Gender and Ethnic Variations in Urban Park Preferences, Visitation, and Perceived Benefits

Ho, Ching Hua; Sasidharan, Vinod; Elmendorf, William F.; Willits, Fern K.; Graefe, Alan R.; Godbey, Geoffrey

doi:10.1080/00222216.2005.11950054

Cited by 165 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Park characteristics are well known to influence park visitation (Ho et al 2005;Wende et al 2012;Jim and Shan 2013;Zanon et al 2013;Lin et al 2014;Pleson et al 2014), and we found that park size was an important predictor of the relative vegetation cover in visited parks. Furthermore, tree cover and remnant vegetation cover were more important factors in park selection at the local scale than the district or metropolitan park scale.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…A range of social and environmental factors are known to influence park visitation behaviour; this includes gender, age, education and income, which all influence preferences for different types and sizes of parks, as well as the facilities within them (Ho et al 2005;Wende et al 2012;Jim and Shan 2013;Zanon et al 2013;Lin et al 2014;Pleson et al 2014). Research into these human-environment interactions provides important insights into how sustainable landscapes might be designed to deliver recreational ecosystem services (Wu 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is the role of trees and remnant vegetation in attracting people to urban parks?

et al. 2014

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Public parks commonly contain important habitat for urban biodiversity, and they also provide recreation opportunities for urban residents. However, the extent to which dual outcomes for recreation and conservation can be achieved in the same spaces remains unclear. We examine whether greater levels of (i) tree cover (i.e. park 'greenness') and (ii) native remnant vegetation cover (i.e. vegetation with high ecological value) attract or deter park visitors. This study is based on the park visitation behaviour of 670 survey respondents in Brisbane, Australia, detailing 1,090 individual visits to 324 urban parks. We first examined the presence of any clear revealed preferences for visiting parks with higher or lower levels of tree cover or remnant vegetation cover. We then examined the differences between each park visited by respondents and the park closest to their home, and used linear mixed models to identify socio-demographic groups who are more likely to travel further to visit parks with greater tree cover or remnant vegetation cover. Park visitation rates reflected the availability of parks, suggesting that people do not preferentially visit parks with greater vegetation cover despite the potential for improved nature-based experiences and greater wellbeing benefits. However, we discovered that people with a greater orientation towards nature (measured using the nature relatedness scale) tend to travel further for more vegetated parks. Our results suggest that to enhance recreational benefits from ecologically valuable spaces a range of social or educational interventions are required to enhance people's connection to nature.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is the role of trees and remnant vegetation in attracting people to urban parks?

et al. 2014

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“…Ethnic variation is related not only to a preference, e.g. for park attributes, and frequency and type of visits but also to the perceptions of the positive and negative effects of parks (Ho et al, 2005). In this study, self-report measures and a cross-sectional design were used, which make additional, culturally and geographically diverse investigations of the restoration differences in favorite places desirable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Favorite green, waterside and urban environments, restorative experiences and perceived health in Finland

Korpela¹,

Ylén²,

Tyrväinen³

et al. 2010

Health Promotion International

227

124

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SUMMARYThe study investigated restorative experiences in relation to respondents' everyday favorite places and analysed the associations between the use of favorite places, restorative experiences, their determinants and aspects of self-rated health. A simple random sample of 1273 inhabitants, aged between 15 and 75 years, of two major cities in Finland (Helsinki and Tampere) completed a postal questionnaire. A subsample of the answers from inhabitants with a selfreported distance from home to a favorite place of 15 km or less (n ¼ 1089) was analysed. Restorative experiences in favorite exercise and activity outdoor areas, waterside environments and extensively managed natural settings (mainly urban woodlands) were stronger than in favorite places in built urban settings or green spaces in urban settings (mostly parks). The results revealed a link between the need for restoration (worries and stress), the use of environmental self-regulation strategies (favorite places) and restorative outcomes. The more worries about money and work (during the last month) a person had, the more stressed a person had felt during the last year, the less energetic s/he had felt, the lower was the number of visits to the favorite place (during the last 6 months) and the lower the typical level of restorative experiences. Inconsistently, the direct path suggested that the more worries about money and work, the higher the typical level of restorative experiences. The findings increase knowledge of healthenhancing environments and have implications for stress and work recovery research.

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“…As Similar to previous outdoor research (Ho, Sasidharan, & Elmendorf, 2005;Manning, 1999), wilderness visitor attitudes and preferences, as well as their perceptions, are not greatly affected by gender in Mount San Jacinto State Park. Women are less likely to agree with statements that there are adequate ranger patrols in the park.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Mount San Jacinto State Park Visitor Attributes, Preferences, and Perceptions

Wassenberg¹

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Gender and Ethnic Variations in Urban Park Preferences, Visitation, and Perceived Benefits

Cited by 165 publications

References 46 publications

What is the role of trees and remnant vegetation in attracting people to urban parks?

What is the role of trees and remnant vegetation in attracting people to urban parks?

Favorite green, waterside and urban environments, restorative experiences and perceived health in Finland

Mount San Jacinto State Park Visitor Attributes, Preferences, and Perceptions

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