Preferred Features of Urban Parks and Forests

Abstract

To make the most efficient use of scarce recreation resources, urban forest managers need to know what features of recreation sites are the most important for creating high-quality recreation environments. In this study, observers viewed photographs of urban forest sites in the Chicago area and described the features of the sites that they liked and disliked. Natural features such as trees, grass, and water were most frequently mentioned as features they liked and manmade objects, problems with vegetation, and poor maintenance were most frequently mentioned as features they disliked. Observers who had lived in urban areas for most of their lives preferred more developed recreation areas and more often viewed urban forests as sites for particular recreation activities than those who lived in suburban or rural areas most of their lives.