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One of the crucial elements of addressing global climate challenges through urban tourism is the continuing existence of urban forests. The reasoning is that the ecological attraction of urban forests can impact visitors’ intention to conduct pro-environmental behavior, including low-carbon actions. Thus, more visitors to urban forests will positively affect enhancing the quality of the urban environment. However, the extent to which ecological attraction can influence pro-environmental behavior warrants further investigation due to the complexity of psychosocial factors that impact behavioral intention. The main objective of this research is to examine the effects of the ecological attractiveness of urban forests on the pro-environmental behavior of visitors by exploring motivation, ecological experience, perceived value and knowledge as mediators. Moreover, whether the nature of the urban forest and facilities attract visitors simultaneously is also studied.

Data were collected from 615 respondents who visited three urban forests in Bandung, the second-most populous city in Indonesia, by five-point Likert questionnaires. As an analytical tool, SEM PLS was applied to establish the effect of the ecological performance of the urban forest on the increase in environmentally conscious behavior among urban forest visitors.

The findings demonstrate that the attractiveness of an urban forest affects the growth of environmentally responsible behaviors. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of urban forests is dictated more by their infrastructure than their ecological function. On the contrary, the visitors’ knowledge level can improve their motivation, environmental experience and perceived environmental value. These findings show the significance of developing educational programs with an emphasis on the experience of the visitors so that their ecological performance can contribute to improved low-carbon behavior. In conclusion, this work contributes to the management of sustainable urban tourism.

This work also has some limitations. First, the medium R-square on intention behavior to low-carbon action suggests investigating other influential factors to produce a more robust conscious behavior. Mkono and Hughes (2020) mention that many complex factors that cause positive intention do not necessarily lead to environmental action. Thus, many psychosocial variables need to be explored in different models. Second, the convenient sampling used here does not represent the whole population, making generalization difficult. Thus, further work needs to apply more rigorous sampling techniques to validate the findings. Further investigations may also need to be conducted in other urban forests in another Asian country with a similar and different social context for benchmarking, as this study found that the type of attractive urban forest design is a more dense forest, which differs from other studies based in Europe. Exploring more influencing behavioral factors of pro-environmental action in the model is also suggested. Thus, we could contribute more to support recreational activities in urban forests.

As an implication for planning an urban forest to increase its recreational function, the authors illustrate the importance of producing educational programs. Although the improved knowledge of visitors has been shown to strengthen their commitment to perform pro-environmental actions, the mediating role of motivation, experience and perceived value reveals that some activities are required to achieve visitor motivation to actual behavior. Consequently, designing an urban forest requires not only the enhancement of eco-attractions and artificial elements for the convenience of visitors but also the development of an environmental education program that can improve visitors’ environmental experience and perception of ecological value. The designed educational program may use an experiential education approach incorporating objective knowledge of Earth’s current state. The urban forest education program must encourage visitors’ connection and participation with nature. Moreover, knowledge and information about Earth’s environmental quality can increase visitors’ perceived value, ensuring that their activities in the urban forest contribute to improved health, environmental quality and social environment. Thus, with well-managed and provided education, they are encouraged to adopt low-carbon action because it complements their contribution to a better quality environment.

The theoretical contribution of this research is generated through the role of urban forest attractiveness in the intention to conduct low-carbon action, which influences solutions to existing urban environmental problems. This work exhibits that both ecological attractiveness and attractiveness of artificial elements in urban forests can attract visitors and subsequently boost their outdoor recreation motivation, ecological experience and perceived value and then turn them to boost their intention to conduct low-carbon action. The physical characteristics of a site are behavioral stimuli that can increase a person’s motivation, experience and perception of the value of the environment, thereby increasing their intention to engage in low-carbon actions. This environment behavioral construction is fundamental in understanding that urban forests offer ecological benefits and influence the social quality of urban communities. Nevertheless, without visitor activity, urban forests are merely physical entities that become increasingly demanding to maintain. Due to this, an urban forest that is socially active and has an influence on promoting environmentally conscious behavior is needed, and its presence is becoming ever more crucial. This work shows the significance of integrating psychosocial approaches into managing tourism in urban forests.

Urban areas, especially in the coastal region of Bangladesh, face environmental degradation due to rapid urbanization, uncontrolled socio-economic activities and experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change. Nature-based solutions (NbS) as options for restoring, preserving, maintaining and elevating natural features or systems are becoming popular for reducing vulnerabilities caused either by natural hazards or human-induced activities. With this understanding, this study aims to explore the need of practicing NbS by studying the condition of a tidal canal (known as Thakurani Khal) and its peripheral areas of Mongla Port Municipality, a coastal and seaport town in Bangladesh.

This case study-based research uses multiple inquiries, including focus group discussions, pair-wise comparison, observation, GIS-based mapping, key informant interviews and secondary climate data review, to understand the spatial development of the area and community reactions to the changes in the urban environment.

The natural water flow of this canal is controlled by sluice gates that indirectly allowed the dweller to encroach its lands and convert the canal into a solid waste dumping area. These human-induced activities as well as the climate change-induced events (i.e. extreme heat, intensive and irregular rainfall, increased number of cyclones, etc.) have made the adjacent areas prone to waterlogging and drainage congestion. In this context, the revival of the original natural quality of the canal has been identified as an alternative to ensuring an adaptive urban environment.

This research highlights the importance of practicing NbS for developing urban resilience in the context of climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and improve the current methodology of securing and collecting data sources for use in the Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN) model to more accurately use, and be able to support, inputs and outputs from economic impact models, specifically those generated by IMPLAN.

Primary expenditure data were derived from an extensive mail survey conducted during the 2005-2006 Mississippi waterfowl-hunting season. Survey results were analyzed using the IMPLAN software model default data and comparing it with new, more localized state data that were collected in 2010. Industry sectors were sorted and ranked after analysis based on sector importance to the economy and IMPLAN default data were replaced by localized data.

Economic contributions generated from the survey-based default model were $158 million (2010 USD) supporting 1,981 full- and part-time jobs. Economic contributions using survey-based data replacement model were $153 million (2010 USD) supporting 1,517 full- and part-time jobs. Separate model runs of the survey-based data replacement model yielded vastly different results, making the case for changing as many sectors with larger impacts as possible.

The makeup and components of sectors used and described by the IMPLAN model were at times not clearly labeled which at times hindered the process of comparing and replacing data. It was evident that IMPLAN sectors were too highly aggregated.

This project will contribute to efforts within Mississippi aimed at protecting and promoting its natural resources for conservation and use for both the private and public sector.

Recreation is a many‐faceted phenomenon. It is curious that so dominant a place in American recreational literature has been held, virtually without exception, by studies of recreational activities in dominantly rural settings. The necessity of examining and understanding the characteristics of and utilization of recreation facilities within nonurban environments is not in question. The rapidly increasing economic and social significance of leisure in American life certainly requires studies of recreation in all its forms. Such frequently publisized trends in the American economy as the rising percentage of employment within the service industries, including recreation, should encourage interest in the economic aspects of the approaching era of greater leisure among more people. Accelerating urbanization has led understandably, to a search for additional nonurban sites for recreation, and to a program of analysis of the trends within and problems associated with outdoor recreation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of peri‐urban forests to the process of urban growth. The article aims at providing a brief description of peri‐urban forests' contribution to the improvement of people's prosperity in urban centres by means of reducing the negative effects due to urbanisation and improving the standard of living. Design/methodology/approach – The article adopts a descriptive approach and not a specific methodology. It focuses on providing a general review about the usefulness of peri‐urban forests in relation to urban development. In addition, there are presented figures about the number of peri‐urban forests in Greece as well as forest management issues. Findings – The environmental importance of peri‐urban forests is highlighted as well as their contribution to the reduction of soil erosion and the protection of inhabited areas. It also presents their importance to social growth and to the change in land prices in areas adjacent to peri‐urban forests. Practical implications – The appointment of the usefulness of peri‐urban forests for the improvement of the standard of living in urban regions can influence peri‐urban forests' preservation and protection perspectives. Originality/value – This paper provides a general review of the points of view concerning the importance of peri‐urban forests for urban development and the difficulties in managing and protecting them related to administrative and institutional issues in Greece.

While concentration of population in urban areas continues, limited contact with ecological dynamics undermines awareness on human dependence on ecosystems. However, demands on ecosystems have never been higher than in today's urbanized planet, and cities make major contributions to global environmental problems. Enhancing green and blue infrastructure (GBI) in cities can reduce the ecological footprints of cities, while enhancing urban resilience and quality of life for their inhabitants. Urban GBIs provide multiple benefits to people in the form of ecosystem services (ES) and hold potential for providing nature-based solutions (NBS) to address urban challenges.

To adequately evaluate the ES provided by GBI, researchers have recently advocated integrated valuations. Integrated valuations aim at overcoming the limitations of the traditional single discipline and narrow approaches, by considering the multiple ways in which humans benefit from nature across the economic social and cultural domains.

In this chapter, we present examples of integrated valuations of ES in two Spanish cities, Barcelona and Bilbao. Both examples combine different valuation techniques and metrics, both monetary and nonmonetary, to account for the ES provided by urban GBIs and to assess their potential as NBS.

Our case examples show that urban GBIs provide many valuable benefits to urban dwellers. One of the clearest outcomes from these infrastructures is cultural ES, especially the multiple recreation and leisure opportunities they provide, which in turn has a remarkable positive effect on human health and well-being.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) generate different impacts at the urban scale, such as the ability to regulate water or store carbon, comparable to traditional, gray infrastructures in a more cost-efficient way. On the other hand, by their intrinsic nature, NBS do deliver a series of other services that are commonly defined as social, economic, and environmental cobenefits. These benefits are not always valued in a consistent and complete way, so there is the need to compile a more comprehensive evidence base on the social, economic, and environmental effectiveness of NBS. The chapter attempts to identify a categorization of the existing NBS and define the ecosystem services (ES) provided by them. Furthermore, starting from the results achieved through the definition of the existing NBS frameworks assessment, the chapter will identify a set of key performance indicators KPIs, based on the ES produced by NBS, to measure the economic, social, and environmental benefits generated in by NBS at the urban level taking into account their multifunctional character. In total, 66 key performance indicators have been individuated: 3 for provisioning services, 38 for regulating services, 17 for cultural services, and 8 for supporting services. Each indicator has been associated to a category of ES in order to measure and evaluate the performances of NBS implemented in cities.

Land‐use and cover change threatens remaining urban green areas and the provision of ecosystem services. The purpose of this paper is to address the importance, sufficiency and needs of local recreational ecosystem services in urban areas.

The case study area is the City of Helsinki, Finland. In total, 30 key informants representing 19 neighbourhood associations in the urban‐rural gradient within the city were interviewed.

The results of the Helsinki case show that residents visit the focused nature areas frequently and spend considerable amount of time there. All the mentioned activities during visits were associated with getting recreational experiences. Of these the most frequently mentioned were getting “feel‐good feeling” and physical exercise, which were closely associated with walking and sports‐like activities. The importance of easy accessibility to local nature areas was emphasized. Recreational ecosystem services partly result from specific landscape features in the nature area and from biologically diverse nature.

Planners, managers and decision makers can use the findings from this study in determining the values of similar urban green areas in urban development.

The Helsinki case shows that these local nature areas are appreciated and attractive and that the residents of the focused study areas perceive the numerous benefits that the local nature areas provide as very important. It appears that conserving a considerable amount of remnant nature amongst urban housing has paid off in flourishing recreational ecosystem services in the studied area.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to plan and provide for people's relaxation and engagement, cognitive and aesthetic needs. Symbolic of this is the green city image, which is obtained through planning and management of parks and green areas.

The approach here is to note that Bangalore has gained all‐round importance as an administrative, trading and industrial center and a location for premier educational institutions along with large IT and BT industries. Also, it is a center of strategic importance, due to a concentration of defense establishments. The study observes the abundance of parks and avenue trees and green areas along with green median and traffic islands all through in the city, which provide shade and meet the purely ecological and aesthetic needs.

The study reveals the beneficial impact of green areas on the microclimate of the city, which also serve as outdoor recreation areas to the city people. The parks and green areas need serious rejuvenation as centers of social activity and they should cater to peoples' active and passive recreation needs and abate the stress of urban living.

The implication of this study is the manifest importance of different local government authorities, institutional arrangements, NGOs with expertise to maintain parks and green areas in and around the Bangalore Metropolitan Area and of growing more trees and developing greeneries within the city of Bangalore.

This paper's value is to promote awareness regarding the complexities and importance of parks and green areas and their vulnerabilities and management.

This study aims to test whether the size of and distance to the nearest green space has any effects on residential property transaction prices in Auckland, New Zealand.

This paper divides all green spaces in Auckland into three categories, namely, urban parks, regional reserves and volcanic parks (a unique feature in Auckland, New Zealand). This study uses six years of residential property transaction data to estimate hedonic price regressions. For each property, this paper calculates the size of and distance to the nearest park in each category.

The logged sizes of the nearest regional reserve and volcanic park have positive effects on property prices. The logged distances to the nearest urban park and volcanic park are insignificant, while the logged distance to the nearest regional reserve is positively significant. In other words, homebuyers prefer larger regional reserves and volcanic parks and prefer to be further away.

Auckland is ranked as a top-five city in the world in terms of the proportion of public green space, trailing four European cities. However, because of Auckland’s much younger age, it presents a very different urban form. The study shows that the distribution of green space (not only its total amount) can bring negative capitalization on property prices.