The Role of Nature in the Urban Context

Abstract

Explores ways in which the urban natural environment can contribute to human well-being and considers the motivational bases of people's choices of natural areas for recreational purposes and the psychological functions served by outdoor recreation settings in the urban context. It is noted that, in the US, there has been a growing awareness of urban nature in the past decade. In considering the role that the environment plays in preference and satisfaction, a distinction is made between content (substantive categories that are important to people) and process (patterns that are applicable across different content domains). Thus, the natural environment may entail particular configurations that humans find satisfying but that are not necessarily unique to the nature content. Studies of content in environmental preference and content and process as predictors are discussed, and the role of nature in the immediate urban home environment is described. Additional topics of discussion include types of nature and related human activities, visual viewpoints of nature, satisfaction from urban nature with and without active use, and people–plant relationships. (67 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)