Key points

◆Ten priority areas are proposed to guide future PURE research and balance recreation with biodiversity conservation.
◆Peri-urban landscapes are framed as complex social–ecological systems shaped by climate change, urbanization, societal values, and digital technologies.
◆Rising pressures at the urban edge create both conflicts and synergies between recreation and ecological protection.
◆An interdisciplinary, data-driven, and participatory approach is recommended to support evidence-based and equitable management of peri-urban landscapes.

Summary

Peri-urban landscapes are increasingly expected to balance outdoor recreation and biodiversity conservation, generating both trade-offs and opportunities. This Perspective outlines interdisciplinary priorities for advancing peri-urban recreation ecology (PURE) in research, policy, and practice. It draws on expert discussions from a session organized at the 12th MMV Conference (2024), involving nine panelists from eight countries, followed by virtual exchanges from September 2024 to June 2025 and a review of recent literature. The panel identifies PURE as a complex social–ecological system shaped by interactions among abiotic, biotic, and cultural resources across space and time.
The research identifies four major stressors shaping PURE: climate change, urbanization, food–energy land competition, and pandemics. These drivers alter recreation patterns, biodiversity, and land use, and interact with societal factors such as education needs, environmental justice, social media influences, and diverse cultural values.

Figure 1 illustrates PURE as a complex social–ecological system, showing how stressors, societal factors, and data flows interact to shape recreation behavior and biodiversity outcomes.

The study highlights the importance of data-driven approaches, including new sources like citizen science platforms, fitness apps, and social media, while emphasizing the need for robust methods, databases, and protocols. The co-generation of knowledge through interactions among stressors, society, and data supports evidence-based decision making.

Ten priorities were identified:
1.Conceptualizing a social-ecological system approach;
2.Developing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework;
3.Enhancing participatory and data-driven knowledge;
4.Developing indicators, metrics and models;
5.Measuring the impacts of urban-nature proximity;
6.Developing site-specific land-use strategies;
7.Understanding the impacts of social media;
8.Building capacity for unforeseen changes;
9.Improving sustainable multifunctionality;
10.Supporting environmental justice.

This study was supported by following fundings:
Open access funding provided by Royal Institute of Technology. Stiftelsen för Miljöstrategisk Forskning (Grant No. DIA 2016/36); KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Open Access funding); Utah State University (travel funding); Bio diversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership, European Commission (Grant No. 101052342); Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas (Grant No. 2022-01708); Research Council of Finland; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche; Department of Science and Innovation (DSI); European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (Grant No. 101060415); JSPS KAKENHI (Grant No. JP22H03852, JP23H01584, JP25K15570); JST (Grant No. JPMJPF2110); HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN (Grant No: 101120250); European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (Grant No. 101060429).

Paper information

Journal: Landscape Ecology
Title: Priorities for peri-urban recreation ecology research, policy, and practice in a transforming world
Type: Perspective
Authors: Amin Rastandeh, Sara Borgström, Catherine Marina Pickering, Anna B. Miller, Davide Geneletti, Ryo Kohsaka, Jeff Rose, Amalia Engström, Erik Andersson, Anton Stahl Olafsson, Dagmar Haase 
URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-025-02263-1

Authors(Prof. Kohsaka as 6th author)

Amin Rastandeh
Division of Strategic Sustainability Studies, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science & Engineering, KTH – Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Sara Borgström
Division of Strategic Sustainability Studies, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science & Engineering, KTH – Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Catherine Marina Pickering
School of Environment & Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia

Anna B. Miller
Department of Environment & Society, Utah State University, Logan, USA

Davide Geneletti
Planning for Ecosystem Services and Urban Sustainability Lab, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

Ryo Kohsaka
Graduate School of Agricultural & Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Jeff Rose
Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

Amalia Engström
Department of Urban & Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

Erik Andersson
Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Erik Andersson
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Anton Stahl Olafsson
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Dagmar Haase
Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Dagmar Haase
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany

Contact

The Laboratory of Forest Landscape Planning and Design, Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Tel: 03-5841-5218
E-mail: kohsaka.lab[at]gmail.com
(Please replace [at] with @ when contacting.)

Related Links

For more information about our research, please visit our websites:
Laboratory HP
Ryo KOHSAKA HP
Ryo KOHSAKA Lab. Facebook