Differing perceptions of the youth and the elderly regarding cultural ecosystem services in urban parks: An exploration of the tour experience

How do landscape patterns in urban parks affect multiple cultural ecosystem services perceived by residents?

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by urban parks are crucial for encouraging residents to engage with nature and enhance their physical and mental well-being. Measuring these services from the residents' perception perspective is essential. Previous studies often focus on a specific type of CES, lacking explicit links between the landscape composition and configuration of urban parks and residents' perceptions of various CES. The main objective of this study, therefore, was to explore the effects of urban park landscape patterns on residents' CES perceptions. We took 12 urban parks in Chengdu, China, and assessed residents' CES perceptions through content analysis of social media texts. Spatial patterns of the parks were analyzed using remote sensing interpretation and field surveys. Correlation analysis examined the relationship between landscape patterns and residents' perceptions, with further verification through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Findings revealed that at the landscape level, landscape aggregation of parks was negatively correlated with aesthetic perceptions but positively correlated with recreational perceptions. Landscape diversity negatively impacted perceptions of sports and health (S&H). At the class level, natural elements significantly influenced residents' perceptions of aesthetic and S&H. Specifically, aesthetic perceptions were minimized when the landscape shape index of water bodies reached 6.36 or when the proportion of green space was 56.5 %. Road edge density negatively affected perceptions of S&H and influenced the distribution of water bodies and green spaces. These findings are crucial for optimizing park structures to deliver efficient CES and provide strategies for integrating ecosystem services into environmental management from a public perception perspective.

The spatial overlay effect of urban waterlogging risk and land use value

Urban waterlogging poses a severe threat to lives and property globally, making it crucial to identify the distribution of urban value and waterlogging risk. Previous research has overlooked the heterogeneity of value and risk in spatial distribution. To identify the overlay effect of urban land value and risk, this study employs the Entropy Weighting Method (EM) to assess urban value, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine waterlogging risk and key areas (RK), local Moran's I (SC) to identify key areas (HK), and finally Bivariate local Moran's I (DC) to comprehensively evaluate urban value and waterlogging risk to delineate key areas (BH). The results indicate that waterlogging risk is primarily influenced by proximity to water systems (PCA coefficient: 0.567), population density (0.550), and rainfall (0.445). There is a positive correlation between urban value and waterlogging risk, with a global Moran's I of 0.536, indicating that areas with higher urban value also face greater waterlogging risk. The DC method improved identification precision, reducing the BH area by 6.42 and 3.51 km2 compared to RK and HK, accounting for 25.50 % and 15.76 % of the RK and HK identified areas, respectively. At present, rescue resources can access less than one-third of the area within 5 min, but with the DC method, during the centennial rainfall scenario, the accessibility rate within 5 min for the BH area reaches 63 %, and all BH key areas can be covered within 15 min. This study provides a new methodology for identifying key areas of waterlogging disasters and can be used to enhance urban rescue efficiency and the precision management of flood disasters.

Bridging the gap: Public engagement in blue-green space development for healthier urban futures

BACKGROUND

With the rapid escalation of global urbanization, the role of blue-green spaces in urban ecology, public health, and planning has become increasingly prominent. Although their contributions to ecological preservation, public health, and urban design are widely acknowledged, research into public engagement and willingness to participate in the management and planning of these spaces is still in its early stages.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to identify key factors influencing public willingness to participate in blue-green space management, focusing specifically on people's perceptions of blue-green spaces (including perceived quality and accessibility), their usage behaviors (i.e., frequency of usage of blue-green spaces), and their self-assessed physical and mental health.

METHODS

We interviewed local residents through random sampling to obtain sample data, and used a representative sample (n = 815, 510 women; 305 men, age 18-85 years, lived in Chengdu for an extensive time) of residents living in Chengdu City, China. Employing a quantitative approach, we examined the relationships between factors such as gender, regular occupation, income, behavior, and health status in relation to the willingness to participate. Additionally, we explored how perceptions and behaviors impacted health statuses and, consequently, inclinations to participate.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that individuals with steady occupations and higher incomes are more inclined to engage in the management and planning of blue-green spaces. Notably, men exhibited a greater tendency to participate than women. Furthermore, access to blue-green spaces emerged as a crucial mechanism for addressing health disparities, offering significant implications for urban planning and public health.

CONCLUSION

Successful blue-green space planning and understanding of willingness to participate necessitates the holistic consideration of people's perceptions of blue-green spaces, their usage behaviour and their self-rate health. For a tangible impact on health equity and global urban development, it's essential to prioritize blue-green spaces in planning, especially in lower-income regions. This not only promotes environmental perception but can also be a strategic approach to address health disparities. Our findings offer vital insights for tailoring international urban planning and management practices towards these goals.

Explaining demographic-destination preferences for cultural ecosystem services: A set-theoretic configurational analysis

Many fundamental studies on cultural ecosystem services (CES) and CES destination preferences still tend to focus on detecting the respective importance of destination attributes. However, this perspective needs more efforts on the fact that visitors always select a CES destination through a configurational consideration of its ecological and environmental attributes. Based on this consideration, 22 urban green spaces in Nagoya, Japan were studied, and a configurational model was developed by applying complexity theory and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), to explain and better understand the causal patterns of CES quality and availability influencing demographic-CES destination preferences. The results showed that similar preference modes occurred between young adults and males who were very concerned about the time spent on transportation, and between older people and females who had multiple considerations regarding both CES quality and availability. Such findings on the demographic-destination preferences for CES could not only provide configurational insight into the relationships between destination attributes and travel preferences, but also help CES organizations develop multi-factor cooperative management for better CES provision.

Spatial-Temporal Variations and Trade-Offs of Ecosystem Services in Anhui Province, China

Research on the spatiotemporal evolution and trade-offs of ecosystem services (ESs) is important for optimizing the ecological security barrier system and promoting coordinated socio-economic development. Natural factors, e.g., climate change, and human factors, e.g., unreasonable land use, have impacted and damaged ecosystem structure and function, leading to challenges with ES trade-offs and the spatial identification of priority protected areas. Here, the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of five ESs (water yield, nitrogen export, soil retention, carbon storage, and habitat quality) in Anhui Province, China, from 2000-2020 were analyzed based on the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model. The trade-offs and spatial patterns among different ESs were explored using Pearson correlation and hotspot analyses; the dynamics of natural growth, cultivated land protection, and ecological protection scenarios for ESs in 2030 were simulated and analyzed by coupling InVEST with the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model. The results reveal the following. (1) From 2000-2020, increases in water yield and soil retention occurred, with concurrent declines in the other services; the total nitrogen high-value area was mainly concentrated in the plain, with the other services' high-value areas mainly concentrated in the Dabieshan and Southern Anhui Mountains, with each ES showing similar spatial distributions across years. (2) The ESs were mainly synergistic, with trade-offs mainly between nitrogen export and other services. (3) Hotspot overlap between water yield and the other ESs was relatively low; no more than 6.53% of ecosystems per unit area provided five ESs simultaneously. (4) Other than water yield, the ecological protection scenario was more conducive to improving ecosystem functions. This study's results indicate inadequate synergy among ESs in Anhui Province; competition among land types must be further balanced in the future. This study provides a basic reference for implementing ecological projects and constructing ecological security patterns.

Characteristics of Urban Parks in Chengdu and Their Relation to Public Behaviour and Preferences

Urban parks can offer a variety of ecosystem services such as beautifying the landscape, ecological regulation, leisure and recreation, and maintaining biodiversity. Understanding how urban parks affect people’s lives can help guide the construction and planning of parks in a direction that is more beneficial to the public. Therefore, it is worth studying the extent to which different urban parks with different characteristics affect public behaviour and preferences. This paper takes five typical urban parks in Chengdu and analyses the relationship between characteristics of the park ecosystem and public behaviour and preferences. The characteristics include the park scale, blue-green space ratio, plant diversity, and degree of re-wilding. Visit frequency, stay time, and park preference characterise public behaviour and preferences. The results show: (1) There are obvious differences in the ecosystem characteristics of the five parks: Qinglong Lake Wetland Park is the largest; the proportion of blue-green space in Jiangjiayiyuan Garden is the highest; the degree of re-wilding in Bailuwan Wetland Park is the highest; the proportion of green space and plant diversity in Guixi Ecological Park is the highest; and the proportion of blue space in Jincheng Lake Wetland Park is the highest. (2) There are differences in public behaviour and preferences for different parks. Tourists visit Qinglong Lake Wetland Park the most in spring and autumn and they choose Guixi Ecological Park instead in summer and winter. The public stays longer in Qinglong Lake Wetland Park and shorter in Jincheng Lake Wetland Park. (3) The scale of urban parks, the proportion of blue-green space, and the degree of re-wilding, especially the proportion of blue space, have a positive impact on the public’s evaluation and promote public visits. The results of the study could help improve public awareness of the relationship between park characteristics and ecological services and well-being.