Helen Hoyle Helen.Hoyle@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Healthy Built Environments
Attractive, climate-adapted and sustainable? Public perception of non-native planting in the designed urban landscape
Hoyle, Helen; Hitchmough, James; Jorgensen, Anna
Authors
James Hitchmough
Anna Jorgensen
Abstract
© 2017 The Authors Throughout Europe climate change has rendered many plant species used in contemporary urban planting design less fit for use in public greenspaces. A growing evidence base exists for the ecological value of introducing non-native species, yet urban policy and practice guidance continues to portray non-native species negatively, focusing on their assumed invasiveness. In this context there is a lack of research focusing on the cultural relevance of non-native species in the urban landscape. To address this gap we surveyed 1411 members of the UK public who walked through designed and semi-natural planting of three levels of visual nativeness: “strongly native”; “intermediate” and “strongly non-native”, whilst completing a site-based questionnaire. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were then carried out with 34 questionnaire participants. A majority (57.6%) of our respondents would be happy to see more non-native planting in UK public spaces, rising to 75.3% if it were better adapted to a changing climate than existing vegetation. Respondents recognised the three broad levels of nativeness, yet this was not a factor driving perceptions of the attractiveness of the planting. In addition to climate change, we identified four key factors driving acceptance and rejection of non-native planting: aesthetics; locational context; historic factors and inevitability; and perceptions of invasiveness and incompatability with native wildlife. Our research indicates that in the context of a changing climate, focus should be placed on the potentially positive role of non-invasive, climate-adapted, aesthetically pleasing species within urban planting schemes as these could be well-received by the public.
Citation
Hoyle, H., Hitchmough, J., & Jorgensen, A. (2017). Attractive, climate-adapted and sustainable? Public perception of non-native planting in the designed urban landscape. Landscape and Urban Planning, 164, 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.03.009
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Mar 23, 2017 |
Online Publication Date | Apr 21, 2017 |
Publication Date | Aug 1, 2017 |
Deposit Date | May 31, 2017 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 28, 2024 |
Journal | Landscape and Urban Planning |
Print ISSN | 0169-2046 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 164 |
Pages | 49-63 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.03.009 |
Keywords | climate change, urban planting design, cultural relevance, non-native, species, aesthetic, public perception |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/882424 |
Publisher URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.03.009 |
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