1 / 14

Public Perception & Green Infrastructure

Public Perception & Green Infrastructure. Katie Barnhill SUNY ESF PI: Richard C. Smardon. Project Overview. Part of the NSF ULTRA project – SUNY ESF & USFS Ecological consequences of population & economic changes of ‘rust belt’ cities.

isaiah-craft
Download Presentation

Public Perception & Green Infrastructure

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Public Perception & Green Infrastructure Katie Barnhill SUNY ESF PI: Richard C. Smardon

  2. Project Overview • Part of the NSF ULTRA project – SUNY ESF & USFS • Ecological consequences of population & economic changes of ‘rust belt’ cities • Assessing these urban spaces for source of ecologically & socially sustainable future • Socio-ecological metabolism

  3. Human Dimensions • What is the public perception of ecosystem services & green infrastructure across time and space in the city of Syracuse? • Historical perspective: (Palmer & Smardon 1988) ‘some people don’t like trees!’ • Concern with spatial & longitudinal shifts

  4. Literature Base • Environmental Psychology – relationship between neighborhood landscape & quality of life • Environmentally significant behavior – what will drive people’s decisions, changing behaviors • Prospect Theory – in decision making, people will be risk averse

  5. Methodology • Focus groups July 2010 • Surveys • Statistical & geospatial analysis: differences & similarities across neighborhoods

  6. Results • Misperceptions of terms • Financial concerns • Renters v. homeownership • Citizen motivation (lack thereof) • Perceived disconnects

  7. Misperception of Terms • Ecological/ecosystem services • Participants had simply never heard the term(s) • Green Infrastructure • Most participants thought it was government-delivered service (infrastructure) • Vs. ecosystem services www.serconline.org

  8. Financial Concerns • Costs of green infrastructure installations • Maintenance costs • Mostly concern for individual homeowners

  9. Home Ownership • High renter rates in the city – residents do not have the capacity to implement many of these features • Should we then look at neighborhood initiatives on public lands in areas with high renter rates?

  10. Community Pride • Community involvement – same people taking initiative repeatedly. • Getting broader participation • Appreciation for existent greenspaces preventing vandalism www.elec-intro.com

  11. Perceived Disconnects • What is needed in the city & surrounding communities vs. what gets delivered/done by local governments

  12. Conclusions • Identified some potential environmental education needs – ecosystem services & green infrastructure • Possible low hanging fruit identified • High rates of rental properties  shift focus • Greenspaces • Problem of citizenship engagement & Perceived disconnects • Opportunities for community visioning

  13. Acknowledgements • NSF ULTRA • Syracuse Center of Excellence • Primary Investigator: Richard C. Smardon

More Related