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Abstract
High-density urban living means that urban green spaces are important nodes of contact with nature. This study examines expected outcomes that motivate people to seek green spaces in urban settings. A sample of Swiss residents were presented with Shin, Kwon, Hammitt, and Kim's (Citation2005) psychosocial outcomes scale and asked which activities they choose to undertake in nearby natural areas. The most important motivations for visiting nearby green spaces were related to restoration, with social bonding as a desirable side benefit. There were few observable differences between urban and rural residents and level of education attained. Older people are motivated to visit nearby green spaces by the wish to seek social contact while younger people are motivated by the wish to seek escape and to reflect. This study contributes to the understanding of the psychosocial outcomes that residents expect from engaging in an activity in an urban green space.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Competence Center Environment and Sustainability of the ETH, Zurich Switzerland for supporting the project ENHANCE, of which this study is a part. We are also indebted to the Swiss National Fund and in particular the National Research Program 54 for supporting the BiodiverCity (www.biodivercity.ch) interdisciplinary project led by Marco Moretti at the Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, and especially to the survey respondents who freely gave their time.