Urban green spaces are integral components of urban landscapes and the cultural ecosystem services afforded to human populations by these green spaces are of particular relevance to human and societal well-being. Urban green spaces provide opportunities for human interaction, physical activity and recreation, stress alleviation and mental restoration, economic opportunity, cultural activities and interactions with nature. To understand how these benefits are received by human populations it is vital to understand when and how individuals interact with urban green spaces. The rapid development and uptake of technologies such as smart phones, social networks and apps provides new opportunity to investigate the human interactions occurring in urban green spaces. Using the city of Birmingham as a case study, this thesis aims (i) to demonstrate the utility of data obtained from smart device enabled platforms (social networks and apps) in understanding socio-ecological interactions in urban areas and (ii) to evaluate the utility of these data sources for researchers and policy makers. The successful identification of a range of socio-ecological interaction suggest these data sources provide a viable method if investigating such interactions; however, there remain a number of limitations to consider to ensure they are employed appropriately in research contexts
