Transitional land uses produced through urbanisation continue to change the landscape and fragment ecological structures including green spaces across Europe (Nilsson et al., 2013). Green spaces offer significant benefits to humans, contributing to wellbeing and life satisfaction (Taylor, 2002). The understanding of how these unique green spaces spaces function and provide benefits to humans, and how landscape change in peri-urban contexts affects their performance, is important. The scope of this research is to contribute to an understanding of landscape fragmentation within some of Europe's polycentric urban regions, their peri-urban green spaces, and the associated impacts upon human quality of life. Two urban regional case studies, Paisley near Glasgow, Scotland, and Vantaa, near Helsinki, Finland were analysed and compared. The results indicate that humans interacting with more physically or ecologically fragmented peri-urban green spaces have higher self-reported life satisfaction levels. Though no statistically significant characteristics were apparent between life satisfaction and fragmented green space characteristics, this research was able to identify those specific structural attributes and physical characteristics of interstitial peri-urban green spaces within a polycentric region in a fragmented state that contribute to the physical, social, and psychological aspects of human wellbeing. The statistically significant eco-spatial characteristics of polycentric peri-urban interstitial green spaces that are reported to impact human wellbeing are the size, proximity, maintenance and management, and the level of greenness within its vegetation composition and setting. Overall, a spatially diverse, fragmented, peri-urban landscape whose green spaces are extensively sized, naturalistically shaped with horizontal vegetation and normal sized edges, most often parks or woodlands or forests which are integrated and physically connected to another green space which is moderately clean and somewhat safe as well as being located close to or adjacent to a heavy-trafficked road provide the most human wellbeing benefits.

Nature based sports and outdoor recreation activities are much appreciated, but continued densification in urban and peri-urban areas may reduce future opportunities to take part in such activities in a desirable way. To be able to consider the needs of these activities, in relation to other competing land use interests, it is essential to understand why people engage in the activities and how the nature landscape contributes and is used. The aim of this degree project is, therefore, to investigate motives and preferences among participants in various nature based activities, and to describe the role of nature and the participants’ relation to the nature landscape. While many previous studies have targeted recreational activities, where participation traditionally is non-competitive and focused on wellbeing, this study mainly targets nature based sports, where activities, in general, are more physical and result-oriented. The study has a descriptive approach where Rudan, a nature reserve in southern Stockholm, is used as a case study. There, data was primarily collected through a questionnaire (N=64), distributed among members of sport clubs in Rudan as well as among visitors on site. Responses were then analysed through cross-tabulations. The results indicate that people have varying, and often several, motives for taking part in their activities and for performing their activities in a particular setting. The results also show that the nature landscape, and the characteristics it holds, has an important role to play in many aspects; it can be a driver of motivation, a stage for the activity, and a generator of human benefits. The relatively small sample size does, however, affect the accuracy of the study, and more research is needed to get a comprehensive understanding. Nevertheless, the findings can be used to raise awareness and communicate the value of nature in nature based sports and outdoor recreation activities. Recognising nature’s multiple roles and values for participants in such activities will be necessary when analysing potential effects of future development plans or interventions in the peri-urban nature landscape. / Utomhusidrott och friluftsliv utgör uppskattade inslag i många människors vardag, men med fortsatt förtätning i städer och i stadsnära grönområden riskerar de framtida möjligheterna att delta i sådana aktiviteter att försämras. För att möta dessa aktiviteters behov, framförallt då de utsätts för konkurrens av andra samhällsintressen, är det nödvändigt att förstå grunderna för deltagande i sådana utomhusaktiviteter, samt hur naturlandskapet används och bidrar till upplevelsen. Syftet med detta examensarbete är därför att undersöka motiv och preferenser bland deltagare i olika naturrelaterade idrotts- och friluftsaktiviteter, och att därutöver beskriva naturens roll och deltagarnas relation till naturlandskapet. Då många tidigare studier har fokuserat på friluftsliv, där deltagande traditionellt sett är inriktat på rekreation och välmående, vänder sig denna studie främst mot idrottsaktiviteter, där deltagande i allmänhet är mer fysiskt och resultatinriktat. Studien har ett beskrivande tillvägagångssätt där Rudan, ett naturreservat i södra Stockholm, används som fallstudie. Flera metoder har använts, men data har främst inhämtats genom en enkätundersökning (N = 64) som besvarades av medlemmar i idrottsföreningar i Rudan samt av besökare på plats. Svaren analyserades sedan med hjälp av pivottabeller. Resultaten visar att det finns olika, och ofta flera, motiv för att delta i aktiviteterna och för att utföra aktiviteterna i ett visst område. Resultaten visar även att naturlandskapet har en viktig roll, sett ur många aspekter. Det kan vara en motiverande faktor, en arena för aktiviteten och bidra till många övriga mervärden. Då antalet respondenter i studien var relativt lågt är studiens resultat dock något osäkert, och mer omfattande undersökningar behövs för att skapa tydligare förståelse. Trots det kan resultaten i studien användas för att öka medvetenheten och tydliggöra naturens värde inom utomhusidrott och friluftsliv. Naturens många olika värden och roller för idrotts- och friluftslivsutövare bör sedan beaktas inom samhällsplaneringen i stort och vid framtida utveckling av stadsnära natur- och rekreationsområden.