The effects of naturalness, gender, and age on how urban green space is perceived and used

Sang, Åsa Ode; Knez, Igor; Gunnarsson, Bengt; Hedblom, Marcus

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2016.06.008

Cited by 318 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Evaluations of natural sounds differ by gender in a similar way to visual perceptions of urban greenery (see [24]). In the current study, women evaluated all natural sounds higher than did men and they had a lower tolerance for noise than men (figure 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The measure comprised five statements, with a Cronbach's α of 0.81; indicating high reliability: ‘Sounds of nature give me a stronger perception of the site’; ‘Rustling trees make me feel calm’; ‘Bird song in the area makes me feel calm’; ‘Human voices make me feel calm’; and ‘Noise from the city and traffic interferes with my perception of the area’ (see also [24] and [30]).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have reported on gender as well as age differences with regards to amount of activities, aesthetic ratings of natural environments and associated health and well-being [24–28]. Ode Sang et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ode Sang et al . [24] reported that women were more active in green spaces compared with men, gave higher aesthetic ratings and also had a higher well-being associated with a higher activity for people's local green space. The same study also showed that older residents gave a greater aesthetic value and associated a higher well-being to their local green space compared with younger people.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation

et al. 2017

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Most humans now live in cities and their main experience of nature is through urban greenery. An increasing number of studies show the importance of urban green spaces for well-being, although most of them are based on visual perception. A questionnaire examining people's evaluations of natural sounds was answered by 1326 individuals living near one of six urban green areas of varying naturalness in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. Women and the elderly reported greater calmness when hearing bird song and rustling leaves (and placed a higher importance on the richness of bird species) than did men, younger and middle-aged individuals. Independent of age and gender, urban woodlands (high naturalness) had higher evaluations than parks (low naturalness). Our results suggest that to increase positive experiences of urban green areas, demographic variables of gender and age should be taken into account, and settings that mimic nature should be prioritized in planning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation

et al. 2017

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“…Urban green is used for recreation and important to human well-being. However, lawns are not considered being as high contributors to well-being as forests (Tyrväinen et al 2014) and more nature like areas (Ode-Sang et al 2016). Studies even show not even private house lawns are seldom used (Norlin and Wissman unpublished).…”

Section: Ecosystem Services and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating urban lawn cover in space and time: Case studies in three Swedish cities

et al. 2017

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Lawns are considered monocultures and lesser contributors to sustainability than diverse nature but are still a dominating green area feature and an important cultural phenomenon in cities. Lawns have esthetical values, provide playground, are potential habitat for species, contribute to carbon sequestration and water infiltration, but also increase pesticides, fertilization, are monocultures and costly to manage at the same time. To evaluate the potential impact of lawns, whether positive or negative, it is of interest to estimate the total lawn cover in cities and its change over time. This is not a straightforward process, e.g., because many lawns are small and covered by trees. In this study we review the existing literature of lawn cover in cities and the different methodologies used for cover estimation. We found both pros and cons with NDVI and LiDAR data as well as manually interpreted aerial photos. The total cover of lawns in three case study cities was estimated to 22.5%. By extrapolating these percentages to all Swedish cities lawn cover was estimated to 2589 km 2 (0.6% of the terrestrial surface). The approximated total municipal management cost of lawns in all Swedish cities was 910,000,000 USD/ year. During 50 years lawn area almost doubled in relative cover and 56% of them were continuously managed. Since lawns constitute large parts of the urban greenery and are costly to manage it is highly relevant to consider their social, ecological and cultural value compared to alternatives, e.g., meadows with less intensive management.

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The impact of board gender diversity on green building practices: Moving beyond traditional linear and logistic specifications

Montero,

Valls Martínez,

Santos‐Jaén

2024

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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This article examines the relationship between sustainability and gender equality by analyzing how the percentage of women on the board of directors (still less than 50% in most cases) influences a company's commitment to green building practices. For this analysis, we estimate 30 competing multivariate pooled and panel data logistic specifications, including the gender diversity factor in both its traditional and polynomial forms. This methodological innovation (the polynomial form) allows for the examination of gender diversity's relationship with other variables beyond conventional models that assume constant effects, thus enabling a more realistic depiction of impacts that vary with the degree of diversity. Our dataset includes companies listed on the Euro Stoxx 300 and Standard & Poor's 500 for the period 2010–2021. The findings indicate that, in both indices, an increased percentage of women on the board (and a higher Blau diversity index) correlates with a greater propensity for sustainable building practices, up to a threshold nearing parity. The impacts are more significant in Europe than in the U.S., where board gender diversity appears to have a lesser influence on green building initiatives. The specification that best models the relationship between sustainable building practices and gender diversity, along with other relevant factors, is a multivariate panel data logistic model with the gender diversity factor included as a cubic polynomial for companies listed on the Euro Stoxx 300. A similar model, but with the gender factor in a quadratic polynomial form, was selected for companies listed on the Standard & Poor's 500. Therefore, the impact function of gender diversity on sustainable building practices is not constant but depends on the existing degree of board gender diversity, with the shape of the impact function differing between Europe and the U.S. Additionally, the study finds that other board characteristics—larger boards, longer tenures of directors, and higher compensation for senior executives—are associated with an increased propensity towards green practices in both the European and U.S. contexts. Conversely, linking CEO compensation to shareholder returns reduces this propensity. Moreover, the number of non‐executive directors and the overlap between the Chairperson and CEO positions do not significantly impact this propensity.

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The effects of naturalness, gender, and age on how urban green space is perceived and used

Cited by 318 publications

References 51 publications

Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation

Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation

Estimating urban lawn cover in space and time: Case studies in three Swedish cities

The impact of board gender diversity on green building practices: Moving beyond traditional linear and logistic specifications

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