IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i18p11460-d913465.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Oasis of Peace? Social Perception of Urban Parks from the City-Dwellers’ Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Bohuslav Binka

    (Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Martin Čech

    (Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Jan Činčera

    (Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic)

Abstract

The article focuses on the social perception of urban parks, from the perspective of city dwellers. For the analyses, eight focus groups with N = 48 participants were organized. The findings indicated urban parks as a meaningful part of the city dwellers’ place identity, who interpret them as an “oasis of peace” or “places for meeting”. The article further analyzes the conflicts emerging from the clashes of different perspectives on how urban parks should be used, what functions they should fulfil, or what characteristics they should have. The article discusses the possible implications of some of these contradictions, connected with the changing nature–culture understanding in contemporary society and the unresolved marginalization of some of the social groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Bohuslav Binka & Martin Čech & Jan Činčera, 2022. "The Oasis of Peace? Social Perception of Urban Parks from the City-Dwellers’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11460-:d:913465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11460/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11460/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Campbell, Lindsay K. & Svendsen, Erika S. & Sonti, Nancy F. & Johnson, Michelle L., 2016. "A social assessment of urban parkland: Analyzing park use and meaning to inform management and resilience planning," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 34-44.
    2. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    3. Kaczynski, A.T. & Potwarka, L.R. & Saelens P, B.E., 2008. "Association of park size, distance, and features with physical activity in neighborhood parks," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(8), pages 1451-1456.
    4. Lincoln R Larson & Viniece Jennings & Scott A Cloutier, 2016. "Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Franz X. Bogner, 2018. "Environmental Values (2-MEV) and Appreciation of Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-10, January.
    6. Martin Dallimer & Zoe G. Davies & Katherine N. Irvine & Lorraine Maltby & Philip H. Warren & Kevin J. Gaston & Paul R. Armsworth, 2014. "What Personal and Environmental Factors Determine Frequency of Urban Greenspace Use?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Michelle L. Johnson & Lindsay K. Campbell & Erika S. Svendsen & Heather L. McMillen, 2019. "Mapping Urban Park Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Comparison of Twitter and Semi-Structured Interview Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Siqi Lai & Brian Deal, 2022. "Parks, Green Space, and Happiness: A Spatially Specific Sentiment Analysis Using Microblogs in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Ying Xu & David Matarrita-Cascante & Jae Ho Lee & A.E. Luloff, 2019. "Incorporating Physical Environment-Related Factors in an Assessment of Community Attachment: Understanding Urban Park Contributions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Jörg Priess & Luis Valença Pinto & Ieva Misiune & Julia Palliwoda, 2021. "Ecosystem Service Use and the Motivations for Use in Central Parks in Three European Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Diana Marina Camargo & Paula Camila Ramírez & Rogério César Fermino, 2017. "Individual and Environmental Correlates to Quality of Life in Park Users in Colombia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-10, October.
    6. Yizhen Ding & Dongying Li & Huiyan Sang, 2022. "Park Characteristics and Changes in Park Visitation before, during, and after COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Order," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Tianrong Xu & Nikmatul Adha Nordin & Ainoriza Mohd Aini, 2022. "Urban Green Space and Subjective Well-Being of Older People: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-29, October.
    8. Ieva Misiune, 2023. "Do We Need Different Urban Green Spaces Now? A Case Study of Preferences during Pandemics," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, November.
    9. Wang, Qian & Lan, Zili, 2019. "Park green spaces, public health and social inequalities: Understanding the interrelationships for policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 66-74.
    10. Zhen Li & Wanmin Zhao & Miaoyao Nie, 2021. "Scale Characteristics and Optimization of Park Green Space in Megacities Based on the Fractal Measurement Model: A Case Study of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Matthew Dennis & David Barlow & Gina Cavan & Penny A. Cook & Anna Gilchrist & John Handley & Philip James & Jessica Thompson & Konstantinos Tzoulas & C. Philip Wheater & Sarah Lindley, 2018. "Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Hui, Ling Chui & Jim, C.Y., 2022. "Urban-greenery demands are affected by perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices, and socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Mona L. Schönfelder & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Between Science Education and Environmental Education: How Science Motivation Relates to Environmental Values," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.
    14. Xiaohu Zhang & Scott Melbourne & Chinmoy Sarkar & Alain Chiaradia & Chris Webster, 2020. "Effects of green space on walking: Does size, shape and density matter?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(16), pages 3402-3420, December.
    15. Eva-Maria Waltner & Werner Rieß & Christoph Mischo, 2019. "Development and Validation of an Instrument for Measuring Student Sustainability Competencies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-20, March.
    16. Massoni, Emma Soy & Barton, David N. & Rusch, Graciela M. & Gundersen, Vegard, 2018. "Bigger, more diverse and better? Mapping structural diversity and its recreational value in urban green spaces," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(PC), pages 502-516.
    17. Huiying Ng, 2020. "Recognising the edible urban commons: Cultivating latent capacities for transformative governance in Singapore," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(7), pages 1417-1433, May.
    18. Somajita Paul & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "Factors Influencing Perceptions and Use of Urban Nature: Surveys of Park Visitors in Delhi," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-23, April.
    19. Julian A. Reed & Rachel M. Ballard & Michael Hill & David Berrigan, 2020. "Identification of Effective Programs to Improve Access to and Use of Trails among Youth from Under-Resourced Communities: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-33, October.
    20. Phi-Yen Nguyen & Thomas Astell-Burt & Hania Rahimi-Ardabili & Xiaoqi Feng, 2021. "Green Space Quality and Health: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-38, October.

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11460-:d:913465. 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.