Measuring citizens’ perceived value of public natural spaces: Scale development and validation

In Italy, the valorization of public spaces is a debate topic, driven by citizens' demand for regenerated spaces. It seems there are no psychometric tools available to measure the perceived value of public goods from a psychological point of view. The present research, based on Poveglia island case (Venice), tries to address this gap offering an instrument to explores the value that people attribute as a key criterion for informing public asset management. The study aims at highlighting the importance of measuring the perceived value and the bond between citizens and public spaces, developing and validating an instrument to measure it, and presenting it to the competent institutions. The instrument was built using a multi-step approach, including focus groups, to identify the key dimensions of the constructs, a pilot study (N=129; 59% women; 33% 19-30 years old) to assess the quality of the items and the construct structure, and a final survey (N=771; 57% women; 30% 51-65 years old) to finalize the validation process. The scale of perceived value is organized in five dimensions: environmental value, historical-cultural value, functional value, social value, and psychological value. The reliability of the scale was excellent (ω= .89), as well for its dimensions (ω= from .74 to .83). Moreover, Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the goodness of the psychometric properties of the scale. Criterion-related validity was verified by correlating other constructs such as motivation to visit and citizen participation. The results of the study and the implications for valorization strategies will be discussed.