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Case studies catalog.

Alysha Bayens

Program coordinator, ocko.

The Goddard OCKO has a large collection of case studies covering a wide range of missions and technical topics, including launch decision making, procurement, instrument development, risk management and systems engineering. These case studies can be used to facilitate learning of critical knowledge and lessons that enable mission success. Click here to access the case study catalog.

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Summary and Study Guide

Space Case , by Stuart Gibbs, first published in 2014, is the first in a science-fiction series about Moon Base Alpha. Stuart Gibbs is an award-winning young adult author with two other series: The FunJungle series and The Spy School series. In Space Case , Gibbs establishes a fictional future in which humanity has built a colony on the moon in a preliminary effort to live more permanently in space. The protagonist of the story is 12-year-old Dashiell, a resident of the moon base who embarks on an investigation after an elderly scientist dies in an apparent accident. Gibbs has received numerous accolades for Space Case , which has appeared on multiple state reading lists, placed as a finalist for the California Book Award and Mark Twain Award, and nominated for the Iowa Children’s Choice Award. These acknowledgements reflect the positive reception of the book both as a strong example of science fiction and a powerful young adult novel. While the book uses age-appropriate language and descriptions, readers should be aware that one character is murdered, and that the death of that character is a central component of the plot.

This study guide refers to the 2015 paperback edition published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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Dashiell Gibson is a 12-year-old boy whose family is among the first people to live on the moon in 2040. The NASA-built Moon Base Alpha is home to several other families as well as other key members of the lunarnaut team. Dashiell, who goes by Dash, lives with his scientist mother, engineer father, and energetic younger sister, Violet. Life on the moon has been less positive than NASA suggested it would bet: The food is mediocre at best, the base itself is small and inconveniently constructed, and there isn’t much to do. Everything changes for Dash on Lunar Day 188, when he overhears the base doctor, Dr. Holtz, talking in the bathroom at two in the morning about a dramatic, world-changing discovery.

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Three hours after the conversation that Dash overheard, Dr. Holtz is found dead after making an unauthorized and unsafe solo trip out of the airlock and onto the moon’s surface. Though Moon Base Commander Nina Stack insists that it was an accident, Dash is not convinced and begins pulling together clues to figure out what really happened to Dr. Holtz. Dash attempts to talk with the other adolescent on base, Roddy, about what could have happened, but Roddy is focused on his virtual reality games.

A new launch arrives with additional lunarnauts. To keep Dash busy, Nina puts him in charge of welcoming Kira Howard , a sharp preteen who has come to the base with her inattentive father. When Dash returns to his room, Zan Perfonic , a new security worker who will be on base for just two days before returning to Earth, enlists Dashiell to covertly work toward uncovering what happened to Dr. Holtz. Dash starts by seeking Roddy’s help with hacking the base computers, only to find Roddy being bullied by the Sjoberg siblings, the two spoiled children of the wealthy first moon base tourists. Though Dash does successfully humiliate the siblings, Roddy flees, and the mess made in the process further angers Nina, who “grounds” Dash to his family residence. Kira, however, overheard Dash’s side of his conversation with Zan and convinces Dash to let her help. Kira soon reports back with the footage of Dr. Holtz’s exit onto the moon’s surface, noting that Roddy seems to have a crush on her. In the footage, Dr. Holtz looked unhappy before exiting the air lock and signed a message using his hands; per the computer’s translation, in the message, Holtz says “Earth killed me” and to find his phone.

Dash observes the behaviors of his fellow residents at their big meal with fresh food from the launch. The Sjobergs, who insisted on being served first, are disrupted when Roddy chokes on his hamburger and must be saved by the Heimlich maneuver—the offending burger chunk strikes Lars Sjoberg in the forehead, causing him to topple his family’s table. Lars, who had many suspect business dealings back on Earth, reacts with violence and anger when the cafeteria laughs afterward, demanding to be taken back to Earth. Both Nina and Chang Hi-Tech stand up to Lars.

While bearing Lars in mind as a suspect, Dash also somewhat suspects Chang, who once accused Dr. Holtz of stealing his research idea. That night, though, after a late-night exercise session, Dash witnesses Chang stand up to Lars yet again, this time on behalf of Dr. Holtz’s memory. Dash continues his investigation, informing Zan of his recent sign language discovery and latest suspects. In a mandated session with Dr. Marquez, Dash also baits the psychologist into revealing two more suspects: Sonja Sjoberg, who has a history of violence, and Garth Grisan, who NASA has apparently excused from ever attending the mandated psych evaluations.

When Dash, Kira, and Roddy realize that Daphne is the only person absent from the mandatory memorial for Dr. Holtz, they go look for her. They find her stealing information from an administrative computer, and she admits to being a corporate spy for an adventure company that wants to establish a tourism site on the moon. Daphne, relieved at having told the truth, also reveals to the trio that an additional robot was activated on the morning of Dr. Holtz’s death. Dash realizes that Holtz likely used the robot to hide his phone in the solar array on the moon’s surface.

Kira insists they should find the phone by sneaking onto the lunar surface that night. Dash tries to find Zan in advance and enlist her help, but she seems to warn him away any time he tries to speak with her in public. Late that night, Kira and Dash carefully suit up and exit the airlock. Initially, bounding about on the moon is exhilarating, and after some searching, they dig up Dr. Holtz’s phone from near a specific solar array. However, just as they find it, a remote-controlled robotic arm attacks them from overhead.

The arm sends Dash flying, and in his fall, he cracks his helmet. Thinking quickly, Dash outsmarts whoever is operating the robot by lying about his location and staying still. He grabs the phone again, which he dropped, evades the arm, and makes it back inside with Kira right before his helmet shatters completely. Their escape and re-entry triggers the alarm, summoning all the residents of the base.

Though the phone is broken, Chang Hi-Tech quickly repairs some of the audio captured on it. The Howards, Gibbs, Nina, and Chang hear Dr. Holtz on the phone with an unknown second person who threatens to kill Dr. Holtz’s daughter if the doctor reveals his discovery: an intelligent alien life form. When the computer makes yet another error, interpreting Chang’s next request incorrectly, Dash realizes who the second person is. Pulling up the footage of Dr. Holtz on his watch, Dash has his mother confirm that what Dr. Holtz spelled in sign language was not “Earth” but the name Garth, as in Garth Grisan.

Garth retaliates by threatening to depressurize the moon base, insisting that humanity cannot learn yet that aliens exist. After a long argument, Chang subdues Garth, and Nina places him under arrest. With the murder solved, Dash works out one final mystery. He finds Zan, and she reveals her identity as an alien from a planet 10 light years away who can think herself present on the base. Her species, she explains, has been monitoring humans for some time. Now that humans are beginning to colonize space, they want to establish a relationship. Zan suspects humanity as a whole is indeed not ready, but she asks if Dash would like to be her contact. Dash agrees, even though it needs to be kept secret, and asks Zan to teach him how to project himself via thought too. 

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YouTube Space, London

Project summary.

YouTube Space London is a specially created facility where YouTubers and vloggers can learn, connect and create. Its purpose is to allow content contributors to improve the quality of their posts by providing them with high quality studio and editing spaces and technical assistance from studio staff. Set inside parent company Google’s office at 6 Pancras Square, YouTube Space London has two fully-isolated double-height studios and a third single height isolated studio, an isolated sound control room, production control room and training and edit facilities. The primary studios were designed with a focus on broadcasting with the capability for music performance. The largest Studio can also be used as a cinema/screening room with a Dolby Atmos surround sound system and 4k screening facility. Replacing their previous facilities at Central St Giles, YouTube Space London spans 20,000 sq. feet, making it the largest YouTube Space in Europe.

Services Provided

Sandy Brown was appointed to provide the acoustic design for Google’s office at 6 Pancras Square. As part of the project, we were also commissioned to advise on the YouTube Space at the basement, basement mezzanine and lower ground floors of the building, from conception to completion.

The key acoustic design requirements were driven towards providing very low-noise, acoustically sensitive spaces, included:

• achieving very high levels of sound insulation between the primary studios such that amplified music performance could take place in one without giving rise to disturbance in the directly adjacent, highly sensitive, other studio.
• the design of a very quiet, low air speed ventilation system for all three studios such that air conditioning noise would not interfere with recordings
• the development of a bespoke, durable acoustic wall treatment system that provides reverberation control across the frequency range whilst maintaining the architectural aspirations and functionality

Special Acoustic Features

Isolated box-in-box structures were incorporated in order to provide very high levels of sound insulation around the studios. These comprised jack-up floating concrete floors, a combination of light and heavyweight partition elements and fully independent lids. The complex mechanical services design incorporated highly attenuated air paths, low-noise ductwork, acoustic lagging and isolated connections in order to deliver conditioned air into the high-load studios whilst maintaining very low services noise levels. Early adoption of appropriate acoustic principles was key to achieving the required zonal allowances for the strategy to be successful. The bespoke acoustic wall treatment was developed in order to provide broadband reverberation control in the studios using a combination of porous and panel absorbers, all contained within a durable architectural finish to maintain the aesthetic intent. The modular absorbers can be re-distributed within the studios in order to vary reverberation and provide a flexible acoustic environment to the end user. Acoustic commissioning was undertaken upon completion with a 13 kW PA system in order to generate sufficient low frequency sound to accurately measure the sound insulation performance of the studio walls.

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25 Inspirational YouTube Success Stories & Case Studies [2024]

For anyone looking to start a successful YouTube channel, there are plenty of YouTube channel success stories that can be used as inspiration and encouragement. In addition, YouTube has an established monetization system and boasts incredible popularity, making it a potential platform for revenue generation.

In this article, we'll look at different approaches you can use to help promote your channel and grow your viewers. While there's no quick and easy way to success, you can take these tips to build your own YouTube Channel Success story. If you love content creation, you can capitalize on YouTube's popularity to earn extra income.

If you want to join the Youtube partner program to monetize your channel, you will need to reach a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a youtube channel:

1. Pete & Pedro ($7.2M/year)

Aaron Marino, the founder of Pete & Pedro, came up with the idea for his men's grooming brand after his image consulting business struggled to make money. He started making YouTube videos to help guys with their style, and as his audience grew, he saw an opportunity to create and sell his own haircare products. With his existing YouTube channel as a marketing platform, Marino was able to successfully launch and grow Pete & Pedro into a multi-million-dollar business.

How much they make: $7.2M/year How much did it cost to start: $5K Current team size: 8

Learn how one man went from bankruptcy and driving a beer cart to launching a successful men's grooming brand, Pete & Pedro, featured on Shark Tank, by leveraging the power of YouTube and a slowly growing audience.

2. The Kavalier ($72K/year)

Jon Shanahan came up with the idea for The Kavalier after realizing the need for guidance in the exploding online menswear brand space. Modeled after The Wirecutter, Jon started the YouTube channel in 2015 with the goal of delivering helpful, in-depth recommendations by category. With a subscriber count of 57k and revenue of $7,000 per month, Jon continues to grow steadily and redefine the modern context of being a gentleman in the menswear world.

How much they make: $72K/year Current team size: 1

The Kavalier started as a YouTube channel in 2015 delivering honest and approachable reviews on men's fashion brands, growing to 57k subscribers, 500 videos, and earning $7k per month in revenue, providing helpful, in-depth recommendations by category with a YouTube strategy focused on standing out and niching down.

So... can you actually make money with a youtube channel?

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3. MTN SIDE BUILDERS ($480K/year)

Cameron Vilcsak, the founder of Mountain Fire Woodworks, came up with the idea for his business through his passion for carving and building things out of wood. After documenting the process of building a log cabin on his YouTube channel, a viral video with over 25 million views, he realized the potential to turn his passion into a scalable business. With steady passive income, plans to release more content, and exciting future projects, Vilcsak's business is thriving.

How much they make: $480K/year How much did it cost to start: $50K Current team size: 5

Mountain Fire Woodworks founder Cameron Vilcsak shares how he used YouTube to promote his log cabins, chainsaw carvings, and passion for woodworking, culminating in one of his videos that has gone viral with over 25 million views and counting.

4. Cinquanta Cox-Smith ($120K/year)

Cinquanta Cox-Smith, a Multipreneur from South Carolina, stumbled upon the Print On Demand industry 12 years ago when she wanted to create a unique shirt and discovered Spreadshirt.com. Through her creativity and networking skills, she found success in designing and selling catchy, conversation-starting shirts. This eventually led her to create multiple POD brands on various platforms, generating an impressive $120k per year in revenue.

How much they make: $120K/year How much did it cost to start: $100 Current team size: 1

A multipreneur shares how she built a successful print on demand side hustle, generating $120,000 per year through multiple brands spread over various platforms.

5. Ask Holly Hall ($72K/year)

Holly Hall, a clairvoyant life coach, was introduced to the world of astrology and spiritual therapy through a book lent by a co-worker. With her unique abilities and a deep understanding of individuals, she launched her business, Ask Holly Hall, and has since garnered endorsements from esteemed figures like Dr. Shefali. With an average income of $5,000-8,000 per month, she aims to expand her reach through podcasting and publishing her book with a publishing company.

How much they make: $72K/year How much did it cost to start: $200 Current team size:

Meet the Clairvoyant life coach who has built a highly successful business generating an average income of $5,000-8,000 a month through her talents as an Author, LifeCoach Astropsychologist, Spiritual Therapist, astrologer, and Clairvoyant with the ability in remote viewing to help clients understand their existence, relationships, careers, and connection with the universe or source.

6. Biteplay ($72K/year)

Henrique Chappuis, co-founder of Biteplay, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the potential of YouTube ads in generating revenue. He had previously experienced success with YT ads and saw the opportunity to automate the process and target relevant video placements. Through beta testing and educational courses, Biteplay gained traction and has since been featured as a top product on Product Hunt.

How much they make: $72K/year How much did it cost to start: $5K Current team size: 0

Biteplay is a one-year-old SaaS that allows brands to place ads in relevant YouTube video content and create collaborations with influencers, generating up to $10k each month and growing revenue by 30% per month.

7. Delray Watch Supply ($3.84M/year)

John Pietrasz and Federico Iossa, co-founders of Delray Watch Supply, came up with the idea for their tech-driven luxury watch dealer through their shared passion for watches and their expertise in the industry. They launched the business with $4,000 in their kitchen and now see sales of over $3.3 million annually, attracting and retaining customers through engagement on YouTube.

How much they make: $3.84M/year Current team size: 4

Delray Watch Supply, a tech-driven luxury watch dealer, co-founded by John Pietrasz and Federico Iossa 20 months ago with $4,000 in a kitchen, has seen sales of over $3.3M annually, with sales expected to reach close to $4M this year.

8. Annmarie ($12M/year)

Kevin Gianni, the founder of Annmarie Skin Care, stumbled upon the idea for his business while researching natural health therapies. After traveling the world and discovering a line of skincare products that aligned with his values, he partnered with the owner to bring the line to the wider public. With a platform already established through their YouTube channel, the business was able to launch successfully and continues to grow.

How much they make: $12M/year Current team size: 26

Kevin Gianni, CEO and founder of Annmarie Skin Care reveals how he and his wife went from being youtubers to having the ability to run their seven-figure, natural, organic skincare and beauty company, with over 105k subscribers, using their existing platform.

9. Chicken Armor® ($9.6K/year)

Jill Bong, the co-founder of Chicken Armor, came up with the idea after her beloved chicken died from mating injuries. Unable to afford traditional saddles, Jill and her husband developed their own affordable and low-maintenance chicken saddle, which has since sold over 50,000 units and protected chickens in all 50 states and on 4 continents.

How much they make: $9.6K/year Current team size: 2

Chicken Armor has sold over 50,000 affordable and easy-to-maintain chicken saddles since its inception, and utilizes a no-strings-attached guarantee and extensive media coverage for customer acquisition and retention.

10. Mrs Daaku Studio ($60K/year)

Chhavi, the founder of Mrs Daaku Studio, had a desire to achieve financial freedom and work from home. After finding success as a freelance writer, she and her husband Amit realized there was a demand for information and guidance on working from home and starting side hustles. They launched their blog and YouTube channel, offering valuable resources and products like The Client Magnet Bundle and The Content Mojo, which have helped them earn $5-7k per month and live a flexible life.

How much they make: $60K/year How much did it cost to start: $500 Current team size: 3

Learn how this entrepreneurial couple made $5-7k a month by helping others find legitimate work from home jobs and creative ways to make money online through their blog and YouTube channel, as well as offering two flagship products designed to help beginner freelancers and new bloggers accelerate growth.

11. Rhett & Link YouTube Channel ($30M/year)

How much they make: $30M/year Current team size:

"Rhett and Link, who earned a combined $30 million in 2021, plan to invest $5 million in other YouTubers after their R-rated live stream garnered 70,000 viewers who paid up to $50 per ticket."

12. MrBeast YouTube Channel ($54M/year)

How much they make: $54M/year Current team size:

Discover how MrBeast raised $20 million, donated over 100 cars, gave away a private island, and $1 million in one video, all while building and growing his own successful business.

13. Kashvi Adlakha YouTube Channel ($16M/year)

How much they make: $16M/year Current team size:

A YouTuber attracts a whopping 331.82 million views a month, earning an estimated $19.91 million a year.

14. Rosanna Pansino YouTube Channel ($5M/year)

How much they make: $5M/year Current team size:

This case study shares the story of Rosanna Pansino, a YouTube personality who earns over $5 million every year from her channel which has 13.7 million subscribers, sharing cooking videos that are typically 15-20 minutes long.

15. Zoella YouTube Channel ($4.57M/year)

How much they make: $4.57M/year Current team size: 6

Case study: How Zoella earned over $5 million through YouTube, with almost a billion views and over 10.8 million subscribers, and leveraged her popularity to secure lucrative advertising and television opportunities.

16. YourAverageTechBro ($30K/year)

Dohyun Kim, the founder of YourAverageTechBro, stumbled upon creating social media content during the pandemic. After realizing the potential of short-form videos on TikTok, he leaned into his competitive advantage as a software engineer and began creating content that resonated with his audience. Currently earning an average of $3,000 per month, Dohyun plans to expand his revenue streams through original content and product sales in the future.

How much they make: $30K/year How much did it cost to start: $0 Current team size: 1

Dohyun Kim shares his journey starting as a software engineer on YouTube and pivoting into short-form content on TikTok and Instagram with 155,000 followers and 11,000 subscribers, currently averaging $3000/month across ad money, sponsored content, and course sales.

17. Part-Time YouTuber Academy ($4.5M/year)

How much they make: $4.5M/year Current team size: 21

How a junior doctor generates over $4.5M through 15 income streams from a YouTube channel with over 3M subscribers and over 218,836,000 total views.

18. Kirsty Partridge Art ($36.7K/year)

How much they make: $36.7K/year Current team size:

This case study details how Kirsty Partridge grew her art YouTube channel to over 1.3M subscribers and 81,296,486 views, and expanded her business by launching an art tutorials website and personalized art course which has taught 21K+ students.

19. Humphrey ($240K/year)

How much they make: $240K/year Current team size:

Personal finance expert Humphrey Yang made $20,000 a month from nine passive sources of income, including TikTok, YouTube, stocks, Turo car rentals, real estate, cryptocurrency staking, and writing, with an estimated net worth of $2 million.

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20. Pursuit of Passive Income ($264K/year)

Michael was looking for a passive income generating approach when he stumbled upon blogging and decided to venture.

How much they make: $264K/year How much did it cost to start: $500 Current team size: 0

This case study is about a blogger who turned his passion into a business that generates $20k per month, mostly through affiliate marketing and consulting, by focusing on long-term sustainable passive income streams through blogging.

21. Higher Levels ($120K/year)

How much they make: $120K/year How much did it cost to start: $750 Current team size: 0

Case study synopsis: In just 2 years, Eric and Kris grew their YouTube channel 'Tech Sales With Eric' into a full educational platform, higherlevels.com, generating over $10,000/month in revenue from organic YouTube traffic, and are now exploring paid advertising and affiliate marketing to fuel their hyper growth phase.

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Attitudes towards Green Urban Space: A Case Study of Two Italian Regions

Alessia grigoletto.

1 Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; [email protected] (A.G.); [email protected] (S.T.)

Mario Mauro

2 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Study of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy

Francesco Campa

3 Department of Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy; [email protected] (F.C.); [email protected] (L.B.); [email protected] (P.M.L.)

Alberto Loi

4 Department of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; [email protected]

Maria Cristina Zambon

5 Welfare Area and Promotion of Community Wellness, Bologna Municipality, 40126 Bologna, Italy; [email protected] (M.C.Z.); [email protected] (M.B.)

Marzia Bettocchi

Mark nieuwenhuijsen.

6 ISGlobal, 08036 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected]

Laura Bragonzoni

Pasqualino maietta latessa, stefania toselli.

Green spaces are defined as open spaces of ground, covered by vegetation, including parks and gardens. This kind of environment is linked to many positive effects and its importance is growing due to increasing urbanization. Understanding what drives people to use green urban space is fundamental to creating appropriate campaigns to develop the use of such spaces and improve the citizens’ quality of life. A questionnaire on the attitude towards green space was developed and submitted to people from two Italian regions. Emilia-Romagna and Veneto are two regions in the North of Italy with different territorial policies. Three hundred and ten surveys were collected (167 in Emilia-Romagna and 143 in Veneto). Significant differences were observed between regions, age groups and in relation to the kind of work ( p < 0.05). People from Emilia-Romagna have higher scores of attitudes towards green space than people from Veneto, underlining the importance of territorial policies. Moreover, younger participants (18–30 years) seem to be less attracted to green urban space. Being an employee seems to influence the attitude towards green space. Particular attention should be given to subjects of the younger age groups and to the number of hours spent at work. This could be an important element for future research, so that political action can be implemented with these categories in mind.

1. Introduction

Urbanization has led to significant changes in the landscape, with more people concentrated in cities [ 1 ]. It constitutes a massive environmental transformation in which natural ecosystems are largely lost or degraded, resulting in a reduction of the possible beneficial effects that nature can provide to people, including those related to health and psychophysical well-being. This undoubtedly has a strong impact on public health, since it is expected that by 2030 three out of every five people of the worldwide population will live in an urban area [ 1 ]. Therefore, one of the most important challenges for the future will be to create people-friendly cities, and the safeguard of green spaces represents a fundamental aspect to achieving this. Cities are usually relatively nature-poor due to the great range of competing land-use [ 2 ] or, are areas in which urban natural spaces face considerable development pressure [ 3 ]. Green spaces are defined as the open spaces of ground, partially or completely covered by vegetation, including parks and gardens. The loss of these kinds of spaces likely leads to less contact with the natural world for many urban dwellers [ 4 , 5 ], a circumstance that has potential negative impacts on the quality of life and well-being of the population [ 6 ]. Furthermore, certain environmental factors which characterize urban settings, such as air pollution, noise and extremely high temperatures have been associated with increased mortality [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], and the protection/creation of natural outdoor environments might help reduce these negative environmental factors and their impact on health and life-expectancy [ 10 , 11 ]. In addition, the exposure to and the interaction with nature have been shown to have a role in cognitive function and social cohesion, and to have long-lasting psychological benefits [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Furthermore, urban green spaces provide areas for recreation, community activities and physical activities; the latter, in particular, has a significant protective role in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Time spent in a natural setting has been linked to reduced stress [ 20 ] and to improved concentration [ 4 , 21 ]. In addition, the access to green space and parks and the proposal of physical activity programs may also be a protective factor for the disadvantaged populations. Various ethno-racial groups exhibit distinct preferences for leisure settings and have diverse reasons for visiting recreational facilities such as parks. Dahmann et al. reported that the recreational programs offered, and their variety, may be restricted in lower-income communities with fewer fiscal resources; thus, urban recreation programs that involve varying degrees of physical exertion should be implemented in these communities [ 4 ]. In fact, poor people and non-white persons have a lower possibility to access the park with a consequent higher health risk associated with a lack of physical activity [ 22 ].

Different types of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the beneficial effects of a green environment: (1) restoration theory, according to which watching a green space influences health perception and well-being, because of the intrinsic quality of the natural outdoor environment [ 7 , 10 , 21 ]; (2) biodiversity increase, which concerns the link between green space in terms of a healthy environment, influences the immune response, and is characterized by lower temperature and lower air and noise pollution [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]; (3) opportunity to perform physical activity, by promoting leisure walking, walking through the space when running errands, active playing and sports [ 10 , 11 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]; (4) enhancement of social interaction and improved social cohesion in the community [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. However, it should be added that although the beneficial effects of natural habitats are commonly reported, the negative effects should also be considered [ 34 ]. According to Dudek et al. there could be a worsening of the health risk among allergy sufferers who visit forest areas or their immediate vicinity [ 35 ]. The authors suggest that information on the risk of allergenic pollen in natural communities would be extremely useful for visitors, since visiting appropriate places in the forest allows the exposure of allergen sensitive people to be reduced.

Even though there has been a growth in the literature focused on the importance of green urban spaces and several studies have highlighted a relationship between exposure to the natural environment and better health perception [ 36 ], the mechanism that brings people to use green space is still unclear [ 37 , 38 ]. In particular, some concerns involve the optimal distance of the house from the park to ensure a frequent use of green spaces. The current recommended distance between a residence and the nearest open public space is 300 m [ 32 ]; however, other studies have suggested that people are willing to walk for even longer distances in order to have access to a green urban space if parks have some attractive features [ 39 , 40 ]. Other factors that may influence access to parks are socio-economic status, sex and age. Previous studies have shown that the use of natural environments may differ according to socio-economic status and sex [ 36 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]: women between 18 and 30 and those over 65 generally showed a higher frequency of use in comparison with men or people belonging to other age groups [ 44 ]. In addition, women are disproportionately affected by common mental health issues and they are more sensitive to the neighbourhood environment [ 45 ]. Women are therefore a group for which the effects of urban parks could be especially important [ 46 ]. With regard to age, young people generally underutilize parks and green urban spaces because they prefer to spend their leisure time in other kinds of activities rather than in outdoor experiences [ 47 ].

Another aspect concerns the link between physical activity and park use. Physical inactivity is one of the five leading global risks for mortality in the world, because it is responsible for raising the risk of chronic disease and cancers [ 48 ]. It is estimated that 3.3 million people die annually worldwide as a result of physical inactivity and a significant proportion of the adult population remains inactive [ 21 , 27 ]. The exposure to a natural environment is linked to triggering a higher amount of physical activity among residents, and a lower mortality rate [ 31 , 32 , 40 ]. Some studies suggest that peoples’ perception of the environment could influence the willingness and intention to use the surrounding environment [ 49 , 50 ]. Relatively few studies have assessed the effects of the perception of green space and the use of parks in terms of health promotion and such studies are lacking in Italy. Encouraging park visitation could promote the physical and mental health of residents. Even if there is increasing literature about the importance of green spaces, the results are contrasting because of the different measurements, statistical analysis and covariate sets used. Thus, the relationships change based on the individual characteristics considered, and the question of what drives people to use green urban spaces is still open.

Therefore, the first aim of this exploratory research was to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the attitude towards green spaces and understand what drives citizens to use them. In Italy, different policies regarding green spaces are adopted among regions [ 51 , 52 ].

Thus, a second aim was to assess whether there are any differences in attitudes toward parks between the inhabitants of two Italian regions: Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. These are two bordering regions in the north of Italy, similar in population characteristics and socio-economic status. Emilia-Romagna has an area of 22,444 km 2 with a population of 4,459,477 people, mostly living in the provincial capitals, and a pro capita income of 22,500 euros. The area of Emilia-Romagna is mainly covered by plains and mountains with rainfall ranging from 600 mm per year in the plain to 1500 mm per year in the mountainous area. There are two national parks in this region covering an area of 36,000 hectares. Veneto is further north than Emilia-Romagna and has an area of 18,390 km 2 mainly covered by plains and mountains. There are 4,905,854 people who live in Veneto and most of them live in the provincial capitals, with a pro capita income of 21,994 euros. The rainfall range is very similar to Emilia-Romagna. Veneto has only one national park, but it covers an area of 32,000 hectares [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ].

However, as regards physical activity programs in green spaces for the population, the two regions show marked differences. In Emilia-Romagna, a project to increase green areas in cities by 20% was approved in 2020, while in Veneto there are no similar projects.

In March 2021, the Emilia-Romagna region allocated 4.5 million euros for parks and biodiversity agencies to promote sustainable development and to combat climate change, and 3.6 million euros for projects that protect and enhance the natural environment and the environmental heritage throughout the whole region [ 57 , 58 ]. At the same time, eight areas of Emilia-Romagna were chosen by the Europarc Federation to participate in the “European charter for sustainable tourism” with the goal of developing environmental tourism [ 59 ]. Since 2005, the municipality of Bologna (the regional capital) has celebrated “Arbor Day”, where trees are planted in different parts of the city [ 60 ]. In Bologna, there have been other initiatives to improve the use of green urban spaces. In fact, since 2010 Bologna citizens have had the possibility to experience different kinds of outdoor physical activity in parks in the summertime through the project “Parchi in movimento” [ 61 ]. Moreover, from 2011 onwards, senior citizens in Bologna have had the opportunity to be physically active while also improving their socialization thanks to the city’s project “Badabene alla salute”, which envisages twice weekly physical activity group sessions and walking groups in public parks and other urban outdoor spaces located in the six districts of Bologna. Similar projects were carried out in the other provinces of Emilia-Romagna. Veneto has had only a few projects regarding green spaces and these are linked to local municipalities (such as Padua or Verona); there were no similar regional projects or events [ 62 , 63 ]. Higher scores in attitude towards green urban spaces could be a demonstration of the efficacy of the territorial policies in Emilia-Romagna.

Therefore, the first objective of the present study was to propose a questionnaire that could be effective for understanding attitudes towards green space. Many factors (demographic, proximity and park use) may affect attitudes, and in literature these were often considered individually. Therefore, the second goal was to gain a better understanding of the influence of these factors, and assess the differences in the attitude towards green spaces, not only at a territorial level, but also considering sexes, age groups, level of education, distances between home and green space and among people who use parks for physical activity or not. In particular, in Italy there is a lack of studies about attitudes towards green urban space, and this preliminary study has the potential to provide helpful, if not generalizable, information on this matter. The understanding of what components influence the determination of an attitude could be very useful for managers and decision makers engaged in public health, as this could help guide management strategies.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. participants.

Three hundred and fifty subjects completed the questionnaires, but some were excluded from the analysis as they lacked important information. Ultimately, 310 surveys contained all the information and were considered in the present study: 167 from Emilia-Romagna and 143 from Veneto. The survey was approved by the Bioethics Committee (prot. N. 022254) and was administered in the two regions both on paper (distributed in parks) and in an online version with Google Moduli. Distribution of the survey began in May 2020 and the online version was closed in September 2020.

In addition, before administering the questionnaire a pre-test was carried out using a small sample of respondents to assess its reliability. For this purpose, we recruited 60 subjects via a convenience-based sampling to validate the survey. This group consisted of 30 participants from Emilia-Romagna and 30 from Veneto, divided equally between men and women, and age groups. The questionnaire was administered in the paper version to people who were randomly recruited in both regions using a social network, such as Facebook.

2.2. Procedures

A new questionnaire was developed to investigate the attitude that drives people to use urban parks. Attitude represents a synthetic assessment of a psychological object evaluated in positive or negative dimensions [ 46 , 47 ]. The survey was divided into two subsections: (1) demographic information, and (2) attitude toward green space components. The first section collected demographic information, including sex, date and place of birth, region and city of living, level of education, marital status, occupation and the distance from their home to the nearest urban park. Information regarding the use of parks for physical activity was also gathered. The second part included questions designed to assess participants’ attitude toward green urban spaces [ 64 ]. The statements were evaluated using the Likert scale.

The questionnaire included fifteen items, divided into three components: cognitive, behavioural and affective. Questions one to five belonged to the cognitive component, which can be measured through the belief types of value orientations, objective knowledge and perceived outcomes. The second component covered the behavioural aspect, and investigated park use and the participation in outdoor nature recreation. The items included in this section were from number six to number ten. Finally, questions from eleven to fifteen examined the affective component, based upon basic emotions differentials. All three components were evaluated with the Likert scale, from 1 to 5, in which 1 meant “strongly disagree” and 5 “strongly agree”. The data used for this statistical study will be available from the corresponding author upon request.

2.3. Statistical Analysis

In order to assess the questionnaire’s validity, its internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient on the answers of the recruited pre-test sample; a confirmatory analysis (CFA) for the convergent validity of the constructs was then performed. Cronbach’s alpha was considered reliable for values between 0.5 and 0.9.

Subsequently, to better achieve the objectives of the study, the suitability of the sample size was assessed using the G-Power software 3.1.9.2. An a priori power analysis was conducted to ensure that the number of participants was representative for the purposes of this study. To identify the sample size for the study, we assessed an a priori: computer required sample size given α, power and Effect Size by G*Power (version 3.1.9.2, Universitat Kiel, Kiel, Germany). When ANOVA was selected (α = 0.05; 1 − β = 0.90; effect size f = 0.25) a sample size of 270 participants was detected. When multiple regression was selected, the calculated outcomes parameters detected a sample size of 130 participants. Additional subjects were involved to ensure the availability of data in case of problems with data collection.

Variables’ normality was verified with the Shapiro–Wilk test. Descriptive statistics (means and SD) and frequencies were calculated. Since the variables were not normally distributed, a non-parametric ANOVA was used to assess differences between regions, sex, age groups, marital status, education level, distance from the park and use of the park. When a significant F ratio was obtained, the Tukey post hoc test was used to evaluate the differences among the groups. As regards demographic factors of proximity and park use, the differences of the frequencies between the two regions were assessed by the Chi-square test.

Finally, to further understand the influence of demographic characteristics on green space perception, a set of multiple regression models was built. A backward multiple regression analysis was carried out to assess possible predictors of the total score obtained in the three different components. Some demographic and personal characteristics were used as independent variables. In particular, age groups, sex, marital status, region of living, educational level, profession, distance from the park and use of the park were included in the model. Predictors inputted into the model were those found to have significant associations with the total score obtained in the three different components (i.e., p < 0.05), while those with p > 0.05 were removed from the model. After performing the model, all the hypotheses were verified.

A data analysis was performed using Statistica for Windows, version 8.0 (Stat Soft Italia srl, Vigonza, Padua, Italy).

3.1. Validation of the Questionnaire

The Cronbach’s α value was 0.888, and the Cronbach’s alpha values of the different components of attitude were all above the threshold of 0.7, which can be regarded as reliable. Loading values, used to assess the relationship between variables, ranged from 0.583 to 0.965 among the different items in this study. Since the alpha was 0.929 for the cognitive component, 0.704 for the behavioral component and 0.761 for the affective component, the questionnaire could be considered valid. The model derived from the confirmatory factor analysis showed a fit with the data (Minimum discrepancy per degree of freedom, CMIN = 70.08; df = 51, CMIN/df = 1.06; Comparative Fit Index, CFI = 0.961; Root mean square residual, RMR = 0.03). According to conventional criteria, the Chi-squared/df < 2, CFI > 0.9 and RMR < 0.05 indicated a good fit [ 65 , 66 , 67 ].

Table 1 shows the results of Cronbach’s α for the sample of sixty people.

Reliability analysis.

3.2. Assessment of the Attitude toward Green Space

3.2.1. demographic and socio-economic characteristics.

Table 2 summarizes the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the subjects that participated in the study: 167 subjects (54%) come from Emilia-Romagna and 143 (46%) from Veneto. Most of the respondents were female ( n = 194, 62%). To consider the representation of subjects according to age, people were divided into 10-year age class groups: the class most represented was the 51–60 years group ( n = 81, 27%), followed by the 18–30 years ( n = 66, 21%), 41–50 ( n = 51, 16%), 31–40 ( n = 49, 16%), 61–70 ( n = 46, 15%) and the over 70 ( n =14, 5%). Most of the participants had gained a high school diploma ( n = 106, 35%) or a master’s degree ( n = 108, 35%). A large part of the sample lived at a distance of less than 300 m from a park ( n = 213, 69%). Park users numbered 206 (67%) and non-users 104 (33%).

Demographic characteristics of participants ( n = 310) and Chi-square test between the frequencies of the two regions.

Note. Some demographic characteristics were no present in all the sample (female over 70 years in Veneto, widower in Veneto).

Significant differences between the participants of the two regions were observed for certain demographic characteristics, such as age groups, education levels, marital status and distance from the park ( p < 0.05). In Emilia-Romagna, most participants were in the age group 18–31 years for men (22.4%) and 51–60 years (27.5%) for women. In Veneto, the situation was similar for women (28.51% in the age group 51–60) but different for men, where the highest percentage of participants was observed in the age groups of 31–40 years and 51–60 years (23.7%). Significant differences were also observed in the education level: a generally higher level was observed in Emilia-Romagna compared to Veneto. Married people were more represented than those with the other statuses (50.0% for men and 51.4% for women in Emilia-Romagna, and 61.0% for men and 42.9% for women in Veneto). Even though in both regions the people who lived at a distance of less than 300 m from the park were higher than those who lived farther (82.8% for men and 70.6% for women in Emilia-Romagna, and 67.8% for men and 57.1% for women in Veneto), the difference between the two regions was significant. No significant differences were observed between regions in users for physical activity and non-users: users were more numerous than non-users, with the highest percentage of men in Emilia-Romagna (74.1%).

Participants were asked if they regularly used the park, since this information could influence their attitude toward green spaces: 67% of the participants regularly used the parks ( n = 206), while 33% ( n = 104) did not. Of this percentage, 47% ( n = 96) of users lived in Veneto and 53% ( n = 110) in Emilia-Romagna; 60% ( n = 123) of users were female and 40% ( n = 83) were male. In Veneto, the percentage of women that used the park was 65% ( n = 55) and the percentage of men users was 66% ( n = 39). Regarding non-users, women represented 35% ( n = 29) and men 34% ( n = 20). In Emilia-Romagna, women users were 62% ( n = 68) and men users 77% ( n = 42). Non-users were respectively 38% for women ( n = 41) and 24% for men ( n = 13).

A non-parametric two-way ANOVA was performed to evaluate sex and age group differences in the total sample ( Table 3 ). Regarding the sexes, significant differences were found in two items: “I prefer to do outdoor physical activity” and “I learn about local environmental issue from family/friends”. For the first item, men had higher scores than women, but for the second item, women had higher scores than men.

Descriptive statistics and ANOVA for sexes and age groups.

Note. F = test F, p = p -value, * = interaction between the two variables.

Regarding age groups, significant differences were found in the items “I prefer to do outdoor physical activity”, “Green space is important”, “Nature parks are boring”, “I learn about local environmental issue from family/friends”, and in the total score of the cognitive component and the total score of the affective components. Such differences were mostly found between the youngest age group (18–30 years) and the oldest groups (61–70 years and over 70). The participants of the age group 18–30 years generally showed lower values than the participants of the other age groups for many items. Significant interactions were observed between sexes and age groups in thirteen items. Women of all age groups generally presented higher scores than men; women aged 41–50 years showed lower scores than women aged 31–40 years.

When the distance of the dwelling from the park was considered, 69% of the participants indicated a distance of less than 300 m from their residence to the nearest park and only 31% indicated a greater distance. No significant differences were found in attitudes between the two groups.

Since one of the aims of the present study was to highlight any differences in the attitude towards green space between the participants of the two regions, we carried out a non-parametric ANOVA considering regions, sexes and age groups. In Table 4 , the mean values and standard deviations of the considered items for regions, sexes and age groups are reported, while the ANOVA results are shown in Table 5 .

Descriptive statistics in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto for age groups and sexes.

Note. M = male, F = female.

Results of interaction of regions, sexes and age groups of non-parametric ANOVA.

Note. * = interaction between the variables, F = test F, p = p -value.

With regard to the differences between regions, significant differences were found in 13 items ( Table 5 ). Participants from Emilia-Romagna generally presented higher scores than those from Veneto. Numerous significant interactions were observed between regions and sexes: in general, men from Veneto had the lowest values while women from Emilia-Romagna had the highest. Considering regions and age groups, the highest values of the scores were observed in the oldest participants from Emilia-Romagna (61–70 years and over 70 years); the lowest scores were observed in the youngest participants from Veneto (18–30 years and 31–40 years). Regarding the interaction between the three factors (sexes, age groups and regions), the men from Veneto aged 31–40 years generally showed the lowest scores in nearly all the considered items. In particular, men from Veneto aged 31–40 showed significant differences in comparison with their peers in the items “Contact with nature is important to well-being” and “Tax dollars should be spent on nature parks”. In addition, they presented significant differences with the older women from Emilia-Romagna (61–70 years and over 70 years) in the items “Green space in cities is important”, “I expect to feel refreshed after visiting a nature park”, “I like the structure of the park I use” and the total score of the cognitive and affective components.

Multiple regression models were carried out to quantify the relationship between the dependent variable (the total score of the three components) and the explanatory variables (demographic characteristics). The results of the multiple regressions divided for the three different components are shown in Table 6 , Table 7 and Table 8 . The analysis was carried out first on the entire sample and then separately for Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.

Multiple regression model for the cognitive component.

Note. β = regression coefficient, T = t-student, p = p -value, R 2 = proportion of variance explained.

Multiple regression for the behavioural component.

Multiple regression for the affective component.

Table 6 shows the results for the cognitive component. The total model explained 27% of the variance. The results revealed that age group 18–30 years (regression coefficient, β = −0.20, p < 0.05), profession (employee β = −0.20, p < 0.005, managing director β = −0.20, p < 0.05, health care professional β = −0.21, p < 0.05) and do not use the park (β = −0.22, p < 0.05) were negative predictors of the total score of the cognitive component. For Emilia-Romagna, the model explained 44% of the variance and the results were similar to the total model. Age group 18–30 years (β = −0.43, p < 0.05), profession (employee β = −0.35, p < 0.05, managing director β = −0.25, p < 0.05) and do not use the park (β = −0.23, p < 0.05) demonstrated a negative relationship with the total score of the cognitive component. Instead, a bachelor’s degree (β = 2.67, p < 0.05) and the profession of engineer (β = 0.18, p < 0.05) were positive predictors of this component. For Veneto, the model explained 45% of the variance. The results revealed that profession (health care profession β = −0.33, p < 0.05) and do not use the park (β = −0.35, p < 0.05) were negative predictors of the cognitive component.

3.2.2. Multiple Regression

Table 7 shows the result of the multiple regression for the behavioural component. The total model explained 23% of the variance. The results showed that a bachelor’s degree (β = 0.23, p < 0.05) was a positive predictor of the behavioural component, while professions (employee β = −0.08, p < 0.05, health care profession β = −0.14, p < 0.05) was a negative predictor. For Emilia-Romagna, the model explained 38% of the variance. The results revealed that a bachelor’s degree (β = 0.44, p < 0.05), the profession of lawyer (β = 0.24, p < 0.05) and living more than 300 m from the park (β = 0.21, p < 0.05) were positive predictors of the behavioural component. Moreover, the profession of employee (β = −0.35, p < 0.05) was a negative predictor of the behavioural component. For Veneto, the model explained 48% of the variance: being a health care professional (β = −0.44, p < 0.05) and not using the park (β = −0.36, p < 0.05) demonstrated a negative relationship with the behavioural component.

Table 8 shows the results of the multiple regression for the affective component. The total model explained 32% of the variance. Belonging to the age group 18–31 years (β = −0.37, p < 0.05) and being an employee (β = −0.28, p < 0.05) showed a negative relation with the affective component. For Emilia-Romagna, the model explained 35% of the variance. Similar to the general model, the results showed that age group 18–31 years (β = −0.44, p < 0.05) and the profession of employee (β = −0.33, p < 0.05) were negative predictors of the affective component. However, having a bachelor’s degree (β = 0.20, p < 0.05), being a consultant (β = 0.18, p < 0.05) and living nearer than 300 m to a park (β = 0.05, p < 0.05) showed a positive relation with this component. In Veneto, the model explained 46% of the variance, and the profession of health care professionals (β = −0.39, p < 0.05) showed a negative relationship with the affective component.

4. Discussion

The goals of this exploratory study were to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the attitude towards green space and to assess any differences between participants from two Italian regions: Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. To accomplish this goal, additional factors were considered. The questionnaire was developed in order to better understand what drives people to use green urban spaces and parks through the assessment of the attitude towards such spaces. The questionnaire consisted of fifteen items that investigated three components (cognitive, behavioural and affective) to gain a clear idea of what mostly influenced the attitude. The questionnaire was validated and seems to be an interesting tool to use in further investigation.

The two considered regions (Emilia-Romagna and Veneto) are both in the north of Italy and they are bordering each other, and similar in population characteristics and socio-economic status; however, they have different territorial policies. In fact, in Emilia-Romagna, a project was approved in 2020 to increase green areas in cities by 20%, while in Veneto there are no such projects [ 68 ]. In 2021, Emilia-Romagna allocated several millions for parks and biodiversity agencies and for projects protecting and enhancing the natural environment across the whole regional territory [ 57 , 58 ], eight areas of Emilia-Romagna were chosen by the Europarc Federation to participate in the “European charter for sustainable tourism” with the goal of developing environmental tourism [ 59 ]. In Bologna there are different projects and events to promote the green space. In fact, since 2005 the municipality has celebrated “Arbor Day”, where trees are planted in different parts of the city [ 60 ] and since 2010 they created the project “Parchi in movimento”, where citizens. had the possibility to experience various kinds of outdoor physical activity [ 61 ]. from 2011 onwards, senior citizens have had the possibility to participate in Bologna at the project “Badabene alla salute”, to be physically active towards walking groups in public parks. Similar projects were carried out in the other provinces of Emilia-Romagna and Veneto has had only projects linked to the local municipalities a (such as Padua or Verona), [ 62 , 63 ]. Higher scores in attitude towards green urban spaces could be a demonstration of the efficacy of the territorial policies in Emilia-Romagna.

We considered two other important demographic factors: sex and age. In the present study, women joined the project in a greater number than men. This is in accordance with the study by Smith et al. in which it was observed that women are more likely to have a greater willingness to participate in online surveys than men [ 69 ], and with the studies by Gascon et al. as well as van Praag et al. and Pattyn et al. [ 45 , 70 , 71 ] which found that women have a greater sensibility toward the neighbourhood environment. The results showed a different trend for women in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. In fact, females from Emilia-Romagna had higher scores than females in Veneto. These differences could be interpreted in light of the different territorial policies implemented in the two regions.

Age was found to be one of the main factors influencing attitude. In fact, the subjects of the age group 18–31 years had the lowest score in many items and showed significant differences with the participants of older age groups; in addition, belonging to this age group was a negative predictor in the multiple regression analysis. This is in line with previous studies that showed that parks were generally underutilized by young people [ 72 , 73 ]. Young people tend to spend most of their leisure time on the Internet, rather than engaging in outdoor activities [ 47 ]. According to other studies, residents aged 20–30 are less likely to visit parks in their daily life because they prefer to pursue more active and exciting activities [ 74 ], or because they have less leisure time due to work and study commitments [ 75 , 76 ]. Moreover, according to Chen et al. [ 77 ] it is possible that young people could think that green urban spaces are occupied by older people and children and for this reason they may not be attracted to using the park. This is not in line with a nationwide study in Denmark which suggested that 91.5% of the adult population used green spaces at least once a week [ 61 ]. In Northern Europe, there are many green spaces containing more physically challenging facilities that could encourage young people to use them and to have a better attitude towards green spaces [ 78 ].

Several studies have highlighted the importance of the distance between home and the nearest park in influencing the attitude toward green spaces [ 40 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 ]. In this study, however, this aspect does not appear to have been such an important factor in influencing attitudes. In fact, the difference in the item scores between participants who lived nearer than 300 m to the park and those who lived farther than 300 m was not significant. Moreover, no significant correlation was found between the use of the park and the creation of an attitude; therefore, it seems that although people may understand the importance of green urban spaces, this may not be enough to drive them to use the park. Several studies have suggested that urbanization entails a lower level of attitude towards green spaces, resulting from a decrease in the level of interaction with nature and lower expectations on the quality of nature [ 2 , 83 , 84 , 85 ].

The cognitive component had a higher score than the other components, while the affective component demonstrated a weaker relationship with park attitude. This is in accordance with Wright et al. and Baur et al. who reported that the cognitive factor had a large statistically significant path coefficient to the creation of attitudes [ 86 , 87 ]. It is possible, therefore, to affirm that in the present study the cognitive component had a greater influence on the creation of an attitude towards green space. This leads one to suppose that attitude has a positive association with the logical, reasoned, conscious and purposeful evaluation of parks and their characteristics and utilization. The multiple regression analysis highlighted an important relationship between the different components and the professions. In particular, being an employee proved negatively related to the three components of the questionnaire, both in the total model and in the Emilia-Romagna model; this could be due to the high number of hours spent at work or less leisure time available compared to other professions. To our knowledge, no other studies have included the profession of participants, and this could be an important factor to consider in future research.

Limits and Strengths

The questionnaire was administered throughout the whole of the regional territory, without taking into account the possible differences between the various provinces and places of living, for example, urban or more rural areas, and this could represent a limitation to the study. In addition, as an exploratory survey, the number of people involved was limited. Moreover, only two regions were included in the research, as a pilot study. Both regions are in the north of Italy and have similar socio-demographic characteristics.

Given the lack of adequate instruments to assess people’s attitude toward green space, the proposed questionnaire could represent an important new tool to better understand the factors that influence the person’s decision to use green urban spaces or parks. This could help local governments and organizations plan strategies to improve the population’s health. To the best of our knowledge, there are no similar surveys or research in Italy, and the present study could be an important starting point for future research. The evaluation and comparison among citizens from regions other than those considered here could provide a more complete framework of the territorial differences, linked to the geographic position or to territorial policies.

5. Conclusions

Understanding what drives people to use green urban spaces is a complex issue, especially due to its multifactorial nature. Results from this study suggest that territorial policies are fundamental to helping people understand the importance of green spaces. Even though national policies exist, the strategies adopted at a territorial level appear to be more effective. The results of the present study could be useful to local politicians in planning new measures to improve the use of green urban spaces. The age class seems to be an important predictor, as the attitude score increases with increasing age. For this reason, local politicians could create events or projects to engage specifically with the subjects belonging to the younger age groups (18–30). These might be cultural or sport events aimed at changing the perception that young people have about parks. Another possibility could be to increase the quality of the parks, by adding outdoor fitness equipment, wellness paths or other facilities (such as toilets or benches). Therefore, awareness must be promoted at all ages. In addition, the type of work seems to be an important predictor of the use of parks, and this is an aspect to consider in future studies. Local politicians could plan and design peri-urban business sites and design interventions to promote employees’ well-being. They should create restorative workplace environments, in order to meet the needs of workers. A better understanding of the relationship between the creation of attitudes and the kind of profession or the number of hours spent at work is needed. Finally, understanding people’s attitudes will help to improve the quality of life in cities by creating affordable parks and green spaces for the entire population.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.G. and S.T.; methodology, F.C.; software, M.M.; validation, A.G., L.B. and A.L.; formal analysis, P.M.L.; investigation, M.B.; resources, M.C.Z.; data curation, F.C.; writing—original draft preparation, A.G.; writing—review and editing, M.N.; visualization, S.T.; supervision, M.M.; project administration, S.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by Bioethics Committee (prot. N. 022254).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent has been obtained from the participants to publish this paper.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Dubai’s Extraordinary Flooding: Here’s What to Know

Images of a saturated desert metropolis startled the world, prompting talk of cloud seeding, climate change and designing cities for intensified weather.

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By Raymond Zhong

Scenes of flood-ravaged neighborhoods in one of the planet’s driest regions have stunned the world this week. Heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates and Oman submerged cars, clogged highways and killed at least 21 people. Flights out of Dubai’s airport, a major global hub, were severely disrupted.

The downpours weren’t a freak event — forecasters anticipated the storms several days out and issued warnings. But they were certainly unusual. Here’s what to know.

Heavy rain there is rare, but not unheard-of.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on Tuesday was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949 . But parts of the nation had experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms just last month.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Global warming is projected to intensify downpours.

Stronger storms are a key consequence of human-caused global warming. As the atmosphere gets hotter, it can hold more moisture, which can eventually make its way down to the earth as rain or snow.

But that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are changing in precisely the same way across every corner of the globe.

In their latest assessment of climate research , scientists convened by the United Nations found there wasn’t enough data to have firm conclusions about rainfall trends in the Arabian Peninsula and how climate change was affecting them. The researchers said, however, that if global warming were to be allowed to continue worsening in the coming decades, extreme downpours in the region would quite likely become more intense and more frequent.

The role of cloud seeding isn’t clear.

The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into clouds to encourage the moisture to gather into larger, heavier droplets, ones that are more likely to fall as rain or snow.

Cloud seeding and other rain-enhancement methods have been tried across the world, including in Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa and the United States. Studies have found that these operations can, at best, affect precipitation modestly — enough to turn a downpour into a bigger downpour, but probably not a drizzle into a deluge.

Still, experts said pinning down how much seeding might have contributed to this week’s storms would require detailed study.

“In general, it is quite a challenge to assess the impact of seeding,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Dr. Delle Monache has been leading efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve the U.A.E.’s rain-enhancement program.

An official with the U.A.E.’s National Center of Meteorology, Omar Al Yazeedi, told news outlets this week that the agency didn’t conduct any seeding during the latest storms. His statements didn’t make clear, however, whether that was also true in the hours or days before.

Mr. Al Yazeedi didn’t respond to emailed questions from The New York Times on Thursday, and Adel Kamal, a spokesman for the center, didn’t immediately have further comment.

Cities in dry places just aren’t designed for floods.

Wherever it happens, flooding isn’t just a matter of how much rain comes down. It’s also about what happens to all that water once it’s on the ground — most critically, in the places people live.

Cities in arid regions often aren’t designed to drain very effectively. In these areas, paved surfaces block rain from seeping into the earth below, forcing it into drainage systems that can easily become overwhelmed.

One recent study of Sharjah , the capital of the third-largest emirate in the U.A.E., found that the city’s rapid growth over the past half century had made it vulnerable to flooding at far lower levels of rain than before.

Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting.

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong