Ready for more-than-human? Measuring urban residents’ willingness to coexist with animals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11143/fennia.64182Abstract
In the context of rapid urbanisation, geographers are calling for embracing non-humans as urban co-inhabitants. But if animals and plants are seen as ‘out of place’, sharing urban space can lead to wildlife conflicts. We therefore need to better understand residents’ willingness to coexist if we are to work towards more-than-human cities. This study quantitatively compared residents’ preferences toward sharing their neighbourhood, as well as perceptions of belonging across urban green space in two geographically and culturally distinct cities: Brisbane, Australia, and Sapporo, Japan. Results suggest that geographical and cultural context alongside educational attainment and age influenced respondents’ willingness to coexist, but not sex and income. Mapping respondents’ preferences for animals in their neighbourhood revealed four groups of animals along two axes – global-local and wanted-unwanted. These arose from the way animals contested the human notions of control over urban space. As spaces where animals belong in cities, most respondents chose informal green space (e.g. vacant lots, brownfields) after forests and bushland. Drawing upon recent theoretical and empirical research on liminal urban spaces, I argue that such informal green space can offer ‘provisional arrangements’ which allow for conciliatory engagements with non-humans. I thus propose informal green spaces as territories of encounter – a possible path towards more-than-human cities. Finally, I discuss some implications for planning and management of interspecies interactions.
References
Almeida, A., Vasconcelos, C. & Strecht-Ribeiro, O. (2014) Attitudes toward animals: A study of Portuguese children. Anthrozoös 27(2) 173–190. https://doi.org/10.2752/175303714X13903827487403
Anderson, K. (1997) A walk on the wild side: A critical geography of domestication. Progress in Human Geography 21(4) 463–485. https://doi.org/10.1191/030913297673999021
Animal Studies Living Bibliography (n.d.) The living bibliography of animal studies. <http://www.lbanimalstudies.org.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page>. 27.10.2017.
Baldwin, P.C. (1999) Domesticating the street: The reform of public space in Hartford, 1850–1930. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH.
Barron, P. & Mariani, M. (eds.) (2013) Terrain vague. Routledge, London.
Barua, M. (2014) Volatile ecologies: Towards a material politics of human-animal relations. Environment and Planning A 46(6) 1462–1478. https://doi.org/10.1068/a46138
Barua, M., Bhagwat, S.A. & Jadhav, S. (2013) The hidden dimensions of human–wildlife conflict: Health impacts, opportunity and transaction costs. Biological Conservation 157 309–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.07.014
Belaire, J. A., Westphal, L. M., Whelan, C. J. & Minor, E. S. (2015) Urban residents’ perceptions of birds in the
neighborhood: Biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services, and disservices. The Condor 117(2) 192–202. https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-14-128.1
van den Berg, M., Wendel-Vos, W., van Poppel, M., Kemper, H., van Mechelen, W. & Maas, J. (2015) Health benefits of green spaces in the living environment: A systematic review of epidemiological studies. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 14(4) 806–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2015.07.008
Bjerke, T., Ødegårdstuen, T. S. & Kaltenborn, B. P. (1998a) Attitudes toward animals among Norwegian adolescents. Anthrozoös 11(2) 79–86. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279398787000742
Bjerke, T., Ødegårdstuen, T. S. & Kaltenborn, B. P. (1998b) Attitudes toward animals among Norwegian children and adolescents: Species preferences. Anthrozoös 11(4) 227–235. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279398787000544
Bjerke, T. & Østdahl, T. (2004) Animal-related attitudes and activities in an urban population. Anthrozoös 17(2) 109–129. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279304786991783
Bjerke, T., Østdahl, T. & Kleiven, J. (2003) Attitudes and activities related to urban wildlife: Pet owners and non-owners. Anthrozoös 16(3) 252–262. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279303786992125
Bolund, P. & Hunhammar, S. (1999) Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecological Economics 29 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00013-0
Bordenstein, S.R. & Theis, K.R. (2015) Host biology in light of the Microbiome: Ten principles of holobionts and hologenomes. PLoS Biol 13(8) e1002226. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002226
Borgi, M. & Cirulli, F. (2015) Attitudes toward animals among kindergarten children: Species preferences. Anthrozoös 28(1) 45–59. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279315X14129350721939
Brown, T. & Cummins, S. (2013) Intervening in health: The place of urban green space. Landscape and Urban Planning 118 59–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.06.003
Buller, H. (2014) Animal geographies I. Progress in Human Geography 38(2) 308–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132513479295
Buller, H. (2015) Animal geographies II Methods. Progress in Human Geography 39(3) 374–384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132514527401
Byrne, J. (2011) The human relationship with nature: Rights of animals and plants in the urban context. In Douglas, I., Goode, D., Houck, M. C. & Wang, R. (eds.) The Routledge handbook of urban ecology (vols 1–6), 63–73. Routledge, London.
Calvino, I. (2013) Invisible cities. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston.
Cloke, P. & Jones, O. (2005) ‘Unclaimed territory’: Childhood and disordered space(s). Social & Cultural Geography 6(3) 311–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360500111154
Davison, A. (2006) Turbulent times for urban nature: Conserving and re-inventing nature in Australian cities. Australian Zoologist 33(3) 306–314. https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2006.004
van Dooren, T. & Rose, D.B. (2012) Storied-places in a multispecies city. Humanimalia: A Journal of Human/Animal Interface Studies 3(2) 1–27.
Dunlap, R.E., van Liere, K.D., Mertig, A.G. & Jones, R.E. (2000) New trends in measuring environmental attitudes: Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues 56(3) 425–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00176
Dunn, R.R., Gavin, M.C., Sanchez, M.C. & Solomon, J.N. (2006) The pigeon paradox: Dependence of global conservation on urban nature. Conservation Biology 20(6) 1814–1816. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00533.x
von Döhren, P. & Haase, D. (2015) Ecosystem disservices research: A review of the state of the art with a focus on cities. Ecological Indicators 52 490–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.12.027
Ellis, E.C., Antill, E.C. & Kreft, H. (2012) All Is not loss: Plant biodiversity in the Anthropocene. PLOS ONE 7(1) e30535. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030535
Enari, H. & Suzuki, T. (2010) Risk of agricultural and property damage associated with the recovery of Japanese monkey populations. Landscape and Urban Planning 97(2) 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.04.014
European Commission (2010) Attitudes of Europeans towards the issue of biodiversity, No. 290. <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_290_en.pdf> 27.10.2017.
Field, A. (2009) Discovering statistics using SPSS. Sage Publications, London.
Foster, J. & Sandberg, L.A. (2010) Friends or foe? Invasive species and public green space in Toronto. Geographical Review 94(2) 178–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2004.tb00166.x
Fox-Parrish, L. & Jurin, R.R. (2008) Students’ perceptions of a highly controversial yet keystone species, the black-tailed prairie dog: A case study. The Journal of Environmental Education 39(4) 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEE.39.4.3-14
Franck, K.A. & Stevens, Q. (eds.) (2007) Loose space: Possibility and diversity in urban life. Routledge, Abingdon.
Franklin, A. (2006) Animal nation: The true story of animals and Australia. UNSW Press, Kensington.
Gilbert, O.L. (1989) The ecology of urban habitats. Chapman and Hall, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0821-5
Griffith, M., Wolch, J. & Lassiter, U. (2002) Animal practices and the racialization of Filipinas in Los Angeles. Society & Animals 10(3) 221–248. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853002320770056
Gröning, G. & Wolschke-Bulmahn, J. (2003) The native plant enthusiasm: Ecological panacea or xenophobia? Landscape Research 28(1) 75. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426390306536
Guitart, D.A., Pickering, C.M. & Byrne, J.A. (2014) Color me healthy: Food diversity in school community gardens in two rapidly urbanising Australian cities. Health & Place 26 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.12.014
Hard, G. (2001) Natur in der Stadt? Berichte zur deutschen Landeskunde 75(2/3) 257–270.
Head, L. & Atchison, J. (2008) Cultural ecology: Emerging human-plant geographies. Progress in Human Geography 33(2) 236–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132508094075
Hillier, J. & Byrne, J. (2016) Is extermination to be the legacy of Mary Gilberts cat? Organization 23(3) 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508416629455
Hinchliffe, S. (2003) Inhabiting-landscapes and natures. In Anderson, K., Domosh, M., Pile, S. & Thrift, N. (eds.) Handbook of Cultural Geography, 207–225. Sage Publications, London. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608252.n14
Hinchliffe, S. & Whatmore, S. (2006) Living cities: Towards a politics of conviviality. Science as Culture 15(2) 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1068/d351t
Hinchliffe, S., Kearnes, M.B., Degen, M. & Whatmore, S. (2005) Urban wild things: A cosmopolitical experiment. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 23(5) 643–658. https://doi.org/10.1068/d351t
Hobbs, R.J., Arico, S., Aronson, J., Baron, J., Bridgewater, P., Cramer, V., Epstein, P., Ewel, J., Klink, C., Lugo, A., Norton, D., Ojima, D., Richardson, D., Sanderson, E., Valladares, F., Vila, M., Zamora, R. & Zobel, M. (2006) Novel ecosystems: Theoretical and management aspects of the new ecological world order. Global Ecology and Biogeography 15(1) 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-822x.2006.00212.x
Honda, T. (2009) Environmental factors affecting the distribution of the wild boar, sika deer, asiatic black bear and Japanese macaque in Central Japan, with implications for human-wildlife conflict. Mammal Study 34(2) 107–116. https://doi.org/10.3106/041.034.0206
Houston, D., Hillier, J., MacCallum, D., Steele, W. & Byrne, J. (2017) Make kin, not cities! Multispecies entanglements and ‘becoming-world’ in planning theory. Planning Theory 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095216688042
Howell, R.G. (1982) The urban coyote problem in Los Angeles County. In Marsh, R. E. (ed.) Proceedings of the Tenth Vertebrate Pest Conference (1982), Paper 22. University of California, Davis.
Ingold, T. (2008) Bindings against boundaries: Entanglements of life in an open world. Environment and Planning A 40(8) 1796–1810. https://doi.org/10.1068/a40156
Instone, L. (2004) Situating nature: On doing cultural geographies of Australian nature. Australian Geographer 35(2) 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/0004918042000249430
Instone, L. & Sweeney, J. (2014) Dog waste, wasted dogs: The contribution of human–dog relations to the political ecology of Australian urban space. Geographical Research 52(4) 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/0004918042000249430
Jerolmack, C. (2008) How pigeons became rats: The cultural-spatial logic of problem animals. Social Problems 55(1) 72–94. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2008.55.1.72
Jessup, D.A. (2004) The welfare of feral cats and wildlife. Journal-American Veterinary Medical Association 225 1377–1385. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.1377
Johnston, C. (2008) Beyond the clearing: Towards a dwelt animal geography. Progress in Human Geography 32(5) 633–649. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132508089825
Jorgensen, A. & Keenan, R. (eds.) (2012) Urban wildscapes. Routledge, Abingdon.
Kellert, S.R. (1991) Japanese perceptions of wildlife. Conservation Biology 5(3) 297–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1991.tb00141.x
Kellert, S.R. (1993) Attitudes, knowledge, and behavior toward wildlife among the industrial superpowers: United States, Japan, and Germany. Journal of Social Issues 49(1) 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb00908.x
Kellert, S.R. & Westervelt, M.O. (1984) Children’s attitudes, knowledge and behaviors towards animals. Children’s Environments Quarterly 1(3) 8–11.
Keniger, L., Gaston, K., Irvine, K. & Fuller, R. (2013) What are the benefits of interacting with nature? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10(3) 913–935. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10030913
Knight, J. (1999) Monkeys on the move: The natural symbolism of people-macaque conflict in Japan. The Journal of Asian Studies 58(03) 622–647. https://doi.org/10.2307/2659114
La Trobe, H.L. & Acott, T.G. (2000) A modified NEP/DSP environmental attitudes scale. The Journal of Environmental Education 32(1) 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958960009598667
Lambert, J.E. (2016) Regeneration of human-modified landscapes: The irony of antipathy to resilient animals. EnviroSociety 19.1.2016. <http://www.envirosociety.org/2016/01/regeneration-of-human-modified-landscapes-and-the-irony-of-antipathy-toward-resilient-animal-species/> 27.10.2017.
Lemelin, R.H. (2013) To bee or not to bee: Whether ‘tis nobler to revere or to revile those six-legged creatures during one’s leisure. Leisure Studies 32(2) 153–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2011.626064
Lorimer, J. (2012) Multinatural geographies for the Anthropocene. Progress in Human Geography 36(5) 593–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132511435352
Lososová, Z., Chytrý, M., Tichý, L., Danihelka, J., Fajmon, K., Hajek, O., Kintrova, K., Lanikova, D., Otypkova, Z. & Rehorek, V. (2012) Biotic homogenization of Central European urban floras depends on residence time of alien species and habitat types. Biological Conservation 145(1) 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.003
Lyytimäki, J., Petersen, L.K., Normander, B. & Bezák, P. (2008) Nature as a nuisance? Ecosystem services and disservices to urban lifestyle. Environmental Sciences 5(3) 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/15693430802055524
Mace, G.M., Norris, K. & Fitter, A.H. (2012) Biodiversity and ecosystem services: A multilayered relationship. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 27(1) 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.08.006
Matsuoka, R.H. & Kaplan, R. (2008) People needs in the urban landscape: Analysis of landscape and urban planning contributions. Landscape and Urban Planning 84(1) 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.09.009
McKiernan, S. & Instone, L. (2016) From pest to partner: Rethinking the Australian White Ibis in the more-than-human city. Cultural Geographies 23(3) 475–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474015609159
McKinney, M.L. (2008) Effects of urbanization on species richness: A review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosystems 11(2) 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-007-0045-4
Metzger, J. (2014) Spatial planning and/as caring for more-than-human place. Environment and Planning A 46(5) 1001–1011. https://doi.org/10.1068/a140086c
Miller, J.R. (2005) Biodiversity conservation and the extinction of experience. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 20(8) 430–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.05.013
Millington, N. (2015) From urban scar to ‘park in the sky’: Terrain vague, urban design, and the remaking of New York City’s High Line Park. Environment and Planning A 47(11) 2324–2338. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X15599294
Nohl, W. (1990) Gedankenskizze einer Naturästhetik der Stadt. Landschaft und Stadt 22(2) 57–67.
Philo, C. (1995) Animals, geography, and the city: Notes on inclusions and exclusions. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 13 655–681. https://doi.org/10.1068/d130655
Power, E.R. (2005) Human–nature relations in suburban gardens. Australian Geographer 36(1) 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049180500050847
Power, E.R. (2009) Border-processes and homemaking: Encounters with possums in suburban Australian homes. Cultural Geographies 16(1) 29–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474008097979
Qviström, M. (2012) Taming the wild: Gyllin’s Garden and the urbanization of a wildscape. In Jorgensen, A. & Keenan, R. (eds.) Urban wildscapes, 187–200. Routledge, Abingdon.
Rink, D. & Emmrich, R. (2005) Surrogate nature or wilderness? Social perceptions and notions of nature in an urban context. In Kowarik, I. & Körner, S. (eds.) Wild urban woodlands, 67–80. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-26859-6_4
Rosenzweig, R. & Blackmar, E. (1992) The park and the people: A history of Central Park. Cornell University Press, New York.
Rupprecht, C.D.D. (2017) Informal urban green space: Residents’ perception, use, and management preferences across four major Japanese shrinking cities. Land 6(3) 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/land6030059
Rupprecht, C.D.D. & Byrne, J.A. (2014a) Informal urban green-space: Comparison of quantity and characteristics in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. PLoS ONE 9(6) e99784. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099784
Rupprecht, C.D.D. & Byrne, J.A. (2014b) Informal urban greenspace: A typology and trilingual systematic review of its role for urban residents and trends in the literature. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 13(4) 597–611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2014.09.002
Rupprecht, C.D.D. & Byrne, J.A. (2016) Informal urban greenspace perception and use: Survey instrument. http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.3830.7448
Rupprecht, C.D.D., Byrne, J.A. & Lo, A.Y.H. (2016) Memories of vacant lots: How and why residents used informal urban greenspace as children and teenagers in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. Children’s Geographies 14(3) 340–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2015.1048427
Rupprecht, C.D.D., Byrne, J.A., Garden, J.G. & Hero, J-M. (2015a) Informal urban green space: A trilingual systematic review of its role for biodiversity and trends in the literature. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 14(4) 883–908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2015.08.009
Rupprecht, C.D.D., Byrne, J.A., Ueda, H. & Lo, A.Y.H. (2015b) ‘It’s real, not fake like a park’: Residents’ perception and use of informal urban green-space in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. Landscape and Urban Planning 143 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.07.003
Sapporo Kankyōkyoku Midori No Suishinbu (2013) Bear sighting information. City of Sapporo, Sapporo. <http://www.city.sapporo.jp/kurashi/animal/choju/kuma/syutsubotsu/index.html>. 27.10.2017.
Sapporo Shichō Seisakujitsu Kōhōbu Shimin No Koe O Kiku Ka (2011) Heisei 23nendo dai1kai shimin anke-to chōsa kekka: te-ma4 seibutsu taiyōsei ni tsuite. City of Sapporo, Sapporo. <http://www.city.sapporo.jp/somu/shiminnokoe/sakusei/documents/seibutsutayousei.pdf> 27.10.2017.
Sawaki, M. & Kamihogi, A. (1995) Study on the residents’ taste for coexisting with nature life in the new town. Journal of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture 58(5) 133–136. https://doi.org/10.5632/jila.58.5_133
Seymour, M. & Wolch, J. (2009) Toward zoöpolis? Innovation and contradiction in a conservation community. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 2(3) 215–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549170903466020
Soga, M., Yamaura, Y., Aikoh, T., Shoji, Y., Kubo, T. & Gaston, K. J. (2015) Reducing the extinction of experience: Association between urban form and recreational use of public greenspace. Landscape and Urban Planning 143 69–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.06.003
Sukopp, H. (2002) On the early history of urban ecology in Europe. Preslia 74 373–393.
Trigger, D.S. & Head, L. (2010) Restored nature, familiar culture: Contesting visions for preferred environments in Australian Cities. Nature and Culture 5(3) 231–250. https://doi.org/10.3167/nc.2010.050302
Trigger, D., Mulcock, J., Gaynor, A. & Toussaint, Y. (2008) Ecological restoration, cultural preferences and the negotiation of ‘nativeness’ in Australia. Geoforum 39 1273–1283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.05.010
Ueda, H. & Rupprecht, C.D.D. (2014) The role of green spaces in the city image of Sapporo. Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture 77(5) 487–490. https://doi.org/ 10.5632/jila.77.487
Urbanik, J. (2012) Placing animals: An introduction to the geography of human-animal relations. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD.
Wandersee, J.H. & Schussler, E.E. (1999) Preventing plant blindness. The American Biology Teacher 61(2) 82–86. https://doi.org/10.2307/4450624
Ward, K. (2010) Towards a relational comparative approach to the study of cities. Progress in Human Geography 34(4) 471–487. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132509350239
Wittig, R. & Becker, U. (2010) The spontaneous flora around street trees in cities—A striking example for the worldwide homogenization of the flora of urban habitats. Flora 205(10) 704–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2009.09.001
Wolch, J. (1996) Zoöpolis. Capitalism Nature Socialism 7(2) 21–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455759609358677
Wolch, J. (2002) Anima urbis. Progress in Human Geography 26(6) 721–742. https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132502ph400oa
Wolch, J.R., West, K. & Gaines, T.E. (1995) Transspecies urban theory. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 13(6) 735–760. https://doi.org/10.1068/d130735
Yeo, J-H. & Neo, H. (2010) Monkey business: Human–animal conflicts in urban Singapore. Social & Cultural Geography 11(7) 681–699. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2010.508565
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Christoph D. D. Rupprecht

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Fennia agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. The license of the published metadata is Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a doctoral dissertation or book compilation), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
.png)



