Salvia Giuseppe, Pluchinotta Irene, Tsoulou Ioanna, Moore Gemma, Zimmermann Nici
Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London, London WC1H 0NN.
Sustainability. 2022 Feb 23;14(5):2575. doi: 10.3390/su14052575.
Urban green spaces provide environmental, economic, societal and health benefits to cities. However, policy and planning interventions aiming to improve usage have often led to unintended consequences, including, in some circumstances, an actual decline in usage. Previous research has identified factors influencing the use of urban green space, more often with a focus on the 'quality' and physical features of the space, rather than on the broader social factors. This study aims to unpack the complexity of factors that influence the use of urban green space through the application of Systems Thinking. A qualitative mixed-method approach integrating System Dynamics with rapid ethnography was adopted to elicit the views of local residents in Thamesmead, London. A thematic analysis of interviews was undertaken to systematically map the causal relations between factors, which were compared to wider stakeholders' views. Our findings highlight the relevance of dynamics and social influences on the use of green space, which include social interactions and stewardship, health conditions, availability of services and amenities. These are factors that are underexplored in the literature and, sometimes, overlooked in urban green space policy by decision-makers. We infer that attendance of urban green spaces requires time, which may be occupied in other practices determined by local conditions and needs. Expanding the spatial and temporal boundaries of investigation, wider than debates on 'quality', should, in our view, increase the chances of identifying critical influences and foster an increased use of green space.
城市绿地为城市带来环境、经济、社会和健康效益。然而，旨在提高使用率的政策和规划干预措施往往会导致意想不到的后果，在某些情况下，实际使用率甚至会下降。以往的研究已经确定了影响城市绿地使用的因素，更多时候关注的是空间的“质量”和物理特征，而非更广泛的社会因素。本研究旨在通过运用系统思维来剖析影响城市绿地使用的因素的复杂性。采用了一种将系统动力学与快速人种志相结合的定性混合方法，以获取伦敦泰晤士米德当地居民的观点。对访谈进行了主题分析，以系统地梳理各因素之间的因果关系，并与更广泛利益相关者的观点进行比较。我们的研究结果突出了动态因素和社会影响对绿地使用的相关性，其中包括社会互动与管理、健康状况、服务和设施的可用性。这些因素在文献中未得到充分探讨，有时在城市绿地政策中也被决策者忽视。我们推断，前往城市绿地需要时间，而这些时间可能被由当地条件和需求决定的其他活动占用。在我们看来，拓宽调查的空间和时间范围，超越关于“质量”的争论，应该会增加识别关键影响因素的机会，并促进绿地使用率的提高。
