Multiple landscape-management and social-policy approaches are essential to mitigate the extinction of experience

Abstract

As the world becomes more urbanised, people are becoming progressively disconnected from nature. This large-scale disengagement of humans from nature, or “extinction of experience,” is viewed both as a major public health issue and as a fundamental obstacle to halting the global biodiversity crisis. For most of humanity, urban greenspace is the primary means by which someone can directly interact with nature in their daily lives. A key challenge is how to facilitate the active engagement of urban residents with that environment. Here, we examined the drivers of people’s use of urban greenspaces in Tokyo, Japan. In an online questionnaire, participants (n = 1048) provided information on socio-demographics, frequency and duration of greenspace use in the prior 2 weeks, and the extent of their positive attitudes towards nature (nature orientation). We also measured the structure of the neighbourhood landscape surrounding each participant’s home. The probability of greenspace use (i.e., whether an individual used it) was determined mainly by nature orientation, but also by the number of greenspaces around the home. Frequency and duration of greenspace use were positively associated with the number of vegetation types near the home and with individuals’ nature orientation. Overall, our results showed that urban residents’ use of neighbourhood greenspaces is driven by multiple landscape- and orientation-related factors. Thus, to reduce the extinction of experience, policy makers should not rely on a single management or policy approach but should combine various approaches in ways that will effectively promote people’s direct nature experiences.