IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v10y2013i1p417-442d23009.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding Urban Green Space as a Health Resource: A Qualitative Comparison of Visit Motivation and Derived Effects among Park Users in Sheffield, UK

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine N. Irvine

    (Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Queens Building, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK)

  • Sara L. Warber

    (University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Program, Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA)

  • Patrick Devine-Wright

    (Geography Department, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK)

  • Kevin J. Gaston

    (Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK)

Abstract

With increasing interest in the use of urban green space to promote human health, there is a need to understand the extent to which park users conceptualize these places as a resource for health and well-being. This study sought to examine park users’ own reasons for and benefits from green space usage and compare these with concepts and constructs in existing person-environment-health theories and models of health. Conducted in 13 public green spaces in Sheffield, UK, we undertook a qualitative content analysis of 312 park users’ responses to open-ended interview questions and identified a breadth, depth and salience of visit motivators and derived effects. Findings highlight a discrepancy between reasons for visiting and derived effects from the use of urban green space. Motivations emphasized walking, green space qualities, and children. Derived effects highlighted relaxation, positive emotions within the self and towards the place, and spiritual well-being. We generate a taxonomy of motivations and derived effects that could facilitate operationalization within empirical research and articulate a conceptual framework linking motivators to outcomes for investigating green space as a resource for human health and well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine N. Irvine & Sara L. Warber & Patrick Devine-Wright & Kevin J. Gaston, 2013. "Understanding Urban Green Space as a Health Resource: A Qualitative Comparison of Visit Motivation and Derived Effects among Park Users in Sheffield, UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:1:p:417-442:d:23009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/1/417/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/1/417/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark R. Correll & Jane H. Lillydahl & Larry D. Singell, 1978. "The Effects of Greenbelts on Residential Property Values: Some Findings on the Political Economy of Open Space," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(2), pages 207-217.
    2. Frank Andrews & Aubrey McKennell, 1980. "Measures of self-reported well-being: their affective, cognitive, and other components," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 127-155, June.
    3. Peters, R.K. & Benson, H. & Porter, D., 1977. "Daily relaxation response breaks in a working population: I. Effects on self-reported measures of health, performance, and well-being," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 67(10), pages 946-953.
    4. Peters, R.K. & Benson, H. & Peters, J.M., 1977. "Daily relaxation response breaks in a working population: II. Effects on blood pressure," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 67(10), pages 954-959.
    5. Gershuny, Jonathan, 2000. "Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287872.
    6. Kaplan, S. & Kaplan, R., 2003. "Health, Supportive Environments, and the Reasonable Person Model," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1484-1489.
    7. Jesper J. Alvarsson & Stefan Wiens & Mats E. Nilsson, 2010. "Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-11, March.
    8. Williams, Allison, 1998. "Therapeutic landscapes in holistic medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1193-1203, May.
    9. Gesler, Wilbert M., 1992. "Therapeutic landscapes: Medical issues in light of the new cultural geography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 735-746, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Allison Williams & Peter Kitchen, 2012. "Sense of Place and Health in Hamilton, Ontario: A Case Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(2), pages 257-276, September.
    2. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 141-152.
    3. Buzinde, Christine N. & Yarnal, Careen, 2012. "Therapeutic landscapes and postcolonial theory: A theoretical approach to medical tourism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 783-787.
    4. Andrews, Gavin J. & Shaw, David, 2010. ""So we started talking about a beach in Barbados": Visualization practices and needle phobia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1804-1810, November.
    5. Hoyez, Anne-Cécile, 2007. "The 'world of yoga': The production and reproduction of therapeutic landscapes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 112-124, July.
    6. Anna Staniewska, 2022. "Gardens of Historic Mental Health Hospitals and Their Potential Use for Green Therapy Purposes," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, September.
    7. Andrews, Gavin J. & Chen, Sandra & Myers, Samantha, 2014. "The ‘taking place’ of health and wellbeing: Towards non-representational theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 210-222.
    8. Andrews, Gavin J. & Duff, Cameron, 2019. "Matter beginning to matter: On posthumanist understandings of the vital emergence of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 123-134.
    9. Liamputtong, Pranee & Kurban, Hala, 2018. "Health, social integration and social support: The lived experiences of young Middle-Eastern refugees living in Melbourne, Australia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 99-106.
    10. Brown, Tim & Bell, Morag, 2007. "Off the couch and on the move: Global public health and the medicalisation of nature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 1343-1354, March.
    11. Taheri, Shima & Ghasemi Sichani, Maryam & Shabani, Amirhosein, 2021. "Evaluating the literature of therapeutic landscapes with an emphasis on the search for the dimensions of health: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    12. Albert Yeung & Lauren E. Slipp & Halsey Niles & Jolene Jacquart & Choi-Ling Chow & Maurizio Fava & John W. Denninger & Herbert Benson & Gregory L. Fricchione, 2014. "Effectiveness of the Relaxation Response-Based Group Intervention for Treating Depressed Chinese American Immigrants: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    13. Mossabir, Rahena & Milligan, Christine & Froggatt, Katherine, 2021. "Therapeutic landscape experiences of everyday geographies within the wider community: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    14. Selda Koydemir & Aslı Bugay Sökmez & Astrid Schütz, 2021. "A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Randomized Controlled Positive Psychological Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1145-1185, June.
    15. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "“I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-124.
    16. Havlick, David G. & Cerveny, Lee K. & Derrien, Monika M., 2021. "Therapeutic landscapes, outdoor programs for veterans, and public lands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    17. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Perivier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France - une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    18. Stella Chatzitheochari & Kimberly Fisher & Emily Gilbert & Lisa Calderwood & Tom Huskinson & Andrew Cleary & Jonathan Gershuny, 2018. "Using New Technologies for Time Diary Data Collection: Instrument Design and Data Quality Findings from a Mixed-Mode Pilot Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 379-390, May.
    19. Fischer, Ilan & Sullivan, Oriel, 2007. "Evolutionary modeling of time-use vectors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 120-143, January.
    20. Booth, A.L. & van Ours, J.C., 2007. "Job Satisfaction And Family Happiness : The Part-Time Work Problem," Discussion Paper 2007-69, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:1:p:417-442:d:23009. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.