Data from: What determines how we see nature? Perceptions of naturalness in designed urban green spaces

The multiple benefits of ‘nature’ for human health and well‐being have
been documented at an increasing rate over the past 30 years. A growing
body of research also demonstrates the positive well‐being benefits of
nature‐connectedness. There is, however, a lack of evidence about how
people's subjective nature experience relates to deliberately
designed and managed urban green infrastructure (GI) with definable
‘objective’ characteristics such as vegetation type, structure and
density. Our study addresses this gap. Site users (n = 1411) were invited
to walk through woodland, shrub and herbaceous planting at three
distinctive levels of planting structure at 31 sites throughout England,
whilst participating in a self‐guided questionnaire survey assessing
reactions to aesthetics, perceived plant and invertebrate biodiversity,
restorative effect, nature‐connectedness and socio‐demographic
characteristics. There was a significant positive relationship between
perceived naturalness and planting structure. Perceived naturalness was
also positively related to the perceived plant and invertebrate
biodiversity value, participants’ aesthetic appreciation and the
self‐reported restorative effect of the planting. A negative relationship
was recorded between perceived naturalness and perceived tidiness and
care. Our findings showed that participants perceived ‘naturalness’ as
biodiverse, attractive and restorative, but not necessarily tidy.
Perceived naturalness was also related to participants’ educational
qualifications, gender and nature‐connectedness, with women and more
nature‐connected participants perceiving significantly greater levels of
naturalness in the planting. These findings are highly significant for
policymakers and built environment professionals throughout the world
aiming to design, manage and fund urban GI to achieve positive human
health and biodiversity outcomes. This applies particularly under
austerity approaches to managing urban green spaces where local
authorities have experienced cuts in funding and must prioritise and
justify GI maintenance practices and regimes.