Measuring and modelling values, beliefs and attitudes about urban forests in Canada and Australia

Abstract

Nature-based solutions are informed by how communities think about nature. However, research on how urban communities think about urban nature is seldom carried out across urban contexts. In doing so it can be useful to select specific aspects of urban nature, such as urban forests and urban trees. Our study responds to these needs by measuring the cognitive constructs of values, beliefs, and attitudes towards urban forests and modelling their relationships using a representative survey of >3400 residents living across two different urban contexts: Toronto, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia. Means difference, generalized linear regression, and structural equation analyses, were used to test how values, beliefs, and attitudes differed between metropolitan areas, and how they related to other cognitive constructs, social-ecological context, and demographic factors. We found that resident values and beliefs (more abstract and general constructs) about urban trees were similar across metropolitan areas, but some attitudes (more specific and variable constructs) were different between metropolitan areas, including residents' level of trust in how municipalities manage urban forests and their level of satisfaction with trees and their management. Female residents, and residents who had higher levels of nature relatedness and subjective wellbeing, valued urban forests more. Values, beliefs, and knowledge of trees were significant drivers of resident satisfaction with trees and their management. We discuss implications for urban nature policies.