Perceived and objectively measured greenness of neighbourhoods: Are they measuring the same thing?

Abstract

Previous studies have reported mixed findings on the associations between neighbourhood greenness and physical activity. This may be because different methods employed in these studies to measure greenness capture different aspects of greenness. This study examined agreement between perceived greenness of neighbourhoods and an objective measure of greenness using a normalised vegetation index (NDVI). A mail survey collected data on perceived greenness from adults (N = 94) living in Warrnambool, Australia. Participants to the study were randomly selected from areas classified as 'high' or 'low' greenness, based on satellite imagery data using a mean NDVI value calculated from a 400 m buffer around each respondent's address. Results indicate that there was a lack of agreement between the perceived and objective measures of greenness, suggesting that these measures are capturing different aspects of neighbourhood greenness