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Green spaces are important parts of urban infrastructure. COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown periods around the world have confirmed benefits that people derive from using green spaces for their physical and mental health. Green spaces need to meet the needs of users so that people can use them and benefit over time. It is important to consider users'...
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Context 1
... than onethird of the respondents were "Rather satisfied" with the predefined elements of the green space of their choice. Onethird of the respondents were "Not at all" or "Little satisfied" (Figure 3). Both groups of respondents were least satisfied with "Equipment for relaxing," "Presence of recreational facilities," and "Presence of wild animals", while they were slightly more satisfied with "Accessibility," "Makes hot days more mild" and "Natural value." ...
Context 2
... than onethird of the respondents were "Rather satisfied" with the predefined elements of the green space of their choice. Onethird of the respondents were "Not at all" or "Little satisfied" (Figure 3). Both groups of respondents were least satisfied with "Equipment for relaxing," "Presence of recreational facilities," and "Presence of wild animals", while they were slightly more satisfied with "Accessibility," "Makes hot days more mild" and "Natural value." ...
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the physical and mental health of the public. Nevertheless, the presence of green and blue spaces has been shown to be able to encourage physical activities and alleviate the mental distress caused by COVID-19. However, just as the impact of COVID-19 varies by geographical region and area, the...
Citations
... Global research confirms a positive correlation between increased activity in green spaces and improved well-being. Notable studies highlight the trend: in Sweden (Lõhmus et al., 2021), Norway (with a reported 291% activity increase in Oslo) (Zander et al., 2020), Asia (Lu et al., 2021), Saudi Arabia (Addas and Maghrabi, 2022), and Croatia (Marin et al., 2021), all noting the crucial role of green spaces in reducing stress, anxiety, and the effects of isolation during the pandemic. Additionally, initial post-pandemic analyses are underway. ...
Green spaces are integral to urban landscape, serving ecological, health, and recreational functions. During the pandemic, urban green spaces were crucial for enabling safe social distancing and enhancing well-being. This study delves into the perception, accessibilities, and qualities of urban green spaces in Wrocław during and after the pandemic. A survey was conducted to understand causes and effects of diverse usage of the urban green space, assessing changes in usage frequency before, during, and after lockdown, as well as public awareness of benefits associated with green spaces. Proximity to green spaces emerges as a key factor as people prefer easily and quick access to these areas. The study also noted a partial modification of social behaviour and increased social and ecological awareness. The results reveal evident development of new daily habits. Although the beginning of the pandemic led to discomfort, adaptive behaviours soon followed, changing daily routines and previous leisure activities. Given the findings on availability and adequacy of green spaces, it is advisable to rearrange these areas to meet the diverse needs of inhabitants.
... Both bigger and smaller villages had different populations. Smaller communities might not have the funding to employ as many professionals in tree and green space management [18]. Haq found that big cities and metropolises have high scores for the urban green factor. ...
Public parks and other green areas are crucial components of urban development. Urban management in emerging countries such as Bangladesh faces major challenges, especially because of the socio-environmental impacts of urbanization. Urban management initiatives in developing countries sometimes neglect crucial services for university students, such as study environments and recreational facilities. This study aimed to investigate students’ perceptions of urban green space (UGS) and its potential benefits to our daily lives at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, We collected data from 438 respondents by using a survey questionnaire-based stated preference approach as a methodological tool, using non-monetary assertions as the basis for the method. The survey included questions about respondents’ social background, the frequency with which they visited green spaces, the benefits of urban green spaces and their perception of urban green spaces. We performed statistical analysis both descriptive and inferential statistics. Our findings suggest that 71.7% of students primarily use street trees and peace gardens as their main sites for urban green spaces. The study suggests that the advantages of urban green spaces, which include physical, mental, and environmental benefits, are strongly associated with criteria such as gender, academic level, and vulnerable to home locality for climate change (CC) or extreme weather events (EWEs). The Binary Logistic regression analysis identified urban life as the most influential factor. The correct classification rate was approximately 74.7%, indicating the model’s strong accuracy in classification. Students who have lived in urban areas for more than 20 years have a reduced awareness of urban green spaces at 5% level of significance. Planning and policymaking for the creation and administration of urban green spaces, considering aspects like land use and environmental sustainability, could benefit from this study.
... While in the areas of highest risk (red zones) the main activities carried out during the lockdown were those considered essential (for example, walking the dog), in the remaining areas the motivations for visiting the UGS were more related to physical exercise (Ugolini et al., 2021). In Croatia, an exploratory study on the perception and attitudes of residents about green spaces, found no differences in the attitude towards the benefits of green spaces between respondents from small settlements and large settlements, but did find differences regarding the management of green spaces and some disservices such as the increase in housing costs in the vicinity of green areas and the risk to people of trees along roads (Marin et al., 2021). At the national level, a study in Greece can also be highlighted, which evaluated citizens' perceptions of the role of green areas and their willingness to accept an increase in their municipal taxes for improving the services offered by these spaces (Kolimenakis et al., 2022). ...
... Regarding the socio-demographic profile of the participants in these studies, some basic variables such as gender, age, educational level, professional activity and/or income, have been considered in the vast majority of the studies carried out (López et al., 2021;Marin et al., 2021;Ugolini et al., 2020 andVenter et al., 2020). However, some studies have included some other variables of interest. ...
... The aim of the questionnaire was to study the uses, attitudes and feelings of the respondents towards UGS during the Covid 19 pandemic in Europe. The questionnaire was developed by researchers from the Institute of Bioeconomics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and it was the instrument of a larger international exploratory study conducted simultaneously in Croatia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain (Marin et al., 2021;Ugolini et al., 2020;Ugolini et al., 2021). Prior to participating in the survey, respondents were asked about informed consent. ...
This exploratory work analyzes the uses and attitudes of a sample of Spanish population towards urban green spaces (UGS), through a questionnaire that reviews aspects such as the perception they have before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The identification of profiles related to fear in UGS at night and the degree of user acceptance regarding services and disservices of these spaces will also be analyzed. Results show that the pandemic had a significant impact on the type of UGS visited and the activities carried out in them, due to the strict measures adopted by the government to manage the crisis, which included the closure of UGS. The seg-mentation analysis developed to assess the socio-demographic profile of fear revealed that women under 40 years old are the most highly likely to be afraid due to darkness, loneliness or insecurity. Regarding the degree of acceptance, the confirmatory-factor analysis established different clusters according to the favorability towards UGS, rejection of the disservices caused by trees and intensity of the demand for the administration to carry out its functions. This analysis provides relevant information to be attended when rethinking and redesigning urban green spaces so that they accommodate the real needs of the population.
... Involving society in the decision-making process is an important element that can support the process of urban regeneration in the context of climate change adaptation and societal expectations for urban green area. Through public participation, it is possible not only to gain knowledge of residents' needs, but also to foster their sense of connection to the environment and acceptance of necessary actions in the future [57,102,103]. It should be remembered that the decision-making process should be conducted with the consideration of as many stakeholders as possible [94]. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the essential role of urban and rural green spaces for societies coping with global public health crisis. During this particular time, a significant body of research was devoted to human-nature relationships, as well as the use and importance of green spaces, both from the management and visitors' perspectives, along with the vital role of nature in human health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the pandemic experience induced new paradigms in spatial and urban planning, along with the management of forest and protected areas seeing the crucial role of green spaces in shaping long-term socio-environmental resilience and sustainability. Thus, after the official end of the pandemic, our study aimed to provide a systematic review of the international research related to green spaces within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on those published between 2020 and 2023. The literature search within SCOPUS and Web of Science databases was conducted on 16 May 2023. A dataset of 161 articles was analyzed using a two-stage analysis. In the first stage, screening based on the title, abstract, and keywords was carried out. In the second stage, a detailed full text analysis was carried out, resulting in a final dataset of 66 articles related to the scope of this review. This article gives an in-depth methodological and conceptual overview, also referring to the applied research and management context related to green spaces in urban and rural environments. It concludes with lessons learned and poses open questions for future research related to green space planning and management. The literature review shows that institutions managing green spaces in cities and forests are facing new challenges. These include pursuing sustainable management policies in cities, ensuring equitable access to urban green space and community participation in the decision-making process, adapting suburban forest management to social expectations, and the recreational development of forest areas taking into account social needs and ecosystem sustainability.
... The residents showed a positive attitude towards using green spaces. The participants' knowledge of the health benefits of GI, their income status, and relationships with family and friends had the most influence on their attitude towards using green spaces 10 Croatia Marin et al. (2021) Residents' attitude towards the knowledge and motivations for using urban parks and green spaces ...
... This is also consistent with the evidence in China (Jim & Chen, 2006;Zhang et al., 2013), Puerto Rico (Olivero-Lora et al., 2020), Ethiopia (Yeshitela, 2020), and southwest Nigeria (Oladipo et al., 2020;Dipeolu & Ibem, 2020) as already highlighted in the review (see Table 1). Specifically, in line with previous studies (Olivero-Lora et al., 2020;Dipeolu & Ibem, 2020;Yeshitela, 2020;Spahr et al., 2021), the respondents in the survey also reported positive attitudes towards the value of GI with respect to its role in making the respondents feel alive, good and happy; ecosystem preservation and restoration; and important component of life (see Table 3), usage/adoption (Campbell et al., 2007;Lee & Kim, 2015;Marin et al., 2021;Santiago et al., 2015) as shown in the participants' involvement in the planting flowers, shrubs and trees around their homes/places of business/work and encouraging others to do same (item ranked 8th position in Table 3). In addition, the study seems to provide support to previous research on behavioural intentions of willingness to pay for GI services (Adegun, 2017;Qiao & Randrup, 2022) as shown in item with MAS 3.48 and ranked 14th position in Table 3, and participate in the implementation of GI (Yu et al., 2019;Oladipo et al., 2020;Marin et al., 2021) as also seen in the respondents' willingness to participate in a program to take cares of GI; discouraging people from walking on lawns and destroying vegetation; talking about the GI in their area with other people(advocacy) and involvement in the maintenance of green spaces in their location area (see also Table 3). ...
... Specifically, in line with previous studies (Olivero-Lora et al., 2020;Dipeolu & Ibem, 2020;Yeshitela, 2020;Spahr et al., 2021), the respondents in the survey also reported positive attitudes towards the value of GI with respect to its role in making the respondents feel alive, good and happy; ecosystem preservation and restoration; and important component of life (see Table 3), usage/adoption (Campbell et al., 2007;Lee & Kim, 2015;Marin et al., 2021;Santiago et al., 2015) as shown in the participants' involvement in the planting flowers, shrubs and trees around their homes/places of business/work and encouraging others to do same (item ranked 8th position in Table 3). In addition, the study seems to provide support to previous research on behavioural intentions of willingness to pay for GI services (Adegun, 2017;Qiao & Randrup, 2022) as shown in item with MAS 3.48 and ranked 14th position in Table 3, and participate in the implementation of GI (Yu et al., 2019;Oladipo et al., 2020;Marin et al., 2021) as also seen in the respondents' willingness to participate in a program to take cares of GI; discouraging people from walking on lawns and destroying vegetation; talking about the GI in their area with other people(advocacy) and involvement in the maintenance of green spaces in their location area (see also Table 3). ...
Adequate knowledge of public attitudes towards green infrastructure (GI) is very important for effective planning, implementation, and management of urban greening programmes. Despite this, there is limited research on how the urban population evaluates GI leading to poor development and implementation of urban green infrastructure (UGI) programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated public attitude towards GI in urban centres of Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey involving 513 participants was done in the study area, and the data were subjected to descriptive and categorical regression analyses. The survey shows that the frequency of public contact with GI varies and the primary reasons for contacting GI for 37.4%, and 20.7% of the respondents were to enjoy nature, fresh air, and relaxation, respectively. A positive attitude towards the value, knowledge, willingness to pay for GI, engagement in advocacy, and participation in learning, planning, managing, and protecting GI was reported among the respondents. The regression model produced R² = 0.481 with the respondents’ marital status, age, frequency, and reasons for having contact with GI and level of education, length of stay in the location, and preferred forms of GI having the most significant influence on their attitude towards GI. One key lesson from this study for urban planners and managers in sub-Saharan Africa is that to understand public attitudes towards effective policy-making and successful planning and implementation of UGI programmes, and maximising their benefits, greater attention should be given to the factors identified in this research.
... Finally, several global studies point to the impact of climate change on outdoor recreation and management (e.g., [31,32,49,50]). Climate change will affect outdoor tourism by changing weather patterns and affecting the supply of outdoor recreation resources [43]. Ongoing research examines whether climate change adaptation strategies utilised by parks and forest management will positively affect tourist intentions [33]. ...
... The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 changed the lifestyles of local communities and entire societies [11,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Globally, pre-pandemic UGS, such as parks or primeval forests, provide many services and benefits to people and biodiversity. ...
... This may have been due to increased recreational traffic and the selection of the most popular tourist sites (e.g., [19,22,24,29,30]). The increased intensity of recreation in urban forests and other open spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic requires changes in their management (e.g., [24,26,27,[30][31][32][33]). The visitors' analysis results show the changes in restrictions, laws and movement control. ...
Urban forests provide benefits in terms of the environment and society. Many people living in urban areas could profit from the recreational services provided by urban forests to alleviate the physical and psychological stresses caused by closure restrictions during the COVID-19 epidemic. However, limited research has been conducted on the role of forest recreation during the COVID-19 lockdown to support future policy decisions regarding such dramatic circumstances. The study aims to investigate the frequency of visitors in the reference Training Forest Enterprise Masaryk Forest Křtiny in Brno, Czech Republic, and to verify if the lockdown led to its intensified use, under the context of weather conditions. Data were collected using a Pyro Box Compact reader and TRAFx Infrared Trail Counter. Regression analysis was performed to determine whether individual weather factors significantly influenced the intensity of forest visitations before and during COVID-19. The number of visits in 2021 during the strict lockdown and post-lockdown periods was significantly higher during spring and autumn than in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The frequency pattern of forest users visibly changed in 2021, and the total number of visits was much higher, even though 2021 had worse weather than the reference years before the pandemic. The results show the recreational use and importance of the forest, especially during the pandemic. This work is a continuation of our previous research with regard to this area, which indicated the importance of forest recreational services for the well-being and health of city dwellers.
... Other studies focus on the value of ecosystem services or cultural ecosystem services of UGS and UBS [185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195]. In our study, we used self-reported measurements and found that respondents attach more value to urban nature in comparison to the pre-covid period, same as [114,[196][197][198][199]. Moreover, UGBS exposure during the quarantine has led to a higher appreciation of urban nature with nature relatedness, motivation, and subjective importance of UGS/UBS mediating this relationship. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of incorporating nature-based solutions in urban design, in order to create sustainable and resilient cities. Inspired by these events, the present study aims at exploring the mental health benefits of nature exposure during the outbreak. Secondarily, we investigate changes in use patterns towards urban green spaces (UGS) and urban blue spaces (UBS) and whether extreme conditions, such as these of a lockdown, can lead to an increase in people’s appreciation of urban nature. Through an online survey, we observed that the pandemic resulted in a decrease in the frequency of visitation to UGS/UBS (p < 0.001). Significant differences were found for exercise (p < 0.001) and socialization (p < 0.05) as main drivers for visiting urban nature pre- and post-lockdown. Accordingly, visitation rates for forests (p < 0.05), playgrounds (p < 0.001), and the sea (p < 0.001) differed significantly when comparing the two periods. In people’s perception, UGS/UBS are important for the urban fabric (89%). Our structural equation model indicated that nature exposure had a beneficial effect on participants’ mental health (p < 0.001). Pathways that explain the relationship between nature exposure and post- lockdown value were nature relatedness, motivation, and perceived importance of UGS/UBS. No mediation could be extracted for nature exposure and mental health. Our findings show the positive association between nature exposure and mental health improvement, especially in times of crisis, as well as a shift in the “value domain” towards urban nature.
... Some explored the aesthetic preferences of users for different types of forest management (Paletto et al. 2018), while others looked at visitor uses and urban forest conditions (Krajter Ostoić et al. 2017, Kičić et al. 2020). Specifically, these latest studies have increased over the course of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Marin et al. 2021). ...
... Indeed, they represent the main subjects who perceive the results of a good or poor management of the places. Therefore, comments from visitors may provide important suggestions for improving visitor satisfaction (Kaffashi et al. 2015, Marin et al. 2021. In fact, to take into account the dual purpose of nature conservation and recreation, the tourist point of view is of great importance (Perera et al. 2015). ...
... Visitors of the PLNP were chosen as the privileged interlocutors of this survey. In particular, user inputs are recognized as an effective support to improve management practices (Marin et al. 2021). In fact, unlike visitors, other stakeholders -e.g. ...
This study aims to develop an online survey on the tourist perception of the visitor management system of the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. As tourists are particularly sensitive to organisational issues related to the Park management, a bottom-up approach based on visitors’ opinions has been applied. First of all, a brief chronology has been reconstructed that retraces the most significant stages of the Park. Subsequently, an online questionnaire was structured on the basis of the current Park Management Plan with a focus on the macro-topics concerning the visitor management system. The survey was distributed using the Google Form application. A total of 214 questionnaires were collected in the period between May and July 2022. The sample was statistically analysed to detect the main habits of the Park users. The Mann-Whitney-Wilcox U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were applied to identify the differences in the priorities attributed by visitors to the various management actions. Among the main findings of the research, the authors identified that national visitors (i.e. Croatian) place a higher priority on the implementation of services and infrastructure than tourists from other countries. In addition, those who have visited the Park on multiple occasions have higher safety expectations than those who have only visited the Park once. This category of visitors also considers it more important to take into account the opinions of visitors. Furthermore, with regard to retail and souvenir shops, tourists are generally inclined to set a lower priority for intervention than that attributed to other management aspects. The results of this study can be of great value to Park managers, who should consider visitors as key stakeholders in the decision-making process that is the foundation for managing this important natural resource.
Šumski požari predstavljaju ozbiljnu sigurnosnu prijetnju jer ugrožavaju ljudske živote, štetno utječu na okoliš te uzrokuju materijalnu štetu. Ovim radom istražila se percepcija uzroka i posljedica šumskih požara u Hrvatskoj te potencijalna rješenja za njihovo sprječavanje. Isto tako, istražilo se postoji li razlika u percepciji ovih pitanja između stručnjaka koji su profesionalno vezani uz šume i šumske požare, i nestručnjaka, odnosno, osoba koje posjećuju šume rekreativno. Anketa je bila postavljena na internetu te je bila dostupna potencijalnim ispitanicima u razdoblju od lipnja do listopada 2023. godine. Istraživanjem je obuhvaćen prosudbeni uzorak od 119 ispitanika, koji se sastojao od 79 stručnjaka i 40 nestručnjaka. Analiza dobivenih odgovora provedena je pomoću hi-kvadrat testa te Mann-Whitney U testa. Istraživanje je pokazalo da se za većinu požara odgovornima smatraju ljudi i njihove aktivnosti, posebice osobe koje namjerno podmeću požare. Kao najteže materijalne posljedice šumskih požara ispitanici navode troškove obnove infrastrukture, javne imovine i industrije te krajolika nakon požara. Ispitanici smatraju da se šumski požari najdjelotvornije mogu spriječiti boljom edukacijom, boljim nadzorom šuma te strožim kaznama za osobe koje namjerno podmeću požare. Istraživanjem je također utvrđeno da kod većine pitanja ne postoje statistički značajne razlike između stručnjaka i nestručnjaka u percepciji uzroka i posljedica šumskih požara.
