Who uses open spaces, when, and why, are critical questions for planning and managing green and blue spaces in urban areas. We argue that use needs to be studied across a range of ages and spaces. We studied the open space use and preferences of 15 three-generation families, interviewing children, parents and grandparents. Members of each family lived close to each other so had access to the same open spaces, enabling identification of generational and family differences. Nature exposure levels varied between and within families, but all families valued and used natural spaces. Family members selected common spaces suggesting a family based preference and evidence of transmission of family values and attachment to places. Preferred open spaces were located some distance from participants’ homes and unevenly distributed across the city. Planners will need to consider how to better provide multi-purpose natural open spaces spread more evenly across the city.

谁使用开放空间、何时以及为什么使用是规划和管理城市地区绿色和蓝色空间的关键问题。我们认为，使用需要在一系列年龄和空间中进行研究。我们研究了 15 个三代家庭的开放空间使用和偏好，采访了孩子、父母和祖父母。每个家庭的成员都住得很近，因此可以使用相同的开放空间，从而能够识别代际和家庭差异。家庭之间和家庭内部的自然接触水平各不相同，但所有家庭都重视和使用自然空间。家庭成员选择的公共空间表明了基于家庭的偏好以及家庭价值观和对地方的依恋传递的证据。首选的开放空间距离参与者家有一段距离，并且在整个城市中分布不均。