Where nature is not so green: Exploring perceptions of urban nature in a semi-arid city

Understanding how people perceive and value urban nature is essential for developing inclusive and climate-adaptive planning strategies, particularly in semi-arid cities where ecological and social values challenge conventional “green” urban nature models. This study focused on exploring residents’ perceptions of urban nature in the city of Almería, Spain, one of the driest areas in continental Europe. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed 205 face-to-face surveys through Latent Dirichlet Allocation, qualitative content analysis, and Bayesian multinomial logistic regression. These combined methodologies allowed us to identify perceived types of urban nature, explore the associated perceptions, understandings, and values, and examined the influence of selected socio-demographic and perceptual factors (education, gender, and perceived availability of urban nature) on these views. These categories reflected a diversity of perceptions: Desert-arid, emphasizing place-based identification with Almería’s dry coastal environment; Aesthetic-ornamental, associated with visually appealing green urban spaces; and Ecological benefits-oriented, highlighting the recognition of ecological and health-related benefits of urban nature. However, not all respondents were associated with these categories; around 37% remained unclassified or overlapped across more than one type. The qualitative analysis pointed out a rich emotional and symbolic relations, with responses often expressing a mismatch between expectations and local realities. Results from the Bayesian regression indicated that education level and perceived availability of urban nature were the most influential factors in determining the likelihood of a respondent being associated with one of the three urban nature types. These findings emphasized the plurality and diversity of urban nature perceptions in the semi-arid case study and the need for landscape planning approaches that respect both ecological diversity and cultural narratives. By integrating residents’ perceptions and experiences, urban nature design can move toward more socially meaningful and climate-adapted solutions in semi-arid cities. • We combined qualitative interviews and quantitative topic modeling to investigate perceptions of urban nature in a semi-arid city • Latent Dirichlet Allocation modeling and thematic coding identified three types of urban nature types grounded in residents' experiences • Perceptions about urban nature included arid-place identity, aesthetic values, and ecological awareness • Education and nature availability shaped links to different types of urban nature spaces • Residents' perceptions of urban nature can help guide the design of climate adapted nature spaces in dryland cities