Short abstract

This project shows how urban residents in Brazil and the Netherlands think about trees, how they use their local green spaces, and value their city forests.

Project description

Scientific relevance
Where trees take root — along streets, in parks and gardens, beside rivers and canals, and even on rooftops — cities become more liveable. They offer places to exercise, meet others, unwind, and reconnect with nature.

This project looks at how residents in six cities—Curitibanos, Lages, Florianópolis, Blumenau in Brazil, and The Hague and Leiden in the Netherlands—use their local green spaces with trees and value their benefits. Beyond their environmental benefits, urban green spaces provide important cultural benefits, but these are often understudied in ecosystem services research. The project addresses this gap by asking not just what trees and green spaces do for cities but what they mean to the people who live there.

At a time when cities are under growing pressure from climate change, this project also aims to understand whether people's perceptions of urban green spaces can inspire a sense of hope about nature's role in responding to these challenges.

Material & Methods
We use map-based surveys and narrative analysis to show which green spaces people value most in each city. Residents are asked to mark the local green spaces they care about most and answer questions about how they use and experience these spaces. We also focus on the features of these green spaces and collect stories and personal experiences to understand how people feel about trees and green spaces in their cities.

Social relevance
The project makes the cultural benefits of trees and green spaces in cities visible to urban planners and policymakers. It shows how residents value these spaces so that cultural ecosystem services can be integrated into city planning alongside other ecological and economic considerations.

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