As urbanization progresses globally, there is a growing concern regarding the diminishing connection between humans and nature. Informal green spaces (IGS) have been identified as a potential solution to this, offering unscripted opportunities for urban residents to engage with nature in a way that is not possible in formally planned parks and gardens. Despite an increasing focus on IGS, we are still developing our understanding of the extent to which people use these spaces to interact with nature. Our work addresses this research gap by employing a spatial analysis method to map IGS within Greater Melbourne, Australia. We used citizen science data to analyse the location and density of human-nature interactions on IGS compared to formal green spaces, as well as comparing different types of IGS and formal green spaces. Our findings revealed no significant difference in the density of citizen science observations between IGS and formal green spaces, once the variance in available area of each land use is accounted for. Notably, railway and utility easements exhibited the highest density of citizen science observations among all types of IGS. This research demonstrates that IGS make an important contribution to urban green space networks and additional thought should be given to how urban planning and land management may further increase the value of these spaces for people interacting with nature.

中文翻译：

---

探索城市的秘密花园：利用公民科学数据评估非正式绿色空间的人与自然相互作用


随着全球城市化的进展，人们越来越担心人类与自然之间的联系日益减弱。非正式绿地（IGS）已被认为是解决此问题的一个潜在解决方案，它为城市居民提供了与自然接触的即兴机会，而这在正式规划的公园和花园中是不可能的。尽管人们越来越关注 IGS，但我们仍在进一步了解人们利用这些空间与自然互动的程度。我们的工作通过采用空间分析方法绘制澳大利亚大墨尔本地区的 IGS 地图来弥补这一研究空白。我们使用公民科学数据来分析 IGS 上人与自然相互作用的位置和密度，并与正式绿地进行比较，并比较不同类型的 IGS 和正式绿地。我们的研究结果表明，一旦考虑到每种土地利用的可用面积的差异，IGS 和正式绿地之间的公民科学观测密度没有显着差异。值得注意的是，在所有类型的 IGS 中，铁路和公用事业地役权表现出最高密度的公民科学观测。这项研究表明，IGS 对城市绿地网络做出了重要贡献，应进一步思考城市规划和土地管理如何进一步提高这些空间对人们与自然互动的价值。