Use of public natural spaces in Athens - a field survey

An increasingly important parameter for the quality of everyday life in today's society is the regular contact of people with nature. For all the inhabitants of a big city this means the existence and the possibility of using urban and peri-urban natural spaces. What are the terms for specifying this general idea in the geographically determined place of Athens area and the social and human references of its inhabitants? On this basis, the project "Use of Natural Spaces in Athens, an indicator of quality of life for the inhabitants of the city", aimed at highlighting the aspects of those ways of life in Athens that are linked to the current collective rhythm of the city and relating with activities within urban natural spaces. The main working hypothesis is that a field survey of the current use within the city's open spaces can be a good empirical background for further exploration of the relationship between the city's inhabitants and its natural spaces. For this purpose a methodology of gradual approach of study object was used comprising the combination of different methods of survey: geographical and land use defining of the space of reference, on-site observation in a series of open spaces, qualitative study carried out with open interviews addressed towards selected inhabitants-users of Athens natural spaces, and quantitative survey based on questionnaire towards the users of a series of selected open spaces.