Enhancing urban biodiversity and its influence on city-dwellers: An experiment

Shwartz, Assaf; Turbé, Anne; Simon, Laurent; Julliard, Romain

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2014.01.009

Cited by 210 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In earlier studies, the participants have often been on an occasional visit to a public park or similar type of green space (e.g. Fuller et al 2007;Shwartz et al 2014;Carrus et al 2015). We found that a high level of measured biodiversity and a perceived high value of the greenery and sounds followed each other in areas close to where participants lived.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…In other studies, the vegetation has been in focus because it is usually a major part of the perceived urban biodiversity. When flower diversity was experimentally increased in small public gardens in Paris, the visitors did not perceive any change in diversity before and after the manipulation although the participants expressed a preference for species richness (Shwartz et al 2014). In another experimental study, Lindemann-Matthies et al (2010) found that lay people appreciated species-rich, high-diversity grass communities more than species-poor ones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Following previous studies (Fuller et al 2007;Shwartz et al 2014;Carrus et al 2015) we focused on the vegetation as a major part of biodiversity being perceived by people. In addition, songbirds were monitored because they can have a great influence on perception of urban sites (Hedblom et al 2014).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fuller et al 2007). Several studies have recently focused on this problem (Dallimer et al 2012;Shwartz et al 2014;Pett et al 2016). For instance, in a study in England, it was shown that the well-being of visitors to green space was positively related to the perceived species richness of plants, birds and butterflies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of biodiversity and environment-related attitude on perception of urban green space

et al. 2016

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Green space in cities contributes to the quality of life for city dwellers, e.g., by increasing the opportunity for recreation. However, perception of urban green space is influenced by multiple factors. We investigated effects of biodiversity and environment-related attitudes on visual and auditory perceptions of urban green space. Field measurements of biodiversity were conducted in six sites across an urban gradient in Gothenburg, Sweden, and three categories of biodiversity-high, medium, low-were established. Households were sent a survey on aesthetic perception of urban green space, sound perception and the importance of trees and plants for the perception of bird species. Each respondent focused on the site that was located nearby. The environment-related attitudes comprised BNature-oriented^and BUrban-oriented^persons and were based on participants' own attitude estimations. It was shown that participants' Bsubjective^aesthetic and sound-related perception of urban greenery were in line with the Bobjectively^measured subdivisions of high, medium and low biodiversity. So also were their estimations of the importance of trees and plants for perception of bird species in urban greenery, although differing only between high and medium/ low biodiversity conditions. Persons rating themselves as highly nature-oriented were shown to give higher scores to urban green space aesthetics and to value greenery-related sounds higher, and to attach greater importance to trees and plants in their perception of bird species in urban greenery, than less nature-oriented persons. Highly urban-oriented persons compared to less urban-oriented persons did the same, but only regarding urban greenery-related aesthetics and sounds of nature. We conclude that environment-related attitudes influence perceptions of green space. Moreover, our findings support the idea that biodiversity per se also influences perceptions; people value green space significantly more with high than with low measured biodiversity. Urban planning needs to provide city inhabitants with green spaces that are species-rich, lush, varied and rich with natural sounds.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of biodiversity and environment-related attitude on perception of urban green space

et al. 2016

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“…There are potentially healthful flora settings that should be identified, considering the presence of native flowers [56,57], the degree of plant biodiversity [49,58,59] and the presence of grassland [60] and trees [44,45,49,61].…”

Section: Ecosystem's Health Potential (Ehp)mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Emerging Paradigm for the UNESCO Global Geoparks: The Ecosystem’s Health Provision

et al. 2018

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During the 38th General Conference of UNESCO, the Member States ratified the creation of the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP) expressing governmental recognition of the importance of managing outstanding geological sites and landscapes in a holistic manner. In this context, the importance of human interactions with the natural environment to promote healthy lifestyles was primarily a response to the need to preserve and enhance the value of the UNESCO Global Geoparks as well as highlighting their usefulness for the sustainable development of local populations. The aim of this paper is to suggest an interdisciplinary approach to be applied to UNESCO Global Geoparks for a standardized survey and grading methodology that can be used to assess the ability to provide and promote healthy lifestyles, which is called the Ecosystem’s Health Provision Spectrum (EHPS) on an ecological scale. The suggested EHPS is in line with UNESCO’s priorities, in particular with the IGGP and its motto of “Geosciences in the Service of Society”. Therefore, the EHPS on an ecological scale will be another important tool for the UNESCO Global Geoparks, facilitating efficient management and promoting economic development, wellbeing and health.

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2018

Environmental Psychology

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Enhancing urban biodiversity and its influence on city-dwellers: An experiment

Cited by 210 publications

References 31 publications

Effects of biodiversity and environment-related attitude on perception of urban green space

Effects of biodiversity and environment-related attitude on perception of urban green space

An Emerging Paradigm for the UNESCO Global Geoparks: The Ecosystem’s Health Provision

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