The Grass is Greener: How Greenery Impacts the Perceptions of Urban Residential Property

Abstract

Can different types of greenery improve the perceived value, safety, prestige, coziness, and aesthetics of multistory residential buildings?<br />To find the answer, two studies were carried out. In Study 1, participants filled in questionnaires designed to measure the perceived value,<br />safety, prestige, coziness, and aesthetics of a building. Every questionnaire was accompanied with one of four images of the same residential building, the only difference between them was the type of greenery present near the building. Participants were asked to evaluate the building in the image by filling in the questionnaire. A convenience sample of 238 university students (mean age 20, SD = 2) participated in the experiment. Study 2 was an internet-based survey in which participants were presented with four images of a residential building and were asked to identify the most cozy, most expensive, most prestigious, most safe, and most aesthetic building. The pictures were the same as in Study 1. A snowball sample of 356 respondents (mean age 30, SD = 11) participated in the survey. The results indicate that buildings with sophisticated greenery and plain grass greenery are perceived most favorably, while unkempt and chaotic greenery were found to be associated with worse overall perceptions and decreased perceived value of residential property. When creating green spaces near residential buildings, we recommend considering plain grass greenery as it is the most cost-effective solution and has a positive effect on the perceptions of residential property and its value.

Residents’ awareness of the role of informal green spaces in a post-industrial city, with a focus on regulating services and urban adaptation potential

“…The preference for new greenery was largely in line with the provision of manicured space, by indicating flowerbeds and neat lawns. A preference for such tidy formal features was also found in other studies (Özünger & Kendle, 2006;Poškus & Poškienė, 2015;Sikorski et al, 2018); additionally, it was shown that the presence of flowers clearly increases the attractiveness of UGS in many cases (e.g. Lee, Williams, Sargent, Farrell, & Williams, 2014;Lindemann-Matthies & Brieger, 2016;Todorova, Asakawa, & Aikoh, 2004).…”

Lawns in Cities: From a Globalised Urban Green Space Phenomenon to Sustainable Nature-Based Solutions

“…Recent studies from Europe and USA have revealed that people's love of lawns is connected to the integral role lawns play in the everyday landscape [1,22,[60][61][62][63]71,72]. Short cut lawnscapes are associated with improved quality of life and personal safety.…”