What Do Residents of St. Petersburg Value in Urban Lawns? Alternative Lawns and Their Consideration in Lawns’ Management

Lawns occupy significant areas in urban green spaces and have an important influence on people’s everyday lives. Lawns perform several ecosystem services: environmental (cooling effect), social (recreation), and aesthetical (display landscape elements). On the other hand, lawns require special planning, soil preparation, and significant costs for maintenance. Decision-making in lawns management rarely considers people’s needs and the ecosystem services of lawns. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to investigate social and cultural perceptions of public lawns and the ecosystem services they provide in St. Petersburg (Russia). The study was conducted in May–July 2022 in St. Petersburg, using an online questionnaire survey that was complemented by analysis of documents, regulating lawn construction and management both in Russia and St. Petersburg. Our results showed that people value lawns and understand their various functions. The most popular were categories of cultural ecosystem services such as aesthetics and recreation. Lawns were particularly valued as important places for resting and enjoying the view and greenery; however they never were used for outdoor activities such as sports, playing games, walking dogs, and picnicking. Thus, for residents of St. Petersburg, the urban lawn is seen more as a decorative place that has important environmental and aesthetic functions. Among the suggested alternatives to common regularly maintaining grass-dominated lawns, the most preferred type was meadow lawn with mixed grasses and some herbaceous perennials with attractive flowers, mown once a season. Nevertheless, the implementation of alternative types of lawns that are regularly accessed by residents requires new approaches in landscape planning and design as well as new policies regulating urban lawn management. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.