Understanding value diversity in Finnish urban green spaces through IPBES life frames

Cities globally are increasingly adopting nature-based solutions (NBS) to address climate change, mitigate biodiversity loss and enhance the quality of their living environments. However, urban green spaces (UGSs) hold different values for different groups and understanding this plurality is essential for planning that better supports local needs. Drawing on the IPBES Life Framework of Values – Living from, in, with and as nature – we explore the plurality of human-nature relationships across three Finnish cities: Turku, Tampere and Lappeenranta. Data were collected through a participatory, map-based survey completed by 2638 respondents, in which participants marked the locations of important nature places and assessed place-based values using Likert-scale statements, which were grouped into UGS profiles using K-means clustering. We employed Xtreme Gradient Boosting to identify how the social, ecological and technological characteristics of the UGSs are associated with each profile. We identified three distinctive UGS profiles: (1) Value Hotspot, where nature is significantly associated with diverse human values; (2) Low-perceived Value, where nature supports a limited range of values; (3) Experiential Value , where, in nature, cultural and personal experiences dominate. Social attributes – particularly UGS users’ activities and perceived importance of the UGS site – were the strongest predictors of profile membership, while ecological and technological characteristics showed limited influence. Findings demonstrate that value-based UGS profiles can offer planners nuanced insights into how urban nature contributes to users’ wellbeing. Integrating such a social value perspective into NBS planning can support more tailored and equitable live experiences to strengthen human-nature interconnectedness.