Disparity in Perceptions of Social Values for Ecosystem Services of Urban Green Space: A Case Study in the East Lake Scenic Area, Wuhan

Abstract

Urban green space can bring various ecosystem benefits to diverse social groups. Among those ecosystem benefits, intangible social values are often neglected but highly relevant to human welfare. Existing research on the social values of urban green space often focusses on the perspective of urban inhabitants rather than tourists, even though tourists are also major beneficiaries. By combining different data sources into a comprehensive source about green-space social values, we investigated the disparity between inhabitants' and tourists' perceptions about space-associated social values, and further explored the underlying environmental conditions in the East Lake scenic area, Wuhan. For this, we collected 347 questionnaires through an on-site survey and 11,908 photos uploaded by 2165 social media users (Sina Blog), and we used SolVES (Social Value for Ecosystem Services) to uncover the spatial patterns of social values and the relationships between social value indicators and natural surroundings. Social-value hotspots occurred near water and trails. Perceptions differed, however, between inhabitants and tourists. Inhabitants perceived a larger scale of social values and could benefit more from recreation and economic values. Tourists, on the other hand, showed greater appreciation for aesthetic and cultural values. Environmental features were associated with social values to differing extent; distance to water and land use/cover exerted significantly influence. These findings should be taken into consideration to improve urban spatial planning and to optimize green infrastructures for human welfare.

Exploring public values through Twitter data associated with urban parks pre- and post- COVID-19

“…Values associated with parks could be subject to environmental characteristics and social conditions as they often emerge from unique experiences in certain places ( Brown et al, 2015 , Chen et al, 2020 , Dickinson and Hobbs, 2017 , Hull et al, 1994 , Ives et al, 2017 ). During the COVID-19 pandemic when social distancing and home quarantine were recommended, the health and psychological benefits of urban parks became more salient as people were in need of being outside of home for mental rejuvenation, companion seeking, and physical activity ( Addas and Maghrabi, 2022 , Fagerholm et al, 2021 , Heo et al, 2021 , Khalilnezhad et al, 2021 , Noszczyk et al, 2022 , Reid et al, 2022 , Spano et al, 2021 , Ugolini et al, 2020 ).…”

A bibliometric analysis of the study of urban green spaces and health behaviors

“…Besides, at present, urban green space design for human health is mostly concentrated in the field of medical and rehabilitation design, which ignores the continuity and correlation of different UGS. Many findings could provide references for urban spatial planning, landscape design, and decision-making ( 49 , 50 ). Hence, the co-work of landscape architects, urban planners, and designers is essential to devote themselves and their professional knowledge and experience to the maximized and optimized planning and design of UGS concerning the health benefits, combined with scientific studies.…”

Influence of Green Areas on the Urban Sound Environment

“…Sztubecka et al [88] indicate several approaches or tools for assessing the sound environment: objective methods: obtaining information about the sound environment from the analysis of physical parameters or spectrograms; subjective methods: obtaining data about the soundscape from questionnaires or interviews, as well as through on-site observation and evaluation; and mixed methods: combining objective and subjective sound environment analysis techniques. Some recent studies have only considered people's perception to assess green spaces [89,90]. Koprowska et al [91] show that sound levels are the most influential factor in noise perception.…”