Improving city life: options for ecological restoration in urban landscapes and how these might influence interactions between people and nature

Standish, Rachel J.; Hobbs, Richard J.; Miller, James R.

doi:10.1007/s10980-012-9752-1

Cited by 145 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 73 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…Given the dual benefits that people and biodiversity gain from urban parks, ecological restoration could both enhance the sustainability of cities and also deliver public health and wellbeing benefits (Tzoulas et al 2007;Standish et al 2013). Certainly, many municipalities have developed park management policies that aim to improve biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing (Sandström et al 2009).…”

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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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: 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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“…Improving the conditions for biodiversity in cities has been suggested to contribute to quality of life for city dwellers (e.g. Tzoulas et al 2007;Standish et al 2012). For instance, human well-being in cities has been attributed to, among other factors, access to green space with variety in the form of species-rich habitats (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…Important contributions have been identified from various ecosystem types, even from previously unrecognized urban biotopes, including domestic gardens (Cilliers, Cilliers, Lubbe, & Siebert, 2012;Ross et al, 2012;Standish, Hobbs, & Miller, 2014). It is increasingly recognized that ecosystem services need to be incorporated into urban planning (Colding, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The concept of ecosystem services in adaptive urban planning and design: A framework for supporting innovation

Ahern

Cilliers

Niemelä

2014

Landscape and Urban Planning

343

162

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This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. Author's personal copy Landscape and Urban Planning 125 (2014) 254-259 Contents lists available at ScienceDirectLandscape and Urban Planning j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / l a n d u r b p l a n Research PaperThe concept of ecosystem services in adaptive urban planning and design: A framework for supporting innovation h i g h l i g h t s• Using citizen/civic science as a strategy to promote transdisciplinarity.• An adaptive method to promote innovation via small, safe-to-fail design experiments.• Suggested indicators to monitor ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure.• Proposes a core/common set of metrics to assess ecosystem services.• A transdisciplinary adaptive design/planning model to support urban sustainability.a r t i c l e i n f o b s t r a c tRecent research and professional interest in planning for sustainable and resilient cities emphasizes the assessment of a broad spectrum of urban ecosystem services. While such assessments are useful to establish specific benchmarks, and for measuring progress toward sustainability and resilience goals, they do not motivate, or support the innovations required to provide specific ecosystem services as an intentional part of routine urban and infrastructure development activity by municipalities and professionals. In this context, predictions for unprecedented future urbanization and development of new urban infrastructure represent a unique opportunity to "learn-by-doing". Significant advances in urban sustainability have recently been made through transdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, professionals, decision-makers and stakeholders. However, these advances, often through pilot projects, have limited transferability to other cities due to the inherent biophysical and cultural uniqueness of the city in which they originated, and of the projects and plans themselves. The promise of practicing "learning-by-doing", therefore, remains an elusive goal, not yet fully integrated with urban development. In this essay, a framework for "safe to fail" adaptive urban design is proposed to integrate science, professional practice, and stakeholder participation. The framework is a transdisciplinary working method, and includes experimental design guidelines, monitoring and assessment protocols and strategies for realizing specific urban ecosystem services integral with urban development. The "safe-to-fail" adaptive urban design framework encourages and rewards innovation in a low-risk context -while assessing the achievement and performance of the specific intended ecosystem services.

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Improving city life: options for ecological restoration in urban landscapes and how these might influence interactions between people and nature

Abstract: Manuscript word count (including text, references, tables and captions): 5947 Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: Landscape Ecology_Improving City Life_2 April 2012.doc Click here to view linked References

Cited by 145 publications

References 73 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?

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

The concept of ecosystem services in adaptive urban planning and design: A framework for supporting innovation

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