Results

4.1. Lawncover

Inallourcasestudieslawnsoccupiedquitesignificantareas.

Thetotal lawncover rangedbetween17.7%and 47.7%(average 27.8%)inthemulti-familyareas(bothMillionProgrammeand Peo-ple’sHomes)(Fig.5).TheMillionProgrammeareasinallcitieshad onaverage24.8%lawn(lawns,meadowsandsportsareas),18.7%

forestand shrubsand 49.9%infrastructure.The People’sHomes areashadonaverage33.1%lawn,12.4%forestandshrubsand54.4%

infrastructure.

*Sportlawnswerenotconsideredinthesocialstudybutmapped asoneofthelawntypesexistingincities.

4.2. Socialstudy

Wesucceededinobtainingtheplannedbalance(50%maleand 50% female) and age distribution in all six case studies. Since humansoftenhaveacomplexpersonalityanddifferentlifestyles theyneeddifferentspacesfordifferentactivitiesdependingonthe weather,timeofthedayandevenindividualmoodsataparticular moment.

Wecouldnotfindanyspecificpatternsbetweentheanswersof malesandfemalesinourdata.Inallthreecities,peopleappreciated lawnsintheirresidentialareasandsurroundings.Therewasno sig-nificantdifferencedependingonage,buttherewasatendencyfor younger(5–15years)andelderlypeople(65+)tohavemore opin-ionsandexpectationsconcerninglawnsandalsothegreenoutdoor environment.Themajority(morethan70%)oftheyoungestand eldestrespondentsinourstudywhocommentedonlawnsalso hadmanyopinionsabouthowlawnscouldbemoreattractive.

Households with small children also had many suggestions abouthowlawnsandthegreenspacesbetweenbuildingscould beusedmuchmoreefficiently.Householdswithmiddle-aged peo-ple(whohavefull-timework)andwhohadnochildrenorolder children(thatmainlystayathome)didnot,inmostofthecases, mentionanythingspecificthattheywouldliketochange.They seemedtobesatisfiedwiththeexistingconditionsoflawns.Parents ofsmallchildrenandtheelderlyoftenstressedtheimportanceof accessibility,closenessandfunctionalityofplaygrounds,benches andotherelementslocatedonlawns.Peoplefromallkindof house-holdsmentionedtheimportanceofhavinganextra“outdoorspace”

closetohome.

Oneoftheveryfirstimpressionsinthestudywasverygood familiaritywithlocallawnareasamongrespondents.Peoplewere actuallyevensurprisedtobeaskedaboutlawns,sincealltheirlife ithasbeenoneofthemostfamiliarandcommonlyseenelements oftheiroutdoorenvironment.Thelawn coverestimateforeach neighbourhoodstudiedcorrespondedwithoursocialdata report-ingthatlawnssurroundresidentseverywhere.AsoneofKyrkbyn’s residentssaid:“Iseeitasagivenelement.Iwouldmisslawnsifthey werenothere”.Respondentsoftenassociatedlawnswithsummer andmostlawnsweredesignedforsummeractivities.

Whenweaskedaboutthevalueofhavingaccesstolawnsin outdoorspaces,themajorityofintervieweesrespondedthatsuch accessis“veryvaluable”and“veryimportant”.Oneresidentsaid that lawns“become more important asyou get older”and are

“especiallyimportantforthosewhohavenoopportunitytogoto

Fig.4.Threealternativeoptionsforlawnspresentedtorespondentsthatwerelinkedtoquestion5inTable1.(Pictures:J.VilkenasandA.Helner,2014).

47.7

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% Lawn % Meadow % Sport lawn

Fig.5.Totallawncoverbylawn,meadowandsportslawnineachofthestudyareas(G=Göteborg,M=Malmö,U=Uppsala).Twooftheareaswereseparatedintotwounits (KyrkbynIandIIinGöteborgandRosengårdNandSinMalmö)toillustratethepotentiallylargedifferencesinmeadowareasandwithinareas.

activities.Oneintervieweesaid:“SinceIuseawheelchairIamnot outdoorsthatoften.ButIenjoytheviewfrommybalcony”.

Lawnenthusiastsarguedthatlawnsare“importantplacesto meetfriends”,“importantfordifferentkindofactivities”and “espe-ciallyimportantforfamilieswithchildren”.Urbanresidentsatall sitesvaluedwell-maintained lawnsintheirneighbourhoodand weresatisfiedwithmunicipalmanagement oftheirgrassareas.

Onlyafewrespondentswereunhappywithnoisefromamoweror withrubbishleftonthelawn(Fig.6).

Inallourresearchareas,lawnswereusedfordifferentkindsof outdooractivitiesduringthesummer:walking/passingthrough, playing, sitting, sport, meeting friends, sunbathing and family partying/barbequing.Theuseoflawns(theparticularactivity per-formedmost)variedinthedifferentcasestudiesdependingonhow thelawnswerevalued.

Peoplegreatlyappreciatedlawnsfordifferentkindsofpastimes (Fig.7).Wefoundthatpeoplelivinginsiteswithhugeopenlawns closetothebuildingsdidnotusetheselawnsforanykindof activ-ity,butlikedthemasaviewingspace.Thisisnotsurprising,since peopleseetheseopengreencarpetsonadailybasis.Manypeople preferredtohavegreenplacesincloseproximitytotheirhouses,

thathadnospecificattractionssuchasbenches,playgroundsor flowerbeds.

Theresultsshowedthatpeopleoftenusethelawnsaspassages.

Somelawnswerealsooften usedfor walks(especially popular among dog owners).The time citizens spentdirectly onlawns dependedonthequalityofthegrassandweatherconditions. “Pop-ular”lawnsallhadspotswherepeoplewereprotectedfromthe windorsun(Fig.10).Socialactivitiesweremorefrequentingood weather.

Theobservationstudiesalsoshowedthatresidentspreferred placeswheretheyhadaniceview,socialactivitiesorsomething overandabovejustplainlawn,forexampledecorativeperennials, shrubsorwaterfeatures.

Inthedaytime,familieswithchildrenoftenusedlawnsbetween 10.00and15.00.Childrenwereoutafterschoolandatthe week-ends.Dogownerswereseenquitefrequentlyfromearlymorning tolateevening.Elderlypeopleover65usedgreenspacesduring thedaytime.Theweatherconditionswereimportantevenfordog owners(inbadweatherthelawnswereusedforaveryshortwalk).

Therewereseveralquitesimilarpatternsinobservationstudiesin allcasestudiesintheMillionProgrammeandPeople’sHomessites

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Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree No answer Fig.6.Importanceofwell-maintainedlawnsinmultifamilyhouses(MillionProgrammeandPeople’sHomes).

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Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree No answer Fig.7. Thevalueofthelawnsasasuitableplaceforleisureactivities.

mentionedtheimportanceoflawnsonhotsummerdaysin partic-ular,butsomepeoplesaidthattheyusedthelawn“allyearround iftheweatherisgood”andinplaceswheretheycanenjoythesun andalsogetsomeshade.Somerespondentssaidthattheyavoided placesthat arewindy,noisy,unattractive,lesswellmanagedor containing“unpleasantpeople”.

Whenaskedaboutlawnsasanimportantaestheticplace,most respondentsreallyappreciatedlawnasan“enjoyable”and “beau-tifulplace”(Fig.11).

Manyofthespontaneouscommentsalsoconfirmedthatpeople likewell-maintainedgreenplacesbetweenandaroundbuildings.

Whenweaskediflawns generallycreate agood habitatfor smallcreatures,suchasinsects,birdsandmammals,many

partic-participants said that thelawn “is not a place for nature, it is cuttoooften”,anothersaiditwas“toosterileanenvironment”

and“toomonotonous”.Otherssaidthatthewell-managedlawn isnicebecauseyoucanhavea goodlineofsight.Aesthetic val-ueswereoften highlyappreciatedand placeswithsuchvalues werefrequentlyusedorvisited.Thegreencolouroflawnswasalso mentionedbypeopleasavaluablefeature.

We couldseenosignificantdifferences in answers between cities aswe researchedtwo similarhousingtypes ineach city.

Howeverweobservedsomeparticularattitudestolawns inPeople’sHomeareasrelatedtoparticularlocalgeographical ordesignfeatures.Forexample,Augustenborg(Malmö)isoneof thebestexamplesoftheurbaneco-concept,withtheinstallation

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Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very frequently No answer Fig.8. Usageoflawnsasapassageinmultifamilyhousingareas.

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