Perceived Benefits to Human Well-being of Urban Gardens

Dunnett, Nigel; Qasim, Muhammad

doi:10.21273/horttech.10.1.40

Cited by 121 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Thus the results of the study need to be interpreted in this context. Nevertheless, it is also clear that a substantial majority of UK residents invests time and interest in the garden: a random survey of Sheffield garden owners indicated that more than 75% enjoyed their garden environment, while less than 10% valued nothing about their garden (Dunnett and Qasim 2000). Our experience also revealed that owners' interest in the project or in wildlife issues did not necessarily match effort spent on the garden, due to constraints on time such as young children or a busy job.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…We therefore believe that our approach allowed us to survey the full range of variation in interest and creativity one might expect to encounter in a random sample (and possibly more): from gardens used daily to those largely untouched for 10 years; from gardens including wildlife meadows and ponds to those with nothing but a lawn. Further, our sample contained the full span of garden sizes as found in a random sample (Dunnett and Qasim 2000), which permitted us fully to investigate landcover in relation to garden area. For the twenty-two invertebrate taxa examined, a broad range of factors were significantly related to their abundance in gardens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban domestic gardens (VIII) : environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance

et al. 2006

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Domestic gardens associated with residential zones form a major component of vegetated land in towns and cities. Such gardens may play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity in urban areas, but variation in the abundance of organisms in gardens has been little explored. We report the results from a case study of 61 domestic gardens in the city of Sheffield, UK. Across 22 invertebrate groups, the median number of individuals recorded per garden was 49, 178, and 1012 in litter collections, pitfall and Malaise trap samples, respectively. Abundance was analysed by stepwise multiple regression and hierarchical tree analysis in relation to garden and landscape variables. The amount of variation explained in regression models ranged from 4 to 56%, for data based on pitfall and litter samples, and from 16 to 92% for data from Malaise traps. In total, 31 out of 36 explanatory variables entered into stepwise regression models, and 29 of them did so more than once. Although there was strong evidence only for approximately half of such relationships, in these cases the two methods of analysis corroborated one another. General correlates of invertebrate abundance were lacking, and likely reasons for inconsistencies in the relationships are discussed in the context of sampling and species biology. Correlates of the greatest significance occurred at both landscape (e.g. altitude) and garden scales (e.g. area of canopy vegetation). These factors were associated with species richness as well as abundance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban domestic gardens (VIII) : environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance

et al. 2006

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“…In particular, the extent, composition and access to green spaces within urban areas have been shown to have significant impacts on the quality of life of urban populations. First, evidence is gathering in support of benefits for human physical and mental well-being (Ulrich 1998;Dunnett and Quasim 2000;Takano et al 2002;CABE Space 2004;Galea et al 2005). Second, benefits are evident through a diverse array of economic impacts, including those on house prices, the costs of heating and cooling buildings, and the ease of attracting businesses and employees to areas (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

City-wide relationships between green spaces, urban land use and topography

et al. 2008

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The growing proportion of human populations living in urban areas, and consequent trends of increasing urban expansion and densification fuel a need to understand how urban form and land use affect environmental quality, including the availability of urban green spaces. Here we use Sheffield as a case study of city-wide relationships between urban green space extent, quality (vegetation cover and tree-cover), and gradients in urban form and topography. The total area of buildings and length of the road network are equally strong negative predictors of extent of green space, while the former predictor is a more important negative influence upon green space quality. Elevation positively influences extent of green space but negatively influences tree-cover. In contrast, slope of terrain positively influences green space quality and is the best predictor of tree-cover. Overall housing density is a more important negative predictor of extent of green space and tree-cover than the densities of individual housing types. Nevertheless, the latter are more important influences upon levels of vegetation cover. Threshold effects of densities of different housing types suggest opportunities for optimising green space quality, with implications for housing policy. Variation in ecological quality of green space may partly reflect different historical intensities of industrial activity

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“…This quality can have significant impacts on (a) the physical and mental well-being of the people living and working in these areas (e.g. Ulrich 1984;Dunnett and Quasim 2000;Takano et al 2002;CABE Space 2004;Galea et al 2005); (b) urban economies, through a diverse array of impacts, including on house prices, the costs of heating and cooling buildings, and the ease of attracting businesses and employees (e.g. Luttik 2000;Morancho 2003;CABE Space 2004); and (c) the provision both of ecosystem services (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban domestic gardens (XI): variation in urban wildlife gardening in the United Kingdom

et al. 2007

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Two consequences of the continued urbanisation of the human population are that a growing proportion of the landscape is less hospitable to, and that a growing proportion of people are disconnected from, native biodiversity. One response of the UK government has been to establish a goal, and an associated baseline indicator, of increasing the extent and range of public participation in gardening for wildlife. The formulation of policy to attain this end requires, however, insight into the factors that are associated with the level of participation. Here we examine the relationships, across 15 areas in five UK cities, between the proportion of households providing various garden features for wildlife or participating in various wildlife gardening activities, and housing densities and characteristics of the garden resource. We show that significant numbers of households participate in some form of wildlife gardening, but that the predominant form this participation takes is feeding wild birds. Key variables associated with spatial variation in wildlife gardening activities are the proportion of households with access to a garden and, more importantly, average garden size and the proportion of land cover by gardens. There was no evidence for strong effects of household density or the socio-economic status of householders on the prevalence of wildlife friendly features in gardens or on the participation by householders in activities to encourage wildlife. Our results suggest important considerations in attempts to increase awareness and participation in wildlife gardening.

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Perceived Benefits to Human Well-being of Urban Gardens

Cited by 121 publications

References 10 publications

Urban domestic gardens (VIII) : environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance

Urban domestic gardens (VIII) : environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance

City-wide relationships between green spaces, urban land use and topography

Urban domestic gardens (XI): variation in urban wildlife gardening in the United Kingdom

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