The primary goal of urban parks and green spaces is to provide ecosystem services not only for the people that use them but also for the entire urban population. So far, few studies have recorded the views of residents about parks and urban green spaces in Cyprus island. The present paper uses a structured questionnaire to record the views of Paphos residents, concerning the urban parks and green spaces in their municipality. More specifically, the residents were asked to evaluate the local parks and green spaces as regards their number and size, suitable design, safety for children, the variety and care of plants, and the facilities for people with disabilities. They were also asked to record problems such as noise pollution, mess from companion animals and unpleasant odors. The residents' satisfaction regarding the local authorities and their contribution towards improving parks and green spaces was also evaluated to some extent. The residents' answers led to useful proposals that could be adopted by the local authorities to manage the green infrastructure of the city and in order to meet the daily and future needs of the people who visit parks and urban green spaces
The “urban green infrastructure” as a concept emerged the last two decades
including not only urban green spaces, parks, gardens, woodlands, nature areas, green
streets and avenues [
The urban green areas constitute indicators of sustainability, which need to be
considered in city development and policy [
For people living in large and dense areas a good quality of life depends largely on
the quality of the urban environment. The influence of urban green areas in
environmental quality is recognized in most developed countries [
Parks also constitute a space for socialization and collaboration between residents.
Another important role of green infrastructure is to strengthen communities and make
cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work in [
It is important, however, to understand the preferences of residents and their
satisfaction in relation to green infrastructure in their neighborhood [
Some previous studies carried out in various European countries underline the
influence of urban parks and green spaces on local residents [
The aim of the present study was to investigate the residents’ perceptions, preferences and satisfaction about the urban green infrastructure of the municipality of Paphos in Cyprus island, evaluate the importance of green areas for the residents’ wellbeing and suggest management improvements. 2
Paphos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus (34°46′N 32°25′E) and lies on the Mediterranean coast, about 50 km (30 min) west of Limassol (the biggest port on the island). The city of Paphos, with more than 35,961 inhabitants, has a limited number of parks and green spaces.
The lack of urban planning when developing the town of Paphos, coupled with
severe degradation of public spaces, as it took place in the past decades, dictates the
creation of a unified system of green spaces able to improve the micro-climate of the
town, and result in achieving biodiversity preservation goals [
Simple random sampling was used due to its simplicity, since it requires the least
possible knowledge of the population compared to other methods [
Hierarchical Log-linear Analysis was used to examine the four groups of variables.
Prior to the application of Hierarchical Log-linear analysis, the expected frequencies
in the contingency table, were examined [
During the interviews, the residents were initially asked about their demographic profile. As shown in Table 1, they are mainly men, public servants with upper secondary education.
People living in dense urban areas perceive benefits and enhance their well-being
by visiting green spaces [
Most of the residents (66%) of Paphos considered that the best season for visiting green spaces is mainly in spring. Less residents visit parks in summer (19.5%), autumn (8.8%) and winter (5.8%).
Their visits were usually short and lasted between 15 and 30 min (32.3%) or 30 and 60 min (32.8%). Less visitors (16.5%) stayed in the park for more than an hour having leisure time with their children. Some visitors (15%) stop at the park for less than thirty minutes of isolation and walking, while 3.5% did not answer the question.
The residents of Paphos were then asked about their satisfaction with their perceived wellbeing in their municipality and 54.3% stated that they were satisfied, 18.8% very satisfied and 5% absolutely satisfied. Only one to six (15.3%) of the respondents were less satisfied or 6.8% not at all satisfied with their wellbeing in the Municipality of Paphos.
Through the application of Hierarchical Log-linear analysis, in four cases after the removal of the third-class degree of correlation, was established that the most appropriate model was the one which included the impact and the interaction of the variables divided by two.
To the variables ‘evaluation of green spaces’, ‘duration of visit’ and ‘satisfaction with the wellbeing’ Hierarchical Log-linear analysis was applied where we have no interaction per 3 criteria, because the X2 for Pearson’s test is 0.164 with probability (p)= 0.921 and because the X2 likelihood ratio is 0.166 with probability (p)= 0.920. With the application of Hierarchical Log-linear analysis to the data for the municipality of Paphos the relations are:
The residents evaluated the parks and urban green spaces as very good or good, they visit them sometimes per week or per month and they are absolutely or very satisfied with their quality of life. On the contrary the residents found the park and green spaces in their municipality as mediocre to very bad, they visit them rarely or sometimes per year and they are less or not at all satisfied with their wellbeing.
Additionally, residents were asked to identify their perceived sense of crowding and the possible disturbance caused by other visitors in the park. Most of them (62.8%) noted that they enjoyed the presence of other visitors; while, 22% of them were indifferent about the crowd. Eventually, only 10.5% of the residents specified that they were disturbed by the presence of other people and a few of them (2.8%) responded that they were disturbed by “something else”.
Moreover, parks and green spaces were evaluated as bad places to spend time “alone”, “with your family”, “your friends” or “your mate” (Table 2).
The residents were also asked to rate the level of importance and satisfaction with the existing conditions in the parks and green spaces via a 5-points Likert scale (1 being the most negative value and 5 being the most positive value). Results are reported in Table 3. Most residents were of the opinion that the number of urban green spaces in their municipality were either mediocre or insufficient (41.3% και 30% respectively). The total area of existing green spaces was also assessed as mediocre or insufficient (38.5% and 42.3% respectively) and also the same assessment took place concerning their architectural design (42.5% και 28.3%). With more positive view the residents evaluate the distribution of green spaces in their municipality (41% mediocre, and 21.5% good), their accessibility (good 39.8% and mediocre 38%), and their satisfaction with the activities performed by municipality (44% very satisfied and 24.5% mediocre).
Regarding the variables ‘number of parks’, ‘distribution of parks’, ‘number of visitors’ and ‘satisfaction with activities performed by the municipality’ Hierarchical Log-linear analysis was applied, showing that there is no interaction per 3 or 4 criteria, because the X2 for Pearson’s test is 0.164 with probability (p)= 0.921 and because the X2 likelihood ratio is 0.166 with probability (p)= 0.920. With the application of Hierarchical Log-linear analysis to the data for the municipality of Paphos the relations are:
The residents who were absolutely or very satisfied with activities performed by the municipality, stated that the number of the parks and green spaces were absolutely or very sufficient, their distribution very good or good and that there were very big or big numbers of visitors in them.
On the contrary the residents who were mediocre or not at all satisfied with activities performed by the municipality’, claim that the numbers in the parks and green spaces were mediocre to absolutely insufficient, their distribution is mediocre to very bad within the municipality and they accept mediocre to little number of visitors. insufficient
30.0% insufficient 25.3% bad 28.5% bad 11.3% small 30.0% bad 26.0% bad 23.3% bad 19.3% bad 19.3% bad 28.3% bad 23.3% bad 28.3% absolutely insufficient
7.0% absolutely insufficient
6.0% very bad
5.3% very bad
3.8% very small 14.8% very bad
6.8% very bad
6.0% very bad
6.8% very bad
8.5% very bad 16.0% very bad 13.5% very bad 20.5% a little satisfied 28.3% not at all satisfied 9.5% Presence of pets no problem little problem mediocre
15.8% 22.5% 32.3% Noise pollution no problem little problem mediocre
5.5% 26.0% 38.5% Unpleasant odors no problem little problem mediocre
6.3% 21.3% 36.8% Satisfaction with activities performed by the municipality absolutely satisfied very satisfied mediocre 9.5% 24.5% 44.0% big problem
23.5% big problem
22.3% big problem
26.5% a little satisfied 19.8% very big problem
5.8% very big problem
7.8% very big problem
9.3% not at all satisfied 2.3%
The parks of the municipality did not receive good evaluation from the residents addressing their infrastructure facilities. More specifically, the available infrastructures in the parks (sits, kiosks etc.) were rated as mediocre (47.3%) and bad (26%), the cleanliness as mediocre (44.3%) and good (25%), plant care as mediocre (45%) and good (25%), the children’s playground (48.5%) mediocre (40.5%) and bad, (28.3%) Sports facilities as mediocre (40.5%) and bad (28.3%), safety for children were also evaluated as mediocre (40.8%) and bad (28.3%) and the facilities for people for disabilities were assessed as mediocre 36.5% and bad 28.3% (Table 3).
To the variables ‘cleanliness’, ‘plant care’, ‘Safety for children’ and ‘Sports facilities’ Hierarchical Log-linear analysis was applied and showed that there were no interaction per 3 or 4 criteria, because the X2 for Pearson’s test is 2.741 with probability (p)= 0.740 and because the X2 likelihood ratio is 2.862 with probability (p)= 0.721. the relations are: • The residents stated as very good and good the safety for children; while, they found that the cleanliness, the plant care and the sport facilities are very good and good. • On the contrary the residents who stated that the safety for children was mediocre to very bad, evaluated the plant care, cleanliness and sports facilities as mediocre to very bad.
According to the evaluation of the problems in the parks the residents regard unpleasant odors, the presence of animals and noise pollution were mainly mediocre (Table 3).
For the variables ‘their perceived sense of crowding’, ‘the presence of animals’, ‘noise pollution’, and unpleasant odours’ Hierarchical Log-linear analysis was applied representing no interaction per 3 or 4 criteria. There is no interaction per 4or 3 criteria, because the X2 for Pearson’s test is 3.995 with probability (p)= 0.780 and due to the fact that the X2 likelihood ratio is 4.049 with probability (p)= 0.774. the relations are:
The residents who stated that the people around amused them, found that problems like noise pollution, the presence of companion animals and the unpleasant odors are mediocre to not regarded as problems.
On the contrary the residents who consider that the people around disturbed or are indifferent found the problems like noise pollution, the presence of companion animals and the unpleasant odours, as very big or big.
The city of Paphos has a limited number of parks and green spaces because of the
absent of proper urban planning when the city Paphos was under development [
This study offers a general understanding of public perceptions regarding urban
green spaces and parks from the residents’ point of view. The fact that most of the
residents evaluated the green infrastructure of their city as mediocre, bad or very bad
is an indicator that there is a problem encountered also in other European countries
like Italy [
Half of the residents stated that were satisfied or little satisfied with their life in the city. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the residents’ well-being is related to their satisfaction with urban green infrastructures. The residents that considered themselves satisfied with their life, visited parks more frequently and for longer periods than the residents that were not satisfied with their life. Therefore, encouraging people to visit green spaces and parks can make them feel more satisfied with their lives.
Through the Hierarchical Log-linear analysis, it became evident that the existing green spaces were mediocre to insufficient in number, size, design, and distribution for about the half of the study population.
The results of the present study can be used as a valid tool in the planning, design
and management of urban green spaces, thus promoting the adoption of participatory
processes in decision making by the local authorities [