Abstract
This paper is an exploratory qualitative study that looked at the contribution that nature-based tourism can bring in urban centres. This form of tourism is often referred to as green tourism, ecotourism, and more recently sustainable tourism. Cities like Johannesburg are usually areas of socioeconomic needs in terms of land use, therefore it is not fully understood the importance of keeping a big area of empty land for intangible leisure and cognitive pursuits when there are social tangible needs such as infrastructures for houses, hospitals, and schools. This study explores the value of a designated nature-based area in a large city, Johannesburg. The research adopted a qualitative approach using one-on-one, semistructured interviews as the data collection technique with visitors onsite in this nature area called Melville Koppies. The findings reveal that tourism in this natural area provides social and environmental benefits to the people living in and visiting Johannesburg...