The human dimensions of urban greenways: planning for recreation and related experiences

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Abstract

In this paper, we summarize findings from a series of interrelated studies that examine an urban greenway, the 150 mile Chicago River corridor in Chicago, USA, from multiple perspectives, stakeholder viewpoints, and methodological techniques. Six interdependent “human dimensions” of greenways are identified in the studies: cleanliness, naturalness, aesthetics, safety, access, and appropriateness of development. Together, these dimensions form a core set of concerns relating to how people perceive and use the greenway for recreation and related experiences. While these dimensions show good consistency across our studies and are supported by the literature in the field, the quantitative and qualitative methods used also uncovered a rich variation in how the dimensions are construed by different stakeholder groups and along different reaches of the corridor. Using local demonstration projects from along the corridor, we illustrate how principles inherent in each dimension can be applied to improve the success of greenways through design, management, or programming. We conclude by discussing the applicability of these dimensions and methods of study to understand other urban and non-urban greenways, and suggest how the findings from such studies can be used to inform greenways planning, policy, and management.

Introduction

Open sewer for the “hog butcher to the world” or green ribbon for the “city in a garden?” Images of the Chicago River associated with these two monikers of Chicago imply old times versus new. Yet when planners began to examine the greenway potential of the multi-county corridor, they were surprised when they found the former image prevailing over the latter in the minds of many residents and visitors (von Klan, 1996). Like many urban rivers across North America, Europe, and other parts of the world, the Chicago River has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades. Legislation and programs aimed at water quality improvement are having their intended effect: when assessed along key biophysical quality dimensions such as dissolved oxygen and fish species diversity, major sections of the river are cleaner than they have been in the last 100 years (Moore et al., 1998). So, why have not these data changed people’s perceptions of the river?

Unfortunately, while methods to assess the biophysical dimensions of environmental quality are readily available and management professionals commonly collect such data, this is not the case for the equally important human dimensions of environmental quality. Aesthetic quality is an exception for which there have been some methodologies developed (e.g. Daniel and Boster, 1976, USDA Forest Service, 1995) and many studies and applications over the last few decades (e.g. Ribe, 1989), but there are few parallels for other important human dimensions such as safety (e.g. Michael and Hull, 1994). Perhaps even more significantly, few attempts have been made to comprehensively understand the salient dimensions of people’s perceptions and experiences of different environments (Craik and Zube, 1976, Kearney and Bradley, 1998). What key dimensions do people focus on when they perceive a place or landscape? How are these dimensions subjectively evaluated by people in the course of their everyday experience? How do such evaluations affect how people use a place or landscape for a given activity? In the context of greenway planning and development, answers to these questions may not only help explain the differences between perception and reality on such issues as water quality, but may also provide guidance for how we might better plan and manage greenways with people in mind.

To help provide this sort of information for greenway planning efforts for the Chicago River, we undertook a project with the principal objective to understand how people perceived and used the greenway corridor, and how they would like to see it improved for recreation and related experiences. Through a series of interrelated studies—using different methods and involving different stakeholder groups in different locations throughout the corridor—we learned many things about people’s current thoughts and ideas for future greenway development (for a complete report of methods and findings, see Gobster and Westphal, 1998). The results from these diverse studies, however, also revealed a core set of human dimensions important to the evaluation of urban greenways that were held in common across stakeholders and localities. These dimensions were cleanliness, naturalness, aesthetics, safety, access, and appropriateness of development.

Our purpose in this paper is to elaborate on these dimensions and their meaning and utility for greenway planning. In the following pages, we describe more fully the background of our project, detailing the methods from three of the main studies from which we draw our results. Then, for each of the six dimensions identified, we highlight results from the studies, tie those findings to the broader literature in landscape perception and assessment, and illustrate how principles inherent in a given dimension have been implemented in the context of local demonstration projects and programs for greenway development in the Chicago River corridor. We conclude by discussing the applicability of these dimensions and methods of study to understanding other urban and non-urban greenways, and suggest how the findings from such studies can be used to inform greenways planning, policy, and management.

Section snippets

Project description and methods

From Lake Forest to Lake Calumet, the 150 mile (240 km) Chicago River corridor transects a spectrum of physical environments and human experiences across metropolitan Chicago (Fig. 1). Within Fabos’s (1995) typology of ecological, recreational, and heritage greenways, the corridor has the potential to fit the criteria for all three designations. As an ecological greenway, segments of the river support some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the state and have been identified for

Results and discussion

As mentioned above, results from these diverse studies converged on a core set of six dimensions held in common across stakeholders and localities: cleanliness, naturalness, aesthetics, safety, access, and appropriateness of development. We will discuss each dimension in turn. Results for each dimension are first discussed with respect to their common and divergent characteristics as expressed by respondents from the different studies. Next, we place the findings within the broader context of

Conclusions and implications

In this paper we describe six valued human dimensions of urban greenways: cleanliness, naturalness, aesthetics, safety, access, and appropriate development. We do not claim that these are entirely new ideas. In fact, as our results and discussion indicated, there is strong support for their existence and validity based upon three decades of research in landscape perception and environment-behavior studies. Several of these dimensions—naturalness, aesthetics, and appropriate development in

Acknowledgments

Financial support for this research by the Chicago Rivers Demonstration Project and the USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Laurene von Klan of the Friends of the Chicago River and Wink Hastings of the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program for their leadership and assistance.

Paul Gobster is a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Chicago. He holds degrees in leisure sciences, landscape architecture, and environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin. His current research interests include landscape aesthetics, the social aspects of ecological restoration and management, and access and equity issues in urban parks.

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    Paul Gobster is a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Chicago. He holds degrees in leisure sciences, landscape architecture, and environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin. His current research interests include landscape aesthetics, the social aspects of ecological restoration and management, and access and equity issues in urban parks.

    Lynne Westphal is a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Chicago. She holds degrees in geography and environmental studies (Northeastern Illinois University) and public policy analysis with a specialization in urban planning (University of Illinois at Chicago). Her current research interests include developing a multi-disciplinary research program into the simultaneous ecological and economic revitalization of a rustbelt landscape and assessments of empowerment outcomes from urban greening projects.

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