5. Conclusions
In the context of this study, the role of urban parks as provider of social services and their importance for city sustainability has been addressed. Some results have been presented of a survey aimed at exploring the motives and perceptions of visitors of a Dutch urban park. Due to the small size of the sample analysed and the limited statistics performed, no universal conclusions can be consistently made about the role of urban parks in general. However, some conclusive remarks can be made.
First of all, urban nature fulfils many social functions and psychological needs of citizens, which make urban nature a valuable municipal resource, and a key ingredient for city sustainability. Secondly, different age-groups have different motives to visit the park and different activities they are going to undertake. Park’s design and management, therefore, should take into account recreational requirements of all target groups (see also Roovers et al., 2002).
Valuation and assessment of these intangible services and benefits is of crucial importance in order to justify and legitimise strategies for urban sustainability. It is argued that valuation of their worth to society must start from the appraisal of the needs, wants and beliefs of the individuals composing that very society. Public involvement, citizens’ participation and a qualitative appraisal of their needs and interests are believed to help urban communities to articulate commonly shared values which, in turn, can serve as reference criteria for local planners to envision more sustainable city strategies.
Acknowledgements
The content of this paper is based on a project funded through a Marie Curie Research Grant of the European Commission, under the fourth framework of the “Environment and Climate” Program, Theme 4 “Human dimension of environmental change”.