IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i6p1186-d1164829.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond Biodiversity: Eliciting Diverse Values of Urban Green Spaces in Flanders

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Bastiaensen

    (Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Ewaut Van Wambeke

    (Research Group Nature and Society, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Camelia El Bakkali

    (Research Group Nature and Society, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
    Community Ecology Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Jomme Desair

    (Research Group Nature and Society, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Charlotte Noël

    (Research Group Nature and Society, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Kaat Kenis

    (Department of Product Development, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium)

  • Lukas Vincke

    (Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium)

  • Sander Jacobs

    (Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Research Group Nature and Society, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

Nature-based solutions are claimed to offer an effective approach to tackle societal challenges and promote biodiversity. While research has mainly focused on biodiversity and material ecosystem services, non-material contributions and relational values of urban green spaces remain underexplored. How to balance the benefits of nature, well-being, and relational values in their design and performance evaluation remains unclear. To elicit the values expressed in public communication regarding the benefits of urban nature projects in Flanders, three online repositories that feature diverse nature-based solutions projects in the region were chosen. Using coding and quantitative content analysis of standardized descriptions from these repositories, this study found that relational values were most abundant (55%), followed by instrumental values (30%) and intrinsic values (15%), consistently so over socio-demographic and physical contexts. It was also discovered that larger projects have a higher level of multifunctionality, which is calculated based on the variety of values and value dimensions expressed, and that participation—although considered key—rarely reports on inclusivity. The findings suggest that in Flanders, a greater emphasis is placed on relational values associated with urban nature. A broader value scope for the design, management, and evaluation of urban green spaces tailored to the local context is recommended.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Bastiaensen & Ewaut Van Wambeke & Camelia El Bakkali & Jomme Desair & Charlotte Noël & Kaat Kenis & Lukas Vincke & Sander Jacobs, 2023. "Beyond Biodiversity: Eliciting Diverse Values of Urban Green Spaces in Flanders," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1186-:d:1164829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1186/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1186/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks & Viniece Jennings & Alessandro Rigolon, 2021. "Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-23, January.
    2. C. Wamsler & J. Alkan-Olsson & H. Björn & H. Falck & H. Hanson & T. Oskarsson & E. Simonsson & F. Zelmerlow, 2020. "Beyond participation: when citizen engagement leads to undesirable outcomes for nature-based solutions and climate change adaptation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 235-254, January.
    3. Jacobs, Sander & Dendoncker, Nicolas & Martín-López, Berta & Barton, David Nicholas & Gomez-Baggethun, Erik & Boeraeve, Fanny & McGrath, Francesca L. & Vierikko, Kati & Geneletti, Davide & Sevecke, Ka, 2016. "A new valuation school: Integrating diverse values of nature in resource and land use decisions," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(PB), pages 213-220.
    4. Xiaoping Liu & Fengsong Pei & Youyue Wen & Xia Li & Shaojian Wang & Changjiang Wu & Yiling Cai & Jianguo Wu & Jun Chen & Kuishuang Feng & Junguo Liu & Klaus Hubacek & Steven J. Davis & Wenping Yuan & , 2019. "Global urban expansion offsets climate-driven increases in terrestrial net primary productivity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Mardelle Shepley & Naomi Sachs & Hessam Sadatsafavi & Christine Fournier & Kati Peditto, 2019. "The Impact of Green Space on Violent Crime in Urban Environments: An Evidence Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Sarah C Klain & Paige Olmsted & Kai M A Chan & Terre Satterfield, 2017. "Relational values resonate broadly and differently than intrinsic or instrumental values, or the New Ecological Paradigm," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, August.
    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. Tindale, Sophie & Vicario-Modroño, Victoria & Gallardo-Cobos, Rosa & Hunter, Erik & Miškolci, Simona & Price, Paul Newell & Sánchez-Zamora, Pedro & Sonnevelt, Martijn & Ojo, Mercy & McInnes, Kirsty & , 2023. "Citizen perceptions and values associated with ecosystem services from European grassland landscapes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Nicole V. DeVille & Linda Powers Tomasso & Olivia P. Stoddard & Grete E. Wilt & Teresa H. Horton & Kathleen L. Wolf & Eric Brymer & Peter H. Kahn & Peter James, 2021. "Time Spent in Nature Is Associated with Increased Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Tila Robinson & Noelle Robertson & Ffion Curtis & Natalie Darko & Ceri R. Jones, 2022. "Examining Psychosocial and Economic Barriers to Green Space Access for Racialised Individuals and Families: A Narrative Literature Review of the Evidence to Date," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-28, December.
    4. Maca-Millán, Stefany & Arias-Arévalo, Paola & Restrepo-Plaza, Lina, 2021. "Payment for ecosystem services and motivational crowding: Experimental insights regarding the integration of plural values via non-monetary incentives," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Marcondes G. Coelho-Junior & Athila L. de Oliveira & Eduardo C. da Silva-Neto & Thayanne C. Castor-Neto & Ana A. de O. Tavares & Vanessa M. Basso & Ana P. D. Turetta & Patricia E. Perkins & Acacio G. , 2021. "Exploring Plural Values of Ecosystem Services: Local Peoples’ Perceptions and Implications for Protected Area Management in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    6. See, Sin Ching & Shaikh, Shaikh Fairul Edros Ahmad & Jaung, Wanggi & Carrasco, L. Roman, 2020. "Are relational values different in practice to instrumental values?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    7. Breyne, Johanna & Dufrêne, Marc & Maréchal, Kevin, 2021. "How integrating 'socio-cultural values' into ecosystem services evaluations can give meaning to value indicators," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    8. Matthias Winfried Kleespies & Paul Wilhelm Dierkes, 2020. "Impact of biological education and gender on students’ connection to nature and relational values," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Linghua Qiu & Junhao He & Chao Yue & Philippe Ciais & Chunmiao Zheng, 2024. "Substantial terrestrial carbon emissions from global expansion of impervious surface area," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Christina W. Lopez & Madeline T. Wade & Jason P. Julian, 2023. "Nature–Human Relational Models in a Riverine Social–Ecological System: San Marcos River, TX, USA," Geographies, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-49, March.
    11. Chapman, Mollie & Satterfield, Terre & Chan, Kai M.A., 2019. "When value conflicts are barriers: Can relational values help explain farmer participation in conservation incentive programs?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 464-475.
    12. Evans, Nicole M. & Carrozzino-Lyon, Amy L. & Galbraith, Betsy & Noordyk, Julia & Peroff, Deidre M. & Stoll, John & Thompson, Aaron & Winden, Matthew W. & Davis, Mark A., 2019. "Integrated ecosystem service assessment for landscape conservation design in the Green Bay watershed, Wisconsin," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    13. Daniels, Silvie & Bellmore, J. Ryan & Benjamin, Joseph R. & Witters, Nele & Vangronsveld, Jaco & Van Passel, Steven, 2018. "Quantification of the Indirect Use Value of Functional Group Diversity Based on the Ecological Role of Species in the Ecosystem," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 181-194.
    14. Gregg C. Brill & Pippin M. L. Anderson & Patrick O’Farrell, 2022. "Relational Values of Cultural Ecosystem Services in an Urban Conservation Area: The Case of Table Mountain National Park, South Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-28, April.
    15. Huihui Liu & Pim Martens, 2023. "Stakeholder Participation for Nature-Based Solutions: Inspiration for Rural Area’s Sustainability in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    16. Fassina, Caroline & Jarvis, Diane & Tavares, Silvia & Coggan, Anthea, 2022. "Valuation of ecosystem services through offsets: Why are coastal ecosystems more valuable in Australia than in Brazil?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    17. Kukkonen, M.O. & Khamis, M. & Muhammad, M.J. & Käyhkö, N. & Luoto, M., 2022. "Modeling direct above-ground carbon loss due to urban expansion in Zanzibar City Region, Tanzania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    18. Yuhong Tian & Fenghua Liu & Chi Yung Jim & Tiantian Wang & Jingya Luan & Mengxuan Yan, 2022. "Effects of Self-Rated Health Status on Residents’ Social-Benefit Perceptions of Urban Green Space," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-19, August.
    19. Palola, Pirta & Bailey, Richard & Wedding, Lisa, 2022. "A novel framework to operationalise value-pluralism in environmental valuation: Environmental value functions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    20. John, Beatrice & Luederitz, Christopher & Lang, Daniel J. & von Wehrden, Henrik, 2019. "Toward Sustainable Urban Metabolisms. From System Understanding to System Transformation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 402-414.

    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:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1186-:d:1164829. 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.