IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v10y2021i10p1085-d655984.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attitudes and Behaviors toward the Use of Public and Private Green Space during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad

    (Faculty of Arts, University of Birjand, Birjand 9718854987, Iran
    Co-first author.)

  • Francesca Ugolini

    (Institute of Bioeconomy–National Research Council, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
    Co-first author.)

  • Luciano Massetti

    (Institute of Bioeconomy–National Research Council, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy)

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study carried out in Birjand, Iran, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to explore the behavioral change in the use and the motivation to visit a green space (public or private) during the pandemic as compared to the pre-pandemic period, the effect of green spaces (private and public) on users’ feelings, the relations between the extent to which the access to green spaces was missed, and characteristics of respondents and the place they live. A survey was carried out through an online questionnaire in winter 2020 and about 400 responses were collected. The results showed a decrease in visitation of public green spaces during the pandemic, and higher visitation of private green spaces such as gardens or courtyards by those with access. In addition, both public and private green spaces enhance positive feelings and decrease the negative ones. Respondents missed access to green spaces, especially when their visitation before the pandemic was high, and women missed them more than men. Therefore, private green spaces might represent an opportunity for psychological respite in time of a pandemic, but also for socialization. The study reports respondents’ useful suggestions for urban landscape planning for the city of Birjand that might also be useful for other cities in dry lands; improving the quality of green spaces beyond the quantity may play a role in enhancing the connection to nature in the time of a pandemic, with positive effects on mental health, and this can also can improve recreation opportunities and reduce inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad & Francesca Ugolini & Luciano Massetti, 2021. "Attitudes and Behaviors toward the Use of Public and Private Green Space during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1085-:d:655984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1085/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1085/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jing Xie & Shixian Luo & Katsunori Furuya & Dajiang Sun, 2020. "Urban Parks as Green Buffers During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Samuelsson, Karl & Barthel, Stephan & Colding, Johan & Macassa, Gloria & Giusti, Matteo, 2020. "Urban nature as a source of resilience during social distancing amidst the coronavirus pandemic," OSF Preprints 3wx5a, Center for Open Science.
    3. Luca Barbarossa, 2020. "The Post Pandemic City: Challenges and Opportunities for a Non-Motorized Urban Environment. An Overview of Italian Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Fariba Bahriny & Simon Bell, 2020. "Patterns of Urban Park Use and Their Relationship to Factors of Quality: A Case Study of Tehran, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-33, February.
    5. Takahiro Yamazaki & Akiko Iida & Kimihiro Hino & Akito Murayama & U Hiroi & Toru Terada & Hideki Koizumi & Makoto Yokohari, 2021. "Use of Urban Green Spaces in the Context of Lifestyle Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tokyo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Yuta Uchiyama & Ryo Kohsaka, 2020. "Access and Use of Green Areas during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Green Infrastructure Management in the “New Normal”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-9, November.
    7. Ugolini, Francesca & Massetti, Luciano & Pearlmutter, David & Sanesi, Giovanni, 2021. "Usage of urban green space and related feelings of deprivation during the COVID-19 lockdown: Lessons learned from an Italian case study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Ali asghar Pilehvar, 2021. "Spatial-geographical analysis of urbanization in Iran," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Martin Seidl & Manal Saifane, 2021. "A green intensity index to better assess the multiple functions of urban vegetation with an application to Paris metropolitan area," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15204-15224, October.
    10. Lina Martínez & John Rennie Short, 2021. "The Pandemic City: Urban Issues in the Time of COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-10, March.
    11. Venter, Zander & Barton, David & gundersen, vegard & Figari, Helene & Nowell, Megan, 2020. "Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway," SocArXiv kbdum, Center for Open Science.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mateusz Ciski & Krzysztof Rząsa, 2023. "Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression in the Investigation of Local COVID-19 Anomalies Based on Population Age Structure in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Shiqi Wang & Ang Li, 2022. "Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown on Use and Perception of Urban Green Spaces and Demographic Group Differences," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Yusuke Ueno & Sadahisa Kato & Tomoka Mase & Yoji Funamoto & Keiichi Hasegawa, 2022. "Human Flow Dataset Reveals Changes in Citizens’ Outing Behaviors including Greenspace Visits before and during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kanazawa, Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Vita Žlender & Stefano Gemin, 2023. "Different Environments and Physical Activity before and during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Data from Slovenia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Luyang Chen & Lingbo Liu & Hao Wu & Zhenghong Peng & Zhihao Sun, 2022. "Change of Residents’ Attitudes and Behaviors toward Urban Green Space Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Argyro Anna Kanelli & Margarita Kokkinaki & Marios-Dimitrios Sinvare & Chrisovalantis Malesios & Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos & Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, 2023. "Keep Calm and Go Out: Urban Nature Exposure, Mental Health, and Perceived Value during the COVID-19 Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.
    7. Krzysztof Rząsa & Mateusz Ciski, 2022. "Influence of the Demographic, Social, and Environmental Factors on the COVID-19 Pandemic—Analysis of the Local Variations Using Geographically Weighted Regression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Diana Dushkova & Maria Ignatieva & Anastasia Konstantinova & Viacheslav Vasenev & Elvira Dovletyarova & Yury Dvornikov, 2022. "Human-Nature Interactions during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in Moscow, Russia: Exploring the Role of Contact with Nature and Main Lessons from the City Responses," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-31, May.
    9. Juscidalva Rodrigues de Almeida & Gustavo Benedito Medeiros Alves & Reginaldo de Oliveira Nunes & Teresa Dias, 2022. "Despite Being Distinguished as the 2020 European Green Capital, Lisbon Has Lost Public Green Areas over the Previous Decade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Xiu-Juan Qiao & Yizhi Liu & Jing Feng, 2022. "Evaluating the Landscape Quality of Residential Communities: A Case Study of the Chinese City Yangling," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emad B. Dawwas & Karen Dyson, 2021. "COVID-19 Changed Human-Nature Interactions across Green Space Types: Evidence of Change in Multiple Types of Activities from the West Bank, Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-21, December.
    2. So-Hee Park & Chuyoun Chang, 2022. "Impact of Changes in Forest Use Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perception of Forest Ecosystem Services in the Republic of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Bruno Marques & Jacqueline McIntosh & Chitrakala Muthuveerappan & Krzysztof Herman, 2022. "The Importance of Outdoor Spaces during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Aotearoa—New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Jiwon Kim & Youngjin Ko & Whijin Kim & Gaeun Kim & Jeongmin Lee & Olebogeng Thelma G. Eyman & Sarwat Chowdhury & Julie Adiwal & Yowhan Son & Woo-Kyun Lee, 2023. "Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perception and Use of Urban Green Spaces in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Vincenzo Rusciano & Andrea Gatto, 2022. "Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Use and Perceptions of Metropolitan Agricultural Parks—Evidence from Milan and Naples of Urban and Environmental Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Krzysztof Herman & Łukasz Drozda, 2021. "Green Infrastructure in the Time of Social Distancing: Urban Policy and the Tactical Pandemic Urbanism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    7. Diana Dushkova & Maria Ignatieva & Michael Hughes & Anastasia Konstantinova & Viacheslav Vasenev & Elvira Dovletyarova, 2021. "Human Dimensions of Urban Blue and Green Infrastructure during a Pandemic. Case Study of Moscow (Russia) and Perth (Australia)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, April.
    8. LU, Yi & Zhao, Jianting & Wu, Xueying & Lo, Siu Ming, 2020. "Escaping to nature in pandemic: a natural experiment of COVID-19 in Asian cities," SocArXiv rq8sn, Center for Open Science.
    9. Christoph Lambio & Tillman Schmitz & Richard Elson & Jeffrey Butler & Alexandra Roth & Silke Feller & Nicolai Savaskan & Tobia Lakes, 2023. "Exploring the Spatial Relative Risk of COVID-19 in Berlin-Neukölln," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-22, May.
    10. Noszczyk, Tomasz & Gorzelany, Julia & Kukulska-Kozieł, Anita & Hernik, Józef, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of urban green spaces to the public," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    11. Angelo Panno & Annalisa Theodorou & Giuseppe Alessio Carbone & Evelina De Longis & Chiara Massullo & Gianluca Cepale & Giuseppe Carrus & Claudio Imperatori & Giovanni Sanesi, 2021. "Go Greener, Less Risk: Access to Nature Is Associated with Lower Risk Taking in Different Domains during the COVID-19 Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, September.
    12. Joshua W Morse & Tatiana M Gladkikh & Diana M Hackenburg & Rachelle K Gould, 2020. "COVID-19 and human-nature relationships: Vermonters’ activities in nature and associated nonmaterial values during the pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Yuta Uchiyama & Ryo Kohsaka, 2020. "Access and Use of Green Areas during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Green Infrastructure Management in the “New Normal”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-9, November.
    14. Mouratidis, Kostas, 2021. "How COVID-19 reshaped quality of life in cities: A synthesis and implications for urban planning," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    15. Jordi Honey-Rosés & Oscar Zapata, 2023. "Green Spaces with Fewer People Improve Self-Reported Affective Experience and Mood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-10, January.
    16. Yi-Ya Hsu & Zih-Hong Lin & Chong-En Li, 2023. "Realising the Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 in the post-pandemic era – A case study of Taiwan," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(1), pages 162-181, January.
    17. Susana Silva & Paulo Carvalho, 2023. "Visit and Management of Historic Gardens during COVID-19 from the Owners/Managers Perspective: Portugal as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    18. Yuta Uchiyama & Ryo Kohsaka, 2022. "Visiting Peri-Urban Forestlands and Mountains during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Analysis on Effects of Land Use and Awareness of Visitors," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-14, July.
    19. Takahiro Yamazaki & Akiko Iida & Kimihiro Hino & Akito Murayama & U Hiroi & Toru Terada & Hideki Koizumi & Makoto Yokohari, 2021. "Use of Urban Green Spaces in the Context of Lifestyle Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tokyo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Zoe M Volenec & Joel O Abraham & Alexander D Becker & Andy P Dobson, 2021. "Public parks and the pandemic: How park usage has been affected by COVID-19 policies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1085-:d:655984. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.