Widely valued but differently experienced; understanding relationships with greenspace in the CBD

Valuing nature through attention to urban greening offers some remedy to ‘Extinction of Experience’ – the decline in diversity and quality of people’s relationships to nature. Unfortunately, while the role and value of greenspaces are increasingly recognised, recognition and valuing does not always translate into beneficial experiences for urban dwellers. This study examined people’s relationships to greenspaces in the central business district (CBD) of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is a rapidly growing hub in outer metropolitan Sydney, where provision of greenspaces is generally acknowledged as inadequate. Space for plants is limited in city CBDs and these environments are especially challenging places to green, meaning that the quality of vegetation available for users is also often limited. Here, we report on an online survey conducted over the summer of 2019–2020, coinciding with the catastrophic Australian ‘black summer’ bushfires. It explored how people valued, used and experienced existing greenspaces in the CBD. Quantitative and qualitative results from 196 respondents illustrate that although most people agree on the benefits of greenspace, value it positively and use it regularly, three persistent concerns mediate their experiences: lack of shade, poor maintenance, and poor facilities. Further, and in addition to within space variation, experiences of greenspaces are negatively influenced by distance travelled and other barriers to what might otherwise be quality spaces. As the urban environment of Liverpool’s CBD undergoes rapid transformation to a higher activity (business/retail/services) and denser residential environment, there is an opportunity to translate the differences between values and experiences illustrated here to improve the design and quality of future greenspace. More broadly, this study indicates why the spatial dimensions of people’s relationships to urban nature requires more explicit and critical consideration within experience research.