Hassall, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-3510-0728, Nisbet, M., Norcliffe, E. et al. (1 more author) (2024) The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments. Land, 13 (3). 290. ISSN 2073-445X
Abstract
Disruptive change in urban landscapes, such as large-scale tree planting, is complicated by the different priorities of the wide range of urban stakeholders. Here, we demonstrate an approach to the planning of urban green spaces using virtual reality simulations. We evaluate the health benefits (restorative benefits) and safety concerns of participants using virtual reconstructions of 10 urban parks in Bradford, UK, to simulate changes in woodland cover. Participants experienced each of the 10 parks as immersive environments with each of three scenarios: (i) no trees, (ii) real tree distribution, and (iii) doubling of tree numbers. Participants answered a short questionnaire while in each virtual park to quantify their feelings of safety and the restorative benefit that they thought they would experience. The results show that our VR approach produces reported restorative benefits that are not significantly different from those reported in the physical parks during visits by participants. We then demonstrate that increased tree cover is associated with significant increases in perceived restorative benefit, with some evidence of saturation at higher tree densities. Reductions in tree cover lead to a reduction in reported restorative benefit. We suggest that immersive technologies present a useful tool for the consultation and co-design of urban landscapes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | virtual reality; biodiversity; tree; urban landscape; attitudes; park; perceptions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Apr 2024 15:57 |
Last Modified: | 26 Apr 2024 15:57 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/land13030290 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:211904 |