Tyrväinen, L. & K. Mäkinen, 2004, Tools for mapping social values and meanings of urban woodlands and other open space, in: OPENspace, ‘Open space, people space’, OPENspace, Edinburgh
- Author : Tyrväinen, L. & K. Mäkinen
- Year : 2004
- Published in Book : Open space, people space
- Abstract in English : New tools are needed to analyse the social values and meanings of urban woodlands, and bring them into decision-making processes regarding land-use and green-space planning. This paper explores a new systematic approach to collect and identify the values residents attach to green areas. In two mail surveys in Helsinki and Espoo, Finland, residents were asked to identify areas that had specific positive qualities, such as beautiful scenery and forest feeling, as well as to locate areas with negative features. A map of the study area displaying all the different green areas was attached to the survey. The results were analysed by using SPSS and ArcView software. The results highlight the most valued sites and also problem areas within the study area. The most important features attached to favourite places were tranquillity, feeling of being in a forest and naturalness. The method used is linked with GIS and therefore provides an easy way to present experienced values of green areas visibly on a map. The results suggest that the method is communicative and relatively easy to use in collaborative green-area planning as well as in land-use planning.
- Comments/Notes : KEYWORDS: green area planning, social values, residential information, urban woodlands. [paper 5 p.]