A quantitative investigation into the relationship between citizens and public abandoned spaces in Venice

This work concerns a quantitative data collection involving the citizenship of Venice and the Venetian Lagoon (Italy), and it will investigate the main variables involved in the relationship between human beings and public spaces from environmental psychology point of view. The data collection is part of a wider participatory process regarding the valorization of public assets in the Lagoon and, specifically, the valorization of one abandoned island, which represents a first case study: the Poveglia island. Both these assets are managed by the State Property Agency, the Italian public authority responsible for real estate assets. vIn 2024, we investigated citizens' opinions on the perceived value of the Lagoon and Poveglia Island through several focus groups involving 91 participants; the data that emerged were used to identify the relevant constructs for the quantitative survey. The data collection will be implemented during the first part of 2025, and it will be made through a snowball sampling recruitment on the population of Venice. It is planned to involve about 1,000 people. The survey will focus on perceived value, perceived restorativeness, place attachment, connection to nature, motivation to visit the site, environmentally friendly behavior and perception of the state of abandonment of public goods. The results will contribute to getting a photograph of how citizens perceived the value and the management of these assets, together with their relationship with them. These conclusions will be a starting point for a participatory process regarding the requalification of Poveglia Island in collaboration with the institutions.