present study collected 897 valid responses to examine the differences in campus green space usage patterns among students with varying individual characteristics and to assess the interrelationships between students’ socio-demographic characteristics, perceived naturalness, patterns of use, and self-rated restoration and health using a structural equation model. The findings indicated that there were gender disparities in the presence of companions and frequency of use of campus green space, as well as discipline differences in companion presence. Additionally, gender, age, and discipline had distinct associations with perceived naturalness, patterns of use and self-rated restoration and health. Perceived naturalness positively contribute to patterns of use and self-rated restoration and health, while the frequency of use positively contributed to self-rated restoration and health. Moreover, students’ perceived health can be improved in part through the mediating effect of the self-rated restoration. The study findings demonstrated how campus green spaces benefit students’ health and provided valuable information for campus green space managers and designers. Therefore, we propose that presenting diverse natural elements, manipulating them in natural forms, providing feelings of wildness or friendliness, and eatablishing vast, high-quality, and diverse green spaces to promote students’ health.     

How do humans value urban nature? Developing the perceived biophilic design scale (PBDs) for preference and emotion

With the growth of urbanization and the increasingly hectic pace of life, exposure to urban nature within blue-green infrastructure is greatly impacting human health and well-being. Biophilia, an evolutional concept, conveys the initial connection between humans and nature; biophilic design transfers into design attributes to indicate the relationship between humans and the environment. A significant advantage of experiencing nature is positive restoration; however, only limited research has been conducted on connecting biophilic design and mental health. This study adopted our perceived biophilic design items (PBDi) to examine the relationship between landscape preferences and emotional states in urban green spaces. Online surveys (valid total n = 477) examining these biophilic items, landscape preferences, and emotional states were conducted. Seven aspects—(1) evolved human–nature relationships, (2) place-based relationships, (3) visual aesthetic quality, (4) state of natural change, (5) environmental perception, (6) sense of compatibility in the built environment, and (7) natural form of design method —were confirmed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with 64.35 % of the cumulative variance, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) demonstrated good convergent validity and discriminant validity. The overall perceived biophilic design scale (PBDs) with 28 items had a Cronbach’s α of 0.91. In addition, it was found that PBDs significantly explained landscape preferences and positive emotional states within urban nature. The findings provide an alternative tool for measuring human biophilic perceptions that influence environmental experiences. In addition, each item in the scale could be used as a biophilic guideline for designers and planners to reinterpret nature in cities and to enhance our connection to nature in general.     

A multiple scale,function, and type approach to determine and improve Green Infrastructure of urban watersheds

Green Infrastructure (GI) connects different types of green features via various scales, thereby supporting urban biodiversity and service provision. This study presents a methodology capable of identifying multiple functions to assess GI in less-developed countries, where such methodologies are lacking. GI was assessed based on a high-resolution land use classification using both landscape metrics and spatial data within an urbanized region of San José, Costa Rica, at different scales (watershed, neighbourhood, object). Results showed highly fragmented green spaces (often <10 ha), typically unable to support high levels of biodiversity, along with a low amount of green space per inhabitant (<7.4 m²) within the watershed. Substantially higher tree cover (x6) and tree density (x5) were found in the greenest neighbourhood in comparison to the least green neighbourhood. Potential areas for new GI in the form of green roofs (4.03 ha), permeable pavement (27.3), and potential retention areas (85.3) were determined. Several green spaces (n = 11) were identified as promising GI sites with the potential to increase provision (18.6 m²/inhabitant). The adopted methodology demonstrates the potential of GI for increasing recreational green space access, runoff reduction, and flood retentions while supporting biodiversity, validating its utility in guiding decision-making and policy generation.     

Perceptions of cultural ecosystem services of tree-based green infrastructure: A focus group participatory mapping in Zagreb,Croatia

Urban green infrastructure provides city dwellers numerous benefits. Among them, cultural ecosystem services (CES) are distinguished by being easily perceived and essential for people and their well-being. However, not all CES are equally easy to perceive, resulting with some of the CES categories being weakly explored. Research on CES also rarely considers elements of urban green infrastructure other than parks and forests. Therefore, there is a lack of research on different components of urban green infrastructure, especially tree-based, perceived in relation to CES. This paper presents the results of focus group participatory mapping implemented with citizens in the city districts of Zagreb on the perception of five selected CES categories in various types of urban green infrastructure. Our results show that participants perceived 13 different types of tree-based urban green infrastructure as providers of CES. We also distinguish patterns in the perception of CES categories and their connection with types of tree-based urban green infrastructure. Tree lines are perceived as providers of aesthetical experiences. Furthermore, forests and park forests are perceived in relation to place attachment and recreational activities, while parks are versatile and provide all explored CES. Other types that emerged as important were greenways, greenery around residential buildings and educational institutions, which provokes rethinking of a careful planning of the entire repertoire of urban green infrastructure.