The influence of bird information, attitudes, and demographics on public preferences toward urban green spaces: The case of Montpellier, France

Abstract

Urban sprawl is a major driving force of land use change. To develop strategies for sustainable urban development, planners need suitable indicators, one of which is the quality and quantity of green spaces in a city. To implement conservation strategies for urban areas, an assessment of how people perceive green spaces is required. The aim of this paper is to analyze: (1) willingness to contribute financially to two types of urban green spaces, (2) how people's attitudinal and socio-economic characteristics affect this willingness, and (3) to what extent this willingness is affected by the information that green spaces are important for avifauna conservation. We found that 72% of the respondents in Montpellier, France preferred natural (versus ornamental) green spaces and wanted them to be increased in the city. To achieve this, 52% of the respondents were willing to pay a percentage of their monthly household income. Giving information about birds to residents increased their preferences (especially for those having a “favourable” attitude for urban fauna) for “natural” green spaces and increased willingness to pay for green spaces among people using green spaces at least monthly. For people less concerned about nature, there was no such effect of providing bird information on preferences for green spaces.