scholarly journals People Prefer Greener Corridors: Evidence from Linking the Patterns of Tree and Shrub Diversity and Users’ Preferences in Lisbon’s Green Corridors

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13228
Author(s):  
Juscidalva Rodrigues de Almeida ◽  
Reginaldo de Oliveira Nunes ◽  
Teresa Dias
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Shrub Community ◽  
Ecological Functionality ◽  
Trees And Shrubs ◽  
Green Corridors

Despite its importance as a component of urban green spaces, as far as we are aware no study has focused on plant diversity in urban green corridors (GCs). Therefore, this study aimed at: (i) characterizing tree and shrub communities in Lisbon’s GCs and (ii) assessing whether GCs’ users value trees and shrubs. We counted Lisbon’s GCs users in the same places where we assessed the tree and shrub community. Along the nine GCs, we observed trees and shrubs belonging to 70 species, distributed across 35 families with most (≥50%) species and plants being trees, exotic, pollinated by insects, with fruit dispersion by animals, evergreen leaves, and producing dry fruits. Most GCs had a similar number of users (20–30 users h−1 survey−1) except for those of Central and Ribeirinho, which were more frequented (60 and 100 users h−1 survey−1, respectively). Most users (≥50%) were adults, walking accompanied, and performing leisure activities. Finally, the number of users was shown to be influenced by: (i) tree and shrub relative abundance, confirming that users preferred greener corridors; and (ii) function(s), showing that users preferred the most multifunctional GCs (i.e., GCs fulfilling ecological, cultural, and recreational functions). Our data suggest that Lisbon’s GCs favor more the inclusion of citizens than ecological functionality and resilience.

Are trees and shrubs unsafe hiding places? Impact of plant forms on the perception of danger in urban green spaces in crime hot spots

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Lis ◽  
Łukasz Pardela ◽  
Paweł Iwankowski ◽  
Antal Haans
Keyword(s):  
Urban Parks ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Perceived Danger ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Sense Of Danger ◽  
Forest Parks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

Urban parks and forests are important for wellbeing, but feelings of unsafety limited their usage. Removal of vegetation from hotspots of fear is sometimes recommended as a means of boosting safety. However such actions should be approached with caution. One explanation, based on prospect-refuge theory, is that plants increase perceptions of danger because of their contribution to a setting’s effectiveness in concealing criminals. It is also believed that people do not like urban green spaces parks containing trees and shrubs that can act as hiding places because of the sense of danger that this vegetation evokes. To test this explanation, participants rated 57 photos of urban parks and forest parks settings park settings on perceived danger, effectiveness of concealment, and landscape preference. In addition, the effectiveness of concealment in the photos was measured assuming that the value of this variable is expressed by the percentage of the pixels occupied by trees and shrubs offering concealment in a photograph. Results confirmed that concealment and danger are highly correlated mediation analysis confirmed that the impact of concealment on preferences can be explained by perceived danger. When the danger was controlled, the efficiency of concealment had no influence on preferences.

Management of plant diversity in urban green spaces

2017 ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Myla F.J. Aronson ◽  
Max R. Piana ◽  
J. Scott MacIvor ◽  
Clara C. Pregitzer
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

scholarly journals Visitors' Perceptions of Urban Green Spaces: A Study of Lisbon's Alameda and Estrela Parks

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Viebrantz ◽  
Maria Fernandes-Jesus
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Views And Perceptions ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The City ◽  
Natural Characteristics

Urban Green Spaces (UGSs) play a key role in people's well-being, particularly in highly urbanized contexts and possess several elements that may be attractive to visitors. This study focuses on the views and perceptions of visitors of two UGSs located in Lisbon and aimed to determine how they evaluated two different green spaces (Estrela Park and Alameda Park) in terms of physical/natural characteristics, structures, accessibility, surrounding areas, motives for use and importance. Secondly, it sought to explore how people evaluate UGSs in Lisbon in terms of quality and quantity. A total of 188 people responded to a questionnaire composed of close-and open-ended questions. The study revealed that Estrela Park was more valued for its green space characteristics and conservation aspects than accessibility and sports adaptability. Participants visited Estrela Park for its landscape and restful environment and considered the park important to their lives. Although they visited Estrela Park less often, they stayed longer compared to those who visited Alameda Park. Furthermore, regarding the participants' overall perceptions of the UGSs in Lisbon, many participants mentioned the need for more parks and wanted better preservation and distribution around the city. Most importantly, they valued these spaces and believed that UGS helped them to feel more relaxed and balanced, facilitating socialization, recreation and physical activities. In conclusion, this study suggests that green and quiet urban parks in Lisbon are valued by the city's population but they would like to see regular maintenance/cleaning as well as the provision of leisure activities.

scholarly journals What Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces and Recreational Activities Do Self-Reported Stressed Individuals Like? A Case Study of Baoji, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Gao ◽  
Rui Song ◽  
Ling Zhu ◽  
Ling Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Stress Recovery ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Restorative Environment

Several studies have revealed the positive effects of green space and certain activities on counteracting the physical and mental pressure felt by human beings. However, how self-reported stressed people perceive restorative green spaces, their preferences for specific characteristics and activities, and what characteristics of urban green space can induce various types of activities for stress recovery has not been fully examined in the high-density cities of China. Using an on-site questionnaire survey conducted in the People’s Park (PP) in Baoji, China, this study is the first to consider the relationship among eight sensory dimensions, activity types and stress recovery in Chinese green space. Results showed that the highest-stressed respondents were more likely to spend their time in multi-layered woodlands adjacent to water, with more experiences of serene but less about prospect. They preferred serene dimension more, while the culture and social dimensions were least preferred. Sports and leisure activities and quiet activities were the most popular among highest-stressed respondents, which were positively related to the serene and nature dimensions, respectively. Results suggested that the most restorative environment for stress recovery can be regarded as multi-layered woodlands adjacent to water with more serene and nature, less prospect and few or no culture and social dimensions.

scholarly journals Rare genera differentiate urban green space soil bacterial communities in three cities across the world

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob G. Mills ◽  
Caitlin A. Selway ◽  
Laura S. Weyrich ◽  
Chris Skelly ◽  
Philip Weinstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Microbial Biodiversity ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Soil Bacterial Communities ◽  
The World

AbstractVegetation complexity is potentially important for urban green space designs aimed at fostering microbial biodiversity to benefit human health. Exposure to urban microbial biodiversity may influence human health outcomes via immune training and regulation. In this context, improving human exposure to microbiota via biodiversity-centric urban green space designs is an underused opportunity. There is currently little knowledge on the association between vegetation complexity (i.e., diversity and structure) and soil microbiota of urban green spaces. Here, we investigated the association between vegetation complexity and soil bacteria in urban green spaces in Bournemouth, UK; Haikou, China; and the City of Playford, Australia by sequencing the 16S rRNA V4 gene region of soil samples and assessing bacterial diversity. We characterized these green spaces as having ‘low’ or ‘high’ vegetation complexity and explored whether these two broad categories contained similar bacterial community compositions and diversity around the world. Within cities, we observed significantly different alpha and beta diversities between vegetation complexities; however, these results varied between cities. Rare genera (< 1 % relative abundance individually, on average 35 % relative abundance when pooled) were most likely to be significantly different in sequence abundance between vegetation complexities and therefore explained much of the differences in microbial communities observed. Overall, general associations exist between soil bacterial communities and vegetation complexity, although these are not consistent between cities. Therefore, more in-depth work is required to be done locally to derive practical actions to assist the conservation and restoration of microbial communities in urban areas.

scholarly journals Using SPOT Data and FRAGSTAS to Analyze the Relationship between Plant Diversity and Green Space Landscape Patterns in the Tropical Coastal City of Zhanjiang, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 3477
Author(s):  
Xia-Lan Cheng ◽  
Mir Muhammad Nizamani ◽  
C.Y. Jim ◽  
Kelly Balfour ◽  
Liang-Jun Da ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Spot Data

Urban green spaces provide a host of ecosystem services, the quantity and structure of which play an important role in human well-being. Rapid urbanization may modify urban green spaces, having various effects on plant diversity. Tropical coastal cities have urbanized rapidly in recent decades, but few studies have been conducted with a focus on their green spaces. We studied the responses of cultivated and spontaneous plants, both key components of urban flora, to the landscape structure of urban green spaces and possible social drivers. We analyzed existing relationships between plant diversity indices, urban green space landscape metrics (using Systeme Probatoire d’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) data,), and social factors, including the type, population density, construction age, and GPS coordinates of each Urban Functional Unit, or UFU. We found that UFUs with more green space patches had higher cultivated and spontaneous species richness than those with fewer green space patches. Spontaneous species richness decreased when green space patches became fragmented, and it increased when green space patches were more connected (e.g., via land bridges). Conversely, cultivated species richness increased with green space patch fragmentation. The phylogenetic diversity of both cultivated and spontaneous plants were weakly associated with green space structure, which was strongly driven by land use. Old UFUs and those with larger populations had more green space patches overall, although they tended to be small and fragmented. Green space patch density was found to increase as the UFU age increased. From the viewpoint of knowledge transfer, understanding the effects and drivers of landscape patterns of urban green spaces could inform the development of improved policies and management of urban green space areas.

scholarly journals Are trees and shrubs unsafe hiding places? Impact of plant forms on the perception of danger in urban green spaces in crime hot spots

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Lis ◽  
Łukasz Pardela ◽  
Paweł Iwankowski ◽  
Antal Haans
Keyword(s):  
Urban Parks ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Perceived Danger ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Sense Of Danger ◽  
Forest Parks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

Urban parks and forests are important for wellbeing, but feelings of unsafety limited their usage. Removal of vegetation from hotspots of fear is sometimes recommended as a means of boosting safety. However such actions should be approached with caution. One explanation, based on prospect-refuge theory, is that plants increase perceptions of danger because of their contribution to a setting’s effectiveness in concealing criminals. It is also believed that people do not like urban green spaces parks containing trees and shrubs that can act as hiding places because of the sense of danger that this vegetation evokes. To test this explanation, participants rated 57 photos of urban parks and forest parks settings park settings on perceived danger, effectiveness of concealment, and landscape preference. In addition, the effectiveness of concealment in the photos was measured assuming that the value of this variable is expressed by the percentage of the pixels occupied by trees and shrubs offering concealment in a photograph. Results confirmed that concealment and danger are highly correlated mediation analysis confirmed that the impact of concealment on preferences can be explained by perceived danger. When the danger was controlled, the efficiency of concealment had no influence on preferences.

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