Cultural and Biological Determinants in the Evaluation of Urban Green Spaces

Dramatically increasing urbanization is observable worldwide and brings pressure on space within urban areas as the built environment intensifies. Considerable evidence suggests that contact with nature is important for city dwellers, although it is not known whether residents’ appreciation of the forms of urban green spaces is constant across different contexts. More specifically, it has not yet been shown whether our appreciation of nature is innate and inherently human, is cultural and something that we learn, or is a mixture of both. This article describes an exploratory study consisting of 17 interviews carried out in Zurich, Switzerland. Kelly’s repertory grid technique is used to identify preferred urban landscapes, which were contrasted with identified rejected landscapes. Principle components analysis and multidimensional scaling reveal a clear separation of cultural and biological modes of landscape assessment in some respondents. The research contributes to an understanding of the meanings of urban green spaces, which would in turn provide planners with a tool to match urban natural resource management with the needs of residents.