Defining greenspace: Multiple uses across multiple disciplines

TLDR

Greenspace research is driven by interest in how biodiversity and ecosystem function affect urban life, with studies across life, physical, and social sciences producing diverse but related findings. The study aims to determine whether disparate greenspace findings can be integrated by enabling comparisons and meta‑analyses. The authors propose that researchers define greenspace context‑specifically, combining qualitative and quantitative aspects, rather than adopting a single prescriptive definition. A review of 125 journal articles revealed that less than half defined greenspace, with only two overarching interpretations identified across six definition types, indicating inconsistent understanding that hampers synthesis.

Abstract

Greenspace research has been driven by an emerging interest in the impact that biodiversity and ecosystem function has on life in urban areas. Studies from multiple disciplines across the life, physical and social sciences investigate the interactions with or within greenspace, creating a wide range of potentially related, but disparate findings. In order to understand whether these unconnected findings might be integrated, it is important to be able to make comparisons and build meta-analyses. In a review of journal articles about greenspace, we found that less than half of the 125 journal articles reviewed defined what greenspace was in their study; although many articles implied a definition. In those that provided a definition, we identified two overarching interpretations of greenspace using six different definition types. Perhaps arising from how the term has been lexicalized, this suggests that researchers do not have the same understanding of greenspace and limits the ability of researchers to draw meaning from multiple contexts or create syntheses. Rather than suggest a single, prescriptive understanding of greenspace, we propose that researchers construct a definition of greenspace for the context of their research that utilises both qualitative and quantitative aspects.