Tools for mapping social values of urban woodlands and other green areas

Since the social values of urban woodlands are not always sufficiently taken into account in decision-making on urban land-use and green space planning, new means of collecting the experienced values of urban green areas and integrating this information into the planning processes are needed. The main aim of this study was to develop a simple method to describe the experienced qualities of green areas for strategic green area planning purposes. In a postal survey conducted in Helsinki, Finland, general attitudes towards and benefits felt to be derived from green areas as well as site specific information about the experience values were gathered. Local residents were asked to identify, those areas on a map of the study area that had particular positive qualities, such as beautiful scenery, peace and quiet and the feeling of being in a forest as well as those areas with negative features. These results were compiled in map form using GIS software. The results highlight the most valued sites as well as problem areas within the study area. The most important features associated with favourite places were: tranquillity, the feeling of being in a forest, and naturalness. The results suggest that the method is communicative and relatively easy to use in both collaborative green area planning and land-use planning.