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

Hedblom, M., Knez, I., Ode Sang, Å., & Gunnarsson, B. (2017). Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation. Royal Society Open Science, 4(2), 170037. doi:10.1098/rsos.170037

Platform
Gothenburg
Publication type
Scientific article (peer-reviewed)
Projects
Valuation of ecosystem services provided by urban greenery
DOI Title
Evaluation of natural sounds in urban greenery: potential impact for urban nature preservation
Journal
Royal Society Open Science
ISSN/ISBN
2054-5703
DOI
10.1098/rsos.170037
Author(s)
M. Hedblom I. Knez Å. Ode Sang B. Gunnarsson
Published year

 

External link

Abstract

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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