Cultural Greenspaces: Synthesizing Knowledge and Experience in Nova Scotia’s African-Canadian Communities through Participatory Research and SoftGIS

Abstract

Greenspaces are integral components of communities and provide numerous benefits. However, human development threatens these spaces, particularly in communities of color where histories of racial injustice persist and environmental vulnerabilities remain. A step towards preventing the loss of important cultural greenspaces is documenting knowledge and experience. This research employed community-based participatory techniques to study the relationship between the landscape and African-Canadian communities around Preston, Nova Scotia, the oldest and largest in Canada. Community-directed meetings created collaborative-based knowledge about perceptions surrounding land use change while identifying valued greenspaces. This paper studies the relationships between the community’s greenspaces and the benefits to psychological, social, and physical aspects of human wellbeing. This relationship is operationalized through the use of a public participation geographic information system (PPGIS), SoftGIS, which activates the greenspace–human wellbeing relationship through interaction and its map-based survey data collection. Results indicate residents predominately visited greenspaces near a church or community center for social wellbeing benefits to interact with neighbors and friends, to cookout, or to bring children outside. This research contributes to a greater understanding of the Preston area’s greenspace identification and qualification, resident behavior, and cultural perspectives to inform strategies and goals for engaging government agencies surrounding policy and land use planning. This research illustrates frameworks for improving building capacity and promoting racial equity within the urbanization process in other communities.

Attraction and Retention Green Place Images of Taipei City

“…This means that the first two factors together account for about 57% of the total variance in the observed variables. This is generally considered an acceptable greenspaces are as follows: Zhian Park (17), Shida Park (82), Dongpo Park (18), and Wanhua Triangle Park (20) are categorized as small-sized greenspaces; Yongzhi Park (14)…”

“…Third, the statistical results underscore the importance of incorporating greenspaces into urban environments, not just for their aesthetic or recreational value but for their role in emphasizing a sense of belonging [14,35]. Policies and government practices that support the development of community programs along with the preservation of greenspaces can contribute to healthier and more cohesive communities for residents in densely developed urban environments.…”

“…However, when the concept came into the greenspace discussion, there was a lack of consistency as it had been adopted as a subordinate concept of place attachment [13,36]. Moreover, the measurement content broadly includes a questionnaire traversing emotional responses from greenspace usage [14,39]. Following the genuine interpretation of place dependence, with which people develop a goal-oriented user perception towards the place, the present study addresses place dependence with a distinct value.…”

“…The first Forests 2024, 15, 710 2 of 16 three components have predominantly been examined in the context of destination marketing, focusing on the attraction level [6,11,12]. Conversely, the latter two components have been explored at the retention level, centered on residents' place attachment and identity [10,[13][14][15]. In greenspace contexts, discussions on place image have primarily unfolded at the retention level, as researchers have focused on users' direct interactions with greenspaces through various activities and layers of emotional response [9].…”

Interplay between greenspace interactions and sense of place in Seoul City

“…Researchers found that people regard greenspace as gathering places with family, friends or neighbors (Irvine et al, 2013;Schetke et al, 2016;Mao et al, 2020;Fisher et al, 2021;Sen and Guchhait, 2021) emphasizing that increasing social bond through the nearby natural environment prevents social isolation (Ward Thompson et al, 2016) and promotes environmental justice (Enssle and Kabisch, 2020). Especially for social minority groups, greenspace functions as a place for their unification and acculturation (leBrasseur, 2022).…”