Perception and value of nature in urban landscapes: A comparative analysis of cities in Germany, Chile and Spain

Abstract

Cities are not socially homogenous, but divided into socially and structurally differentiated sub-units. Likewise, the individuals of a community, city or neighbourhood present specific behavioural patterns and uses with respect to their public green areas. This premise has led us to explore the question of how the perceptions, uses, and behaviours of people from different countries, cultures, and socioeconomic levels in Chile, Germany and Spain differ or coincide as far as urban nature and landscapes are concerned. Due to the comparative nature of the project, research areas with similar characteristics were chosen, thus allowing a comparative analysis of upper and lower middle-class neighbourhoods. People from all six study areas were surveyed using the same questionnaires. The results revealed that people of different social and cultural backgrounds use and perceive urban landscape in different ways. We found that nature of different kind plays an important role in all the urban societies and particularly in the neighbourhoods studied, regardless of social status or nationality. However, the higher the social status, the greater the urban green area dedicated to private uses. The preference for specific types of nature depends not only on social status, but cultural elements, accessibility and tradition as well. Moreover, nature-related outdoor activities are defined by this status, in turn reflecting the individual's cultural status within society.

Factors Influencing Perceptions and Use of Urban Nature: Surveys of Park Visitors in Delhi

“…This study adds to information that can help in the better design of parks in response to peoples' expectations in Delhi. It also contributes to the rather limited information on peoples' perceptions and needs from urban green spaces in cities in the Global South, in contrast to the relatively greater information available from cities in Europe and North America [16,67,68], and adds to a small but steadily growing database of studies from Asia [88,91,97]. Some findings, such as the increased attractiveness of large parks with more visitors, specifically women and families, due to considerations of safety, may be specific to cities such as Delhi, with its relatively high rate of crime and insecurity for women.…”

“…While it was a discretionary response, 'name' helped in developing a familiarity, rapport, and a humane connection with the respondent. The authors prepared a questionnaire containing a set of questions assessing park visitors' environmental awareness, main uses of green space, perception of the quality of the parks and distance to the parks, based in part on similar studies elsewhere [67][68][69][70]. The questionnaire was initially tested with a small group of park visitors before administering it to visitors to the four parks.…”

“…Priego et al's [67] study of three countries reveals that people with different social and cultural backgrounds use and perceive the urban landscape in different ways. Age, gender, education level, income, retirement status, residential neighbourhood and length of stay tend to influence peoples' perception [16,91,[95][96][97].…”

Green infrastructure for urban climate adaptation: How do residents’ views on climate impacts and green infrastructure shape adaptation preferences?

“…The need to tailor GI design to diverse local demands is a result of urban studies all over the world (e.g. Jim and Shan, 2013;Priego, Breuste, & Rojas, 2008).…”

Experiential Contacts with Green Infrastructure's Diversity and Well-Being of Urban Community

“…The majority of research in this subject has been carried out in developed countries, especially in Wes¬tern, Northern and Central Europe, while much less is known about the conditions in Asian region especially in Malaysia. Further research is needed to identify the key elements of healthy landscapes (Priego et al, 2008), particularly in landscape architecture and urban design to help understand which attributes have the strongest positive effects, and what can be done to improve urban settings from well-being perspective. Such understanding would contribute to the search for functional landscape designs (such as the green infrastructure network) beneficial to human well-being and sustainability (Velarde et al, 2007).…”