User preferences for landscape components in an urban park – Contributions for the design of recreation-inclusive NbS from Oporto (Portugal)

Urban areas often suffer from increased air pollution, adverse heat-island effects, limited offer of green spaces, and declining biodiversity. Addressing these issues is critical for sustainable urban development, considering the observed global growth rate of urban population and the observed increase of severe weather episodes associated with climate change. Incorporating urban green spaces (UGS) and nature-based solutions (NbS) in urban planning can mitigate these issues, as highlighted by the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Both UGS and NbS provide relevant ecosystem services (ES), including e.g., air and water quality regulation, and recreation.

Landscape components are essential in the design of UGS and NbS, as they can directly affect the diversity and effectiveness of ES provided, which are particularly relevant regarding both regulating and cultural ES. Thus, UGS design and the integration of NbS to address the highlighted issues must always consider user preferences on landscape elements to ensure effective multifunctionality, optimizing both regulating and recreating services. This study examines users' perceptions regarding the influence of 13 landscape components on the usage preferences of 10 different landscape units in a large UGS in Oporto, Portugal. The study was based on a face-to-face survey, addressing stationary park users (n=500) engaged in diverse activities during the summer period.

The results showed significant differences between landscape units for the relevance attributed to the different landscape components and for all socio-demographic variables (excluding variable gender). Landscape units with different landscape components showed different levels of relevance for the users. E.g., units with water elements tended to show higher relevance rates regarding well-being dimensions. Relevance for social and emotional well-being was tendentially rated higher than for physical well-being, suggesting that, even for those users engaged in sports activities, the social aspect of engaging in a group activity was highly relevant and positive. Through a factor analysis, we identified five major factors influencing user preferences, associated – and aggregating – different landscape elements: Comfort and security, Landscape diversity, Water presence, Recreational facilities, and Open spaces for activities. The results regarding landscape diversity also support the idea that psychological motivation is a strong driver for action. We propose a set of concrete actions addressing several aspects (e.g., multifunctional design, shadow coverage, vegetation diversity, incorporation of water features) that can contribute to an improved UGS design and integration of efficient NbS, addressing ecological and social needs.

This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the PhD grant SFRH/BD/149710/2019 attributed to the first author.