Attractive, climate-adapted and sustainable? Public perception of non-native planting in the designed urban landscape

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t s• 75.3% participants positive about climate-adapted non-native planting.• Climate change identified as major driver of acceptance of non-native plants.• Acceptance also related to aesthetics, context, perceived invasiveness.• Perceived attractiveness not related to perceived nativeness.• Contradictions in perception of non-native plants identified. a b s t r a c t Throughout Europe climate change has rendered many plant species used in contemporary urban planting design less fit for use in public greenspaces. A growing evidence base exists for the ecological value of introducing non-native species, yet urban policy and practice guidance continues to portray non-native species negatively, focusing on their assumed invasiveness. In this context there is a lack of research focusing on the cultural relevance of non-native species in the urban landscape. To address this gap we surveyed 1411 members of the UK public who walked through designed and semi-natural planting of three levels of visual nativeness: "strongly native"; "intermediate" and "strongly non-native", whilst completing a site-based questionnaire. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were then carried out with 34 questionnaire participants. A majority (57.6%) of our respondents would be happy to see more non-native planting in UK public spaces, rising to 75.3% if it were better adapted to a changing climate than existing vegetation. Respondents recognised the three broad levels of nativeness, yet this was not a factor driving perceptions of the attractiveness of the planting. In addition to climate change, we identified four key factors driving acceptance and rejection of non-native planting: aesthetics; locational context; historic factors and inevitability; and perceptions of invasiveness and incompatability with native wildlife. Our research indicates that in the context of a changing climate, focus should be placed on the potentially positive role of non-invasive, climate-adapted, aesthetically pleasing species within urban planting schemes as these could be well-received by the public.

Landscaping As A Factor In Creating A Comfortable Urban Environment

“…A special issue was the use of large-sized plants for landscaping the front of the building, while there was a need to consider yet another important factor -the reaction of public opinion to both the biodiversity of urban planting and the landscaping process as a whole [15,16]. As a result, a variant was proposed that visually brought out the beauty of the facade in a row planting of Pópulus álba.…”

Biodiversity value of urban hedges

“…aesthetic (e.g. Hull, 1992;Parsons, 1995;Fuller et al, 2007;Hoyle, Hitchmough and Jorgensen, 2017;Southon et al, 2017) and this has been reflected in the management of urban hedges (Oreszczyn, 2000;Oreszczyn and Lane, 2000;Faiers and Bailey, 2005;Gosling et al, 2016).…”

“…Even when people appreciate the benefit of improving ecological quality they may not wish to do so at the expense of the attractiveness of their neighbourhoods (Nassauer, 1995). Todorova et al (2004) and Hoyle et al (2017) found that people enjoyed seeing flowers incorporated in to their street plantings and that they offered benefits to psychological wellbeing (Todorova, Asakawa and Aikoh, 2004). Colourful non-natives in ordered formation were found to be the most aesthetically pleasing and to a lesser extent were generally thought to offer the greatest benefit to invertebrates (Todorova, Asakawa and Aikoh, 2004), however this is unlikely to be the case.…”

“…The more knowledge people have the more likely they are to find elements of biodiversity attractive (Qiu, Lindberg and Nielsen, 2013;Hoyle, Hitchmough and Jorgensen, 2017;Southon et al, 2017). A lack of understanding of the benefits of conservation design elements leads to a resistance from residents for their incorporation, whereas if they are more aware then they are more embracing of their integration (Bowman, Thompson and Tyndall, 2012;Derkzen, van Teeffelen and Verburg, 2017;Jiang and Yuan, 2017).…”

A botanic garden as a tool to combine public perception of nature and life-science investigations on native/exotic plants interactions with local pollinators

“…An example is the concept of native/exotic species. Hoyle and colleagues [14] investigated the public perception of non-native plants in gardens highlighting key factors that are actively driving acceptance or rejection of a given landscape by the public. As expected, the aesthetically pleasing appearance was one of them: beautiful flowers are accepted and planted in gardens, independently from their country of origin.…”