Participant “AH” artfully captured some of the hidden and seen barriers to greenspaces in Leeds, UK. Photo credit: Anonymous research participant.

By Caroline Ward, Andrew Palmer, Beth Brockett, Robert Constanza, Jack Hatfield, Ida Kubiszewski, Pippa Langford, Kate Pickett, and Cheryl Willis.

Read the full paper here.

Natural spaces help people to relax and unwind, be physically active, and interact with others. Research shows that some sections of society are less likely to visit and benefit from such spaces, including people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people on low-incomes, people with health problems or a disability, and women. We explored the experiences and views of people from these groups who live in Leeds, UK, to understand what prevents them from visiting greenspaces as often as they would like, their experiences of such spaces and how the natural areas could be improved.

We found that participants felt their local greenspaces had many positive aspects and provided numerous benefits. However, participants also talked about things that stopped them from visiting or made them feel uncomfortable when they did visit. For example, women often had concerns about safety in greenspaces, which was also a problem for people with low incomes. Safety was often cited in relation to the behaviours of others, for example, anti-social or uncivilised behaviour. Lack of cleanliness and maintenance of greenspaces caused frustration for a number of participants.

Some people were also concerned about dogs in greenspaces. This concern was particularly mentioned by people from ethnic minority backgrounds who didn’t come from a culture of having dogs as pets. People from ethnic minority backgrounds were also more likely to say that they felt uncomfortable whilst visiting greenspaces due to feeling out of place or experiencing racism. Our findings demonstrate that some sections of society face barriers to visiting and benefiting from greenspaces which may be ‘hidden’ and pervasive.

Overall, this research highlighted that there are a number of things that can affect people’s ability to visit and benefit from greenspace. Some are more visible than others and some are related to people’s background and life experiences whereas others may be related to the place itself. Along with a need to increase the amount of attractive and multi-functional greenspace available to all, this research highlights the need for research that better understands how different groups perceive and experience greenspace and therefore can recommend improvements that are beneficial to everyone.