Abstract
Modern urban lifestyles have most likely generated a loss of awareness of the bio-cultural benefits derived from the presence of trees and forests in cities. The present study aimed at understanding the level of awareness and the ability to express significant relationships, both positive and negative, on ecosystem services and disservices by the citizens of a Mediterranean city where thermal comfort during the summer period can be particularly problematic. A questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended questions was disseminated to citizens of Florence, Italy. The open questions allowed respondents space to describe what they perceive are the benefits and disbenefits of urban trees. Meanwhile, geospatial and climate data were processed in order to check the vegetation and microclimate conditions of the city areas where the 592 respondents live. The vast majority of respondents felt Florence is unbearably hot in summer with 93% agreeing the city needs more trees, and shaded places were perceived as the most important feature of urban green space. The results reveal many positive and negative associations to different species of trees and bring out a rich mosaic of perceptions towards urban green spaces and the features they contain. People are generally aware of a wide range of the benefits trees provide to communities and a good knowledge of the microclimate modification properties was revealed. Many of the popular public tree genera in the city, such as Tilia, Platanus and Pinus were favoured by residents however there was some overlap with trees that provoke negative experiences, and this information can be useful to city planners aiming to maximise ecosystem services and minimise ecosystem disservices.
Highlights
There is a lack of studies that have utilised open-ended questions to capture public opinion on urban trees and we demonstrate the usefulness of this approach in order to identify gaps in public knowledge and promote the benefits of trees to ensure public support
Intra-urban differences exist in the thermal conditions, linked to green space provision [26], and rising temperatures in the summer were associated with increases in emergency calls for cardiovascular events and psychiatric disorders [27]
Florence is a city with hot summers and residents express discomfort with the frequent high-temperature episodes
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Green infrastructure is an important component of the built urban environment and confers many localised benefits such as reducing air pollution [1] and providing opportunities for relaxation [2]. Trees play a prominent role in the provision of these. Ecosystem Services (ES) [3] and are a key feature of nature-based solutions, which are increasingly being used by municipalities to adapt cities to climate change and increase the liveability of cities for the worlds growing urban populations.
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