Abstract (English)
This paper defines urban open greenspace as an urban commons and empirically explores the possibility of its collective management, using Volos city, one of the major urban areas in Greece, as a case study. A survey of about two thousand people was conducted for this purpose, which examined, inter alia, peoples perception of the condition and qualities of urban greenspace, their views on a possible reconfiguration of property rights on the resource, and their willingness to collaborate on the self-governance of urban greenspace. Moreover, using ordered logit models, we explore the conditions, values, opinions and characteristics that affect the likelihood of people getting involved in collective management arrangements. The results indicate that users have reservations about such arrangements, which may be attributed to a lack of trust both in each other and in public authorities and institutions. This reveals a considerable deficit in social capital, which is regarded as essential for fostering cooperation in collective-action situations