City Dwellers’ Experiences and Attitudes Towards Wild Places Based on an Urban River

In the context of socio-ecological change, developing people-nature connections in cities could potentially improve city dwellers’ well-being while developing an attachment to other living beings. Increasing wildness by limiting management interventions may promote biodiversity in cities, but little is known about the ways in which city dwellers relate to wild places. In this study, we analyse how city dwellers use and experience an urban near-wild river flowing through the centre of a historic French city. We firstly presented the interweaving of historical cultural components and ecological processes that shaped the river. Based on behavioural mapping and questionnaires, we then investigated three different dimensions of user-river relationships (activities, affects and cognitions) and analysed how they are modulated by individual features. Users’ activities were diverse and spatially related to facilities (i.e. benches, types of ground cover), and they mainly perceived the river as a place of appeasement and relaxation. Wild elements such as birds, flora and water were more notable components of places than historic architectural elements, and users preferred riverbank vegetation with high structural complexity. However, plant and animal species living along the river were not well known. Users’ age and visit frequency were positively correlated with some components of affects and knowledge, but users’ features had only modest explanatory power. The results refine our understanding of city dwellers’ perceptions and attachment to urban wild places, and provide inspiration for designing places that promote biodiversity and enrich experiences of nature in cities.