Livable Cities - London AMPS | City, University of London Page 280 Figure 3. Word cloud of natural interactive activities and quality of activitiy types People can engage in a variety of nature contact activities not only in parks but also on streets and within buildings. These activities often involve elements like water bodies, animals, plants, natural spaces, the sky, sand, slopes, and artificial objects, most of which encourage interaction. In parks, the most frequent activities are related to animals and plants, such as feeding water birds and hiding in tree holes. On streets, common activities include photographing animal statues and splashing water, focusing on animals and water features. In buildings, popular activities involve observing animal specimens and playing with water again highlighting the importance of animals and water elements. In the UK, animal-related activities are particularly prevalent, whereas in China, water-related activities are more common. These insights help us understand the nature of everyday contact with natural world in these settings, facilitating a deeper analysis of the factors driving these activity. The findings emphasize the importance of designing urban environments that offer a variety of interactive nature contact opportunities, which can enhance the well-being of urban residents and foster a stronger connection with nature. Categories of activities with loose parts To rank the frequency of nature contact activities and identify the "loose parts” associated with the most frequent activities, we observed the following: In Nottingham, UK, parks had three types of loose parts, streets had two, and buildings had four. In Chengdu, China, there were five, six, and two types, respectively. For example, in Little Deer Park (see Table 1), the most frequent water-related activity was "Stepping in Puddles." Analysis of representative photos revealed that the loose parts facilitating this activity consisted mainly of "naturally formed puddles + waterproof boots." Similarly, climbing plants was a common activity, facilitated by climbable wooden structures. Although some individuals were observed climbing natural trees, the high difficulty limited the frequency of this activity.
