Spatial scale influences how people value and perceive green open space

Abstract

It is important for landscape planners and managers to understand how urban residents value and interact with green open spaces. However, the effect of spatial scale on values and perceptions of green open spaces has, to date, received little attention. This study explored the influence of spatial scale using Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) methods in the Lower Hunter region of Australia. By asking respondents to assign markers denoting various values and preferences to green spaces displayed on maps of their suburb and municipality, the influence of scale was assessed experimentally. A greater abundance and diversity of value markers were consistently assigned at the suburb scale, yet this pattern was more pronounced for some values (e.g. physical activity) than others (e.g. nature, cultural significance). The strength of this relationship was related to socio-demographic variables such as education and income. These results have implications for understanding human–environment relationships and the use of PPGIS techniques to inform environmental planning.

Keywords:

• green open space
• landscape values
• human–nature relationships
• public participation GIS
• spatial scale

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the residents who participated in this project and Ben Cooke for his assistance with the administration of the survey. Natasha Jerrard from TBJ Creative is thanked for her design work for the survey instrument and Corey Taylor from 5th Colour Print Management for his help with survey distribution. Maggie Truscott assisted with preliminary telephone surveys.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded through the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme, Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. SB was supported by an ARC Future Fellowship.