Is an Environment with High Biodiversity the Most Attractive for Human Recreation? A Case Study in Baoji, China

Tian Gao,Yuanqun Zhang,Tian Zhang,Ling Qiu,Rui Song,Ling Zhu

doi:10.3390/su11154086

Tian Gao, Yuanqun Zhang + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154086

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jul 29, 2019
Citations: 13	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: North West Agriculture and Forestry University

Abstract

Evidence has been accumulating of the psychological and physiological benefits and well-being gained by individuals from recreational activities in urban green spaces due to their ability to sustain biodiversity, but maximizing both biodiversity and recreational values of green spaces has become increasingly difficult in practice. In order to better maximize the biodiversity and recreational value of urban green space, this study was conducted through the utilization of an onsite questionnaire to understand people’s perceptions of and preferences for biodiversity and recreational values of urban green spaces in Baoji City, China. The results showed that respondents were able to correctly perceive biodiversity and preferred to engage in recreational activities in the high biodiversity environment. However, the respondents’ perceptions of the eight perceived sensory dimensions (PSDs) in the different habitats were divergent, and an environment which is high in biodiversity does not necessarily have higher PSDs. Moreover, ‘living environment’ and ‘frequency to the park’ had significant impacts on perception of and preference for urban biodiversity. In addition, ‘education level’, ‘living environment’, ‘age’, and other indicators were more likely to influence the perception of the eight PSDs. Therefore, the presented findings can be applied by urban landscape planners to assess the qualities of urban green spaces in order to maintain urban biodiversity and meet the satisfaction of human recreation in the future.

Highlights

With the rapid development of urbanization and the pursuit of high-quality living conditions for inhabitants, urban green spaces have played a significant role in ecology, economy, socio-culture, health, and environmental benefits [1,2,3,4,5]
This study found that the respondents could correctly perceive species richness in urban green spaces, indicating that the Chinese inhabitants are not disconnected from an experience of green biodiversity in the urban environment
The respondents’ perceptions of the eight perceived sensory dimensions (PSDs) in the different habitats were divergent, and there were no specific correlations between biodiversity and the number of highly rated PSDs, that is, an environment with higher biodiversity does not necessarily have more highly valued PSDs

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of urbanization and the pursuit of high-quality living conditions for inhabitants, urban green spaces have played a significant role in ecology, economy, socio-culture, health, and environmental benefits [1,2,3,4,5]. In order to better maximize the biodiversity and recreational value of urban green space, it is important to understand people’s perceptions of and preferences for biodiversity. Qiu et al [13] found that respondents could correctly perceive biodiversity, they preferred low biodiversity scenes of open areas with groups of bushes and trees rather than high biodiversity scenes of dense vegetation in the forest. These inconsistencies require further attention to reveal the reasonings and driven factors of human perceptions of green spaces

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Conclusion