Green perception for well-being in dense urban areas : A tool for socioeconomic integration

• A previous study (n = 24,819) of semi-urban and rural areas in the Skåne region, southern Sweden, showed that people living in flats are depen- dent on having green space with several characteristics for different affordances close to their homes to be satisfied with their neighbour- hood. The two studies presented in this paper focuses on the urban area of Malmö, the largest city in Skåne. Equivalent criteria for the presence of certain characteristics within 300 m from home were used, however analysed from other kinds of data than the regional study. In both the previous rural/semi-urban study as well as the urban studies presented here, respondents report being more satisfied with their neighbourhood the more qualities that are present within 300 m of their home. Less than half of the apartment-dwelling respondents in the Malmö urban area are satisfied with their neighbourhood if less than half of the characteris- tics are available within 300 m. Even when there are few characteristics close by, people living in their own house are generally more satisfied with their neighbourhood (70 % or more irrespective of area type) than tenants are. A relatively high concordance between the two studies, despite the fact that they represent different kinds of landscape (semi- urban and rural vs. urban) and different scales (region vs. municipality), adds validity to the recreational characteristics as a tool for assessing well-being qualities of neighbourhood landscapes.The results from the studies of Malmö were also related to average household income and a clear association between our studies’ data on accessibility to serene areas and household income was found. This find- ing suggests that creating additional serene green space in low-income areas could be a tool to help the municipality reduce segregation.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Naturgeografi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Physical Geography (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Annan lantbruksvetenskap -- Övrig annan lantbruksvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Other Agricultural Sciences -- Other Agricultural Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Landskapsarkitektur (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Landscape Architecture (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

well-being

perception

characteristics

park

nature

recreation

socio economy

densification

naturgeografi

Physical Geography

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)