Residential Greenery in Kvillebäcken. A comparative case study of how residential greenery is perceived in East and West Kvillebäcken

Abstract

Urban greenery and its importance for city citizens' wellbeing has already been well established in many studies. However, many studies have focused on larger green spaces, such as parks, during summertime, with fully developed greenery. Residential greenery during other times of the year, and people’s perception of it, has not been studied as much. This study intended to fill the research gap by investigating people's perception of residential greenery during spring. This was done through a comparative case study between two areas in Gothenburg, East Kvillebäcken, built according to the Mixed city ideal and West Kvillebäcken, built according to the Nordic functionalism ideal. To make this comparison, a mixed methodology was used, consisting of a face-to-face questionnaire, mental maps and GIS-analysis. The questionnaire asked residents and frequent visitors of each area how they perceived different aspects and photos of the residential greenery, as well as for their favorite green place in their area to create mental maps. The results showed that while the presence of greenery in a residential area was important for the majority, the perception of the residential greenery in each area differed. The residential greenery in the Nordic functionalism typology of West Kvillebäcken was more positively perceived in every aspect regarding amount, accessibility and aesthetics than the Mixed city typology of East Kvillebäcken. Despite this, respondents in both East and West Kvillebäcken still often preferred the nearby parks as their favorite green place, rather than a green place within the residential areas. These findings contribute to the research on subjective evaluation of residential greenery during spring in the two building ideals the Mixed city and the Nordic functionalism.