Hoyle_et_al_2017

Helen Hoyle, James Hitchmough, Anna Jorgensen (2017) All about the ‘wow factor’? The relationships between aesthetics, restorative effect and perceived biodiversity in designed urban planting. Landscape and Urban Planning 164:109-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.03.011.

Keywords: Green infrastructure, green space, biodiversity, perceptions, methods

Relationships between biodiversity and human aesthetic response are complex. Recovery from mental fatigue requires settings to escape the routine environment (often large natural spaces are thought of as a good environment for this)

Relationship between restorative effect and various ecological factors is varied.

Created typology of 9 planting types for woodlands, shrubs, and herbaceous veg.

  • Planting types varied across gradients of planting structure and species character

  • species character is derived from appearance on a gradient of native to non-native

  • structure is layering of plants

  • posit that character + structure = “naturalness”

Typology

  • also recorded % vegetative surface covered by flower

Distributed questionnaires about the aesthetic qualities, restorative effects, and perceived biodiversity value

  • vegetation community = 9 planting types

  • character, % flower cover, and vegetation community were all significant variables on aesthetic effect

  • structure, vegetation community, and % flower cover + demography influenced restorative effect

  • species character, vegetation community, and % flower cover influenced perceived biodiversity