The contribution of local parks to neighbourhood social ties
Highlights
► Parks’ qualities influence the length, frequency and character of visits. ► Social ties are more extensive for park visitors than for non-visitors. ► Short visits do not support interactions; social activities promote human contact. ► State of parks and facilities need to improve to attract long, sociable visits. ► Neighbourhoods’ characteristics promote or inhibit social interactions.
Introduction
Humans derive a wide variety of benefits from natural ecosystems beyond the obvious material benefits, such as food. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) explicitly highlights that cultural ecosystem services, such as recreation and aesthetic experiences, have a positive effect on social relations. However, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment mainly focussed on the cultural ecosystem services provided by non-urban habitats.
Yet, understanding the extent to which ecosystems in cities have on human well-being, measured in terms of the quality of social relations, is equally important, in particular considering the negative impact of modern lifestyles on social ties in urban neighbourhoods (Chanan, 2004, Forrest and Kearns, 2001, Guest and Wierzbicki, 1999). The deterioration of neighbourhood social ties means that within urban communities there is less social support for vulnerable individuals and higher levels of social disorder (Forrest and Kearns, 2001, Henning and Lieberg, 1996, Hirschfield and Bowers, 1997, Ross and Jang, 2000).
Public spaces hold the promise of bringing people together in cities (Madanipour, 2001). By providing meeting opportunities, they can raise the potential for developing social ties (Völker, Flap, & Lindenberg, 2007). However, an increasing proportion of urban space is privately developed and managed, thus becoming commodified and exclusionary. Coupled with the continued priority given to cars, a large proportion of public space in the city has lost its cultural meaning and human purposes leaving little common ground to strengthen urban society (Alexander et al., 1977, Gehl, 1987, Young et al., 2006).
The largely free and accessible character of green spaces could provide opportunities for social contacts between people (Alexander et al., 1977, Peters et al., 2010). As platforms for social encounter, urban green space is thought to be particularly important in inner city areas with diverse communities and where neighbourhoods are affected by loss of employment and low incomes (Germann-Chiari & Seeland, 2004). However, to date, few studies have directly addressed the relationship between green space and social contact between people (Maas, Van Dillen, Verheij, & Groenewegen, 2009). The aim of this paper is to strengthen the evidence base on the contribution of urban green spaces to developing neighbourhood social ties by investigating the associations between the visits to green spaces and the level of social contacts between visitors in three inner-city neighbourhoods in the UK.
Section snippets
Social relations in urban neighbourhoods
The notion of a neighbourhood intrinsically links the physical and social dimensions of shared and liveable spaces. A neighbourhood is seen as “a limited territory within a larger urban area, where people inhabit dwellings and interact socially” (Warren, 1981: 62). Social ties in the neighbourhood, alongside the family relations, have long been considered part of the social foundation of society (Henning & Lieberg, 1996). Following Henning and Lieberg (1996), this study is concerned with two
Case study areas
The three inner-city neighbourhoods selected are: Ordsall in the City of Salford, Old Trafford in Trafford Metropolitan Borough, and Moss Side in the City of Manchester (Fig. 1). Each has varying levels of material deprivation and ethnic diversity. Ordsall, a traditional working class area, is predominantly White British (Table 1) located close to Salford Quays on Manchester Ship Canal. Proximity to this inland port was the main source of employment to Ordsall residents in the early twentieth
Demographic profile of the sample
Of the 1500 questionnaires sent, 50 were returned as undeliverable. The overall response rate was 16.5%, and varied among the case study neighbourhoods (Table 3). Men represented just over a third of respondents and the gender imbalance was particularly visible in Moss Side. The predominant age of respondents was between 25 and 44 years old. Moss Side had the highest percentage of younger respondents, while Ordsall had the highest percentage of people over 65. The majority of the respondents
Social ties in the case study neighbourhoods
The average extent of the neighbourhood social ties in the inner-city areas studied in Greater Manchester, UK (2–4 friends; 11–15 acquaintances), reflects the numbers previously reported in the literature (Bridge, 2002, Henning and Lieberg, 1996). This suggests that the residents in the three inner-city areas may potentially have the local support network required for the feeling of comfort and security (Henning and Lieberg, 1996, Ross and Jang, 2000). In particular, the high number of both
Conclusion
Parks in inner-city neighbourhoods provide important cultural ecosystem services to local communities. As recreational spaces, they can attract visitors, provide opportunities for social interactions and, thus, contribute to the development of new social ties and strengthen existing contacts. This happens mainly during longer visits that involve pleasurable activities. However, for these optional and social activities to take place, maintaining local parks in good quality is crucial. Moreover,
Acknowledgements
This research was carried out as part of PhD research at the University of Salford, UK. The author would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. Many thanks go to the anonymous reviewers for their extremely helpful comments and to Adam Barker and Dr Angela Connelly, University of Manchester, for their assistance in addressing those.
Aleksandra Kaźmierczak is a Research Associate in School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, UK. Aleksandra completed her PhD at the University of Salford, UK. Her thesis concerned the associations between green spaces in cities and social cohesion Aleksandra's research interests oscillate around the interactions between people and environment in urban settings, in particular in relation to urban green spaces and climate change adaptation. Aleksandra's current
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Aleksandra Kaźmierczak is a Research Associate in School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, UK. Aleksandra completed her PhD at the University of Salford, UK. Her thesis concerned the associations between green spaces in cities and social cohesion Aleksandra's research interests oscillate around the interactions between people and environment in urban settings, in particular in relation to urban green spaces and climate change adaptation. Aleksandra's current research area is preparing cities for climate changes.