Green and blue spaces matter for active mobility: Results from mapping perceived environmental exposure in five European cities

Abstract

The effects of green and blue spaces on everyday mobility are still not thoroughly understood. In addition, studies have shown that objective and subjective assessments of environmental exposure can significantly differ, but less attention has been paid to understanding perceptions. This study provides comparative analysis on nature-active mobility associations going beyond single cases and exposure metrics. We conducted a Public Participation GIS survey in five cities: Greater Copenhagen, Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Greater London, Munich, and Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, gathering data from 4964 respondents and 8048 mapped places along daily routes. We examined the spatial distribution of pleasant/unpleasant places en route, assessing differences in seasonal and daily patterns, and the multisensory aspects of perceived exposure. We used Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) analysis to study the relations between pleasantness, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), distance to water, and socio-demographic background. Across all cities, respondents mapped higher number of pleasant places in the summer and daytime compared to winter and nighttime. The results also showed significant positive associations between NDVI values (except in Las Palmas) and short distance to water with pleasant travel experience. Besides gender, the results on the effects of socio-demographics were mixed, revealing context-specific complexity within cities. In all cities except Las Palmas, there was an increase in positive travel experiences within a threshold NDVI value of 0.3-0.5, providing green infrastructure guidance for transportation networks in Nordic and temperate climate cities. Overall, our study demonstrates the need for more research in cities with subtropical climates and arid vegetation to expand on these results.