Importance of recreational ecosystem services in Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

PurposeLand‐use and cover change threatens remaining urban green areas and the provision of ecosystem services. The purpose of this paper is to address the importance, sufficiency and needs of local recreational ecosystem services in urban areas.Design/methodology/approachThe case study area is the City of Helsinki, Finland. In total, 30 key informants representing 19 neighbourhood associations in the urban‐rural gradient within the city were interviewed.FindingsThe results of the Helsinki case show that residents visit the focused nature areas frequently and spend considerable amount of time there. All the mentioned activities during visits were associated with getting recreational experiences. Of these the most frequently mentioned were getting “feel‐good feeling” and physical exercise, which were closely associated with walking and sports‐like activities. The importance of easy accessibility to local nature areas was emphasized. Recreational ecosystem services partly result from specific landscape features in the nature area and from biologically diverse nature.Practical implicationsPlanners, managers and decision makers can use the findings from this study in determining the values of similar urban green areas in urban development.Originality/valueThe Helsinki case shows that these local nature areas are appreciated and attractive and that the residents of the focused study areas perceive the numerous benefits that the local nature areas provide as very important. It appears that conserving a considerable amount of remnant nature amongst urban housing has paid off in flourishing recreational ecosystem services in the studied area.