Urban green space for human well-being and biodiversity : Do people and birds favour the same?

Urban green space has been proven by the field of environmental psychology to have high value for human well-being. Green space is also important for biodiversity. However, the management of urban green space is commonly focused on present aesthetic values and not on the level of naturalness and its consequences for humans and biodiversity. This study compares the green space situation in relation to human well-being and biodiversity in Lviv, Ukraine and Stockholm, Sweden. By sampling urban green space gradients, from unnatural to natural, as well as collecting data about visiting people and bird taxa in those areas, comparisons between these two response variables and the level of naturalness were made. The results show correlations between the level of naturalness and the social structure of human visitors as well as to the bird taxa present. The results thus indicate that both human well-being and biodiversity is positively related to the level of naturalness of green space. Since more and more people live in urban areas decision-makers should leave sufficient amounts of green space, for the inhabitants’ well-being, both people and other species, in physical planning. Given generally low levels of green space in urban settings, areas for recreation and rehabilitation should be enhanced further