Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK.
Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 2):143095. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143095. Epub 2020 Oct 16.
Urban land cover expansion and human population growth are accelerating worldwide. This is resulting in the loss and degradation of green and blue spaces (e.g. parks, waterways, lakes) in cities, which provide resources to sustain biodiversity and improve human wellbeing. The specific characteristics of these spaces (e.g. sounds, species, safety) that enhance or detract from wellbeing are underexplored, yet this knowledge is needed to inform urban planning, management and policies that will ultimately benefit both people and biodiversity. Research of this kind is rarely conducted in the Global South, where rapid urbanisation threatens biodiversity-rich ecosystems of worldwide significance. Here, we examine how perceptions of green, waterway, and dense urban spaces relate to wellbeing in Georgetown, Guyana. Specifically, we use mediation models to test how perceptions of sound, bird species richness, naturalness, and safety concerns contribute to sites being perceived as restorative which, subsequently, influences wellbeing. We assess the accuracy of these site perceptions with objective measures of sound (using a bioacoustic sound index), bird species richness, and percent coverage of vegetation, water, and impervious surfaces. Results showed that if sites were perceived as species rich, containing natural sounds like birdsong, natural rather than artificial, and safe, they were perceived as more restorative, resulting in improved wellbeing. In general, people's perceptions were consistent with objective measures. Green, compared with waterway and dense urban sites, contained more biophonic sounds, higher species richness, greater vegetation and water coverage. Although waterways were biodiverse, they were dominated by anthrophonic sounds, so were perceived as artificial and non-restorative. We shed light on how city planners might augment specific characteristics to improve the wellbeing of urban dwellers, with implications for biodiversity conservation. Our findings provide a scientific evidence base for urban design and management plans that could deliver multiple co-benefits, particularly in biodiversity-rich cities in neotropical regions.
城市土地覆盖扩张和人口增长在全球范围内呈加速趋势。这导致城市中绿色和蓝色空间（如公园、水道、湖泊）的丧失和退化，这些空间为维持生物多样性和提高人类福祉提供了资源。然而，这些空间增强或减损福祉的具体特征（如声音、物种、安全性）尚未得到充分探索，但为了为城市规划、管理和政策提供信息，这些知识是必要的，最终将使人类和生物多样性受益。这种研究在全球南方很少进行，在那里快速的城市化威胁到具有全球重要意义的生物多样性丰富的生态系统。在这里，我们研究了圭亚那乔治敦市对绿色、水道和密集城市空间的看法与幸福感之间的关系。具体来说，我们使用中介模型来测试声音感知、鸟类物种丰富度、自然度和安全问题如何有助于将场所感知为恢复性的，从而影响幸福感。我们使用客观的声音指标（使用生物声学声音指数）、鸟类物种丰富度和植被、水和不透水表面的百分比来评估这些场所感知的准确性。结果表明，如果场所被认为是物种丰富的，包含鸟鸣等自然声音、自然而非人工的，并且安全的，那么它们被认为更具恢复性，从而改善幸福感。总的来说，人们的看法与客观测量是一致的。与水道和密集的城市场所相比，绿色场所包含更多的生物声音、更高的物种丰富度、更多的植被和水覆盖。虽然水道是生物多样性丰富的，但它们主要是由人类声音主导，因此被认为是人工的和非恢复性的。我们揭示了城市规划者如何增强特定特征，以提高城市居民的幸福感，这对生物多样性保护具有启示意义。我们的研究结果为城市设计和管理计划提供了科学依据，这些计划可以带来多种共同效益，特别是在新热带地区生物多样性丰富的城市。
