Consistent with the Land Urbanism and Green Infrastructure theme of this special issue of Land, the primary goal of this review is to provide a plain language overview of recent literature that reports on the psychological, physiological, general well-being, and wider societal benefits that humans receive as a result of experiencing public green infrastructure (PGI) and nature in urbanized landscapes. This enhanced well-being and the wider societal benefits that accrue to urban dwellers as a result of interacting with quality PGI contributes to the concept known as city or urban livability. The quantitative analysis and theoretical synthesis reported in this review can inform decision makers, stakeholders, and other PGI and urban nature (UN) researchers of the benefits that urban populations receive from experiencing quality PGI spaces and UN and the contribution those spaces make to the livability of urban areas. With diminishing opportunities for the acquisition of new public open space to increase PGI and re-establish UN near urban centers, the efficient management and continuous improvement of existing PGI and UN is essential to promote and foster opportunities for human-to-nature contact and the known benefits therein derived. In addition to identifying an increased research interest and publication of articles that report on the contribution of PGI spaces to urban livability over the past decade, the review identifies and reports on the seven focus areas of PGI-livability research and the six attributes of PGI spaces that the current literatures report as contributing to the livability of urbanized landscapes. After providing a quantitative analysis for the reporting of those research areas and PGI attributes and summarizing key findings reported in the literature regarding the contribution that PGI spaces make to urban livability, this review also identifies knowledge gaps in the published literature and puts forward recommendations for further research in this rapidly expanding multidisciplinary field of research and policy development.

The widely applied Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) provides relatively simple and straightforward techniques to assess how well the attributes of a good or service perform in meeting the expectations of consumers, clients, users, and visitors. Surprisingly, IPA has rarely been applied to inform the management of urban public green infrastructure (PGI) or urban nature (UN) spaces. This case study explores the visitor satisfaction levels of people using a PGI space that incorporates UN, close to the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. With diminishing opportunities to acquire new PGI spaces within ever more densely populated urban centers, understanding, efficiently managing, and continuously improving existing spaces is crucial to accessing the benefits and services that PGI and UN provide for humankind. An intercept survey conducted within the Lake Claremont PGI space utilized a self-report questionnaire to gather qualitative and quantitative data (n = 393). This case study demonstrates how the IPA tool can assist urban planners and land managers to collect information about the attributes of quality PGI and UN spaces to monitor levels of service, to increase overall efficiency of site management, to inform future management decisions, and to optimize the allocation of scarce resources. The satisfaction of PGI users was analyzed using the IPA tool to determine where performance and/or resourcing of PGI attributes were not congruent with the expectations of PGI users (generally in the form of over-servicing or under-servicing). The IPA demonstrated that a majority of PGI users perceived the study site to be high performing and were satisfied with many of the assessed attributes. The survey identified the potential for some improvement of the amenity and/or infrastructure installations at the site, as well as directing attention towards a more effective utilization of scarce resources. Optimizing the management of PGI spaces will enhance opportunities for individuals to obtain the physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits that arise from experiencing quality urban PGI spaces. This case study promotes the important contribution that high-quality PGI spaces, which include remnant and restored UN spaces, make to the development of resilient and sustainable urban centers.

This paper provides an account of the environmental history of a landlocked coastal wetland and the surrounding nature space (Lake Claremont) located within a large Australian city (Perth, Western Australia). We document the processes and behaviour that led to significant negative change over time and report on recent work to restore the lake and its surrounding ecosystem. The reported community-initiated actions reflect changing human values and add to the accumulating evidence that the increasing trend of restoring greenspace to native ecosystems (nature space) brings about social and conservation benefits within the urban fabric. Moreover, this narrative also indicates that significant progress can be made in recovering and expanding ecological components and natural values within a relatively short period. Implications for city planners and land managers are self-evident with regard to what can be achieved and the values that communities now place on naturally functioning urban wetlands. Furthermore, the presence of wetlands such as Lake Claremont in the urban fabric is seen to enhance the liveability of the surrounding city by offering a convenient way for residents and tourists to connect with nature and the outdoors and realise the health benefits that the lake can provide. This case study adds to the body of work that identifies and describes the growing importance of urban wetlands in urban landscapes and provides a clear example of what can be achieved at the local community level and with local government support.

Feeding wildlife for the purpose of tourism is a contentious issue with for and against arguments being raised by tour operators, non‐governmental organisations, researchers, and managers. Despite this situation, there is a growing trend in the feeding of marine wildlife to guarantee visitors an exciting up‐close experience. This review investigates the scope and key findings of research conducted on the impacts and social aspects of tourism related wild fish feeding. This systematic quantitative literature review identified 58 peer‐reviewed articles on feeding wild fish for tourism. Of those articles, 35 (60%) reported on ecological impacts on the fish. Only 14 articles explored fish feeding tourism from a social perspective, and of those only 9 (15%) investigated the perspectives of visitors. This review highlights that the impacts and management of complex human‐wildlife interactions, such as feeding wild fish, are case and species specific. The impacts of feeding wild fish for tourism include changes in species distribution and behaviour, negative health effects, increased predation of some fish species, and risk of injury to tourists. There is less research on social aspects such as visitor attitudes and satisfaction with fish feeding operations. Further studies are required on visitor demand and interests, and the ecological implications of provisioning to ensure the scenarios in which fish feeding occur are sustainable, maximizing the tourism experience while minimizing negative impacts on fish populations. It is important that progress is made towards developing appropriate codes of conduct and nationally and internationally accredited standards of practice.

This data descriptor summarizes the process applied and data gathered from the contents of 87 peer-reviewed papers/sources reporting on the contribution of public green infrastructure (PGI), in the form of public parks and urban nature spaces, in the context of city liveability and general human health and well-being. These papers were collected in a systematic literature review that informed the design of a questionnaire-based survey of PGI users in Perth, Western Australia. The survey explored visitor satisfaction with the amenities and facilities of the PGI space, and perceptions of the importance of such spaces for city liveability. Papers were sourced by searching over 15,000 databases, including all the major English language academic publishing houses, using the ProQuest Summon® service. Only English language peer-reviewed papers/editorial thought pieces/book chapters that were published since 2000 with the full text available online were considered for this review. The primary search, conducted in December 2016, identified 71 papers, and a supplementary search undertaken in June 2018 identified a further 16 papers that had become discoverable online after the completion of the initial search.