PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces – a Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland
Wendelboe-Nelson, C.; Wang, Y.; Bell, S.; McDougall, C.W.; Ward Thompson, C. Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland. Land2024, 13, 395.
Wendelboe-Nelson, C.; Wang, Y.; Bell, S.; McDougall, C.W.; Ward Thompson, C. Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland. Land 2024, 13, 395.
Wendelboe-Nelson, C.; Wang, Y.; Bell, S.; McDougall, C.W.; Ward Thompson, C. Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland. Land2024, 13, 395.
Wendelboe-Nelson, C.; Wang, Y.; Bell, S.; McDougall, C.W.; Ward Thompson, C. Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland. Land 2024, 13, 395.
Abstract
Access to urban green and blue spaces (UGBS) has been associated with positive effects on health and wellbeing; however, the past decades have seen a decline in quality and user satisfaction with UGBS. This reflects the mounting challenges that many UK cities face in providing appropriate public facilities alongside issues such as health inequalities, an ageing population, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. At present, little is known about the preferences of different population subgroups and, specifically, the UGBS they visit and the spaces they avoid. Using a public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS), the overall aim of the research presented here was to investigate the preferences of different population subgroups in urban areas, and the UGBS they visit, using Edinburgh, Scotland as a case study. We created a baseline visitor demographic profile for UGBS use, and highlighted how visitors perceive, physically access, use, and engage with UGBS. The results revealed considerable variation in UGBS preference: one person’s favourite UGBS may be one that someone else dislikes and avoids. It is clear that adapting UGBS to suit local communities should not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. The conflicting views and preferences of different groups of respondents point to the importance of developing policies and park management plans that can accommodate a variety of uses and experiential qualities within individual parks. PPGIS offers an ideal tool for achieving this
Keywords
urban green and blue space; community engagement, co-production; public participation; spatial analysis; community health; health & wellbeing
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Behavioral Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
,
,
,
,
