Quality of urban green spaces influences residents’ use of these spaces, physical activity, and overweight/obesity

Intensive urban development has created a shortage of urban green areas. The need to economically plan and use urban green spaces has fueled the redefinition of public spaces and parks so as to provide the residents with both recreation and relaxation facilities, as well as a forum for contact with culture. This paper discusses the case of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in the Kallithea district on the outskirts of Athens, near the Mediterranean Sea. It fills a gap in the research on the aspects of the practical functioning of such facilities. The methodology used in the research included an analysis of the literature, the SNFCC’s reports, and an in situ survey. The cultural center hosts a number of events aimed at promoting Greece’s natural and cultural heritage. The paper includes a detailed analysis of the events organized by the SNFCC in the period 2017–2020 and their immense impact on residents. The aim of the study is to show that the creation of the SNFCC with the park areas has functioned as a factor contributing to the improvement of the quality of urban space and the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants. The paper’s conclusions indicate that the sustainable SNFCC project, which fulfils the urban ecology criteria, has been very well received by the visitors—citizens and tourists alike. A program-centered innovation introduced by the SN Park has added great value to their lives. The project contributes to economic and cultural growth, as well as the protection and promotion of heritage.

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“I Would Never Come Here Because I’ve Got My Own Garden”: Older Adults’ Perceptions of Small Urban Green Spaces

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16111994 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 1994 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vanessa G. Macintyre ◽

Sarah Cotterill ◽

Jamie Anderson ◽

Chris Phillipson ◽

Jack S. Benton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Photo Elicitation ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

The Impact ◽

Improve Health

Green spaces are known to improve health and wellbeing via several mechanisms, such as by reducing stress and facilitating physical activity. However, little is known about the impact of the smaller green spaces typically found in urban environments on wellbeing, especially for older adults. This study investigated experiences in adults (5 males and 10 females) aged 60 years and over of small urban green spaces in a large UK city. Fifteen older adults were interviewed using semi-structured walk-along interviews and photo elicitation methods in Old Moat, Greater Manchester. Twelve of the participants lived in Old Moat at the time of the study, and the remaining three participants previously lived in Old Moat and were frequent visitors. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Smaller urban green spaces were perceived differently to large green spaces, and participants were more likely to use larger green spaces such as parks. The smaller green spaces were perceived as belonging to other people, which discouraged the older adults from using them. The older adults also emphasized the importance of taking care of small urban green spaces and preventing them from becoming overgrown. Urban planners should consider these factors, since they indicate that the size and type of urban green spaces may influence whether they improve health and wellbeing. Further research should investigate in more detail which types of urban green space are most conducive to facilitating physical activity and improving wellbeing.

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The Inherent Politics of Managing the Quality of Urban Green Spaces

Planning Practice and Research ◽

10.1080/02697459.2015.1057943 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 376-392 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Andrej Christian Lindholst ◽

Sidney George Sullivan ◽

Cecil C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch ◽

Hanna Fors

Keyword(s):

Green Spaces ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces

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How are characteristics of urban green space related to levels of physical activity: Examining the links

Indoor and Built Environment ◽

10.1177/1420326x16663289 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (8) ◽

pp. 1091-1101 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Abdullah Akpinar ◽

Murat Cankurt

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

General Population ◽

Household Income ◽

Green Space ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Physically Active ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

The City ◽

Exercise Equipment

This study investigates the associations between characteristics of urban green spaces and frequency and duration of self-reported physical activity in the city of Aydın, Turkey. Data were collected through a survey with 420 participants. We analysed the associations between characteristics of urban green spaces and frequency and duration of general population’ physical activity and physical activity of physically active people with multivariate linear regression while controlling for sex, age, marital status, education level, occupation and household income level. Results showed that for the general population, short distance to urban green spaces, many trees, exercise equipment and picnic areas were positively associated with frequency of physical activity, while barbecue and fire places negatively associated with duration of physical activity. For physically active people, many trees, soccer and basketball fields were positively associated with their frequency of physical activity, but water features were negatively correlated with frequency of physical activity. In regard to duration of physical activity for physically active people, findings showed lawn and exercise equipment were positively correlated with duration of physical activity, while water features, barbecue and fire places were negatively correlated with duration of physical activity. The findings indicate that levels of physical activity in urban green spaces could be promoted with many trees, exercise equipment, picnic areas and lawn. However, causal relationship needs to be conducted with intervention or longitudinal studies.

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Rapid Mapping and Annual Dynamic Evaluation of Quality of Urban Green Spaces on Google Earth Engine

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi10100670 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 670

Author(s):

Qiang Chen ◽

Cuiping Zhong ◽

Changfeng Jing ◽

Yuanyuan Li ◽

Beilei Cao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Urban Area ◽

Google Earth ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Dynamic Evaluation ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Rapid Mapping ◽

Google Earth Engine

In order to achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to green spaces, monitoring dynamic urban green spaces (UGSs) in cities around the world is crucial. Continuous dynamic UGS mapping is challenged by large computation, time consumption, and energy consumption requirements. Therefore, a fast and automated workflow is needed to produce a high-precision UGS map. In this study, we proposed an automatic workflow to produce up-to-date UGS maps using Otsu’s algorithm, a Random Forest (RF) classifier, and the migrating training samples method in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. We took the central urban area of Beijing, China, as the study area to validate this method, and we rapidly obtained an annual UGS map of the central urban area of Beijing from 2016 to 2020. The accuracy assessment results showed that the average overall accuracy (OA) and kappa coefficient (KC) were 96.47% and 94.25%, respectively. Additionally, we used six indicators to measure quality and temporal changes in the UGS spatial distribution between 2016 and 2020. In particular, we evaluated the quality of UGS using the urban greenness index (UGI) and Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI) at the pixel level. The experimental results indicate the following: (1) The UGSs in the center of Beijing increased by 48.62 km2 from 2016 to 2020, and the increase was mainly focused in Chaoyang, Fengtai, and Shijingshan Districts. (2) The average proportion of relatively high and above levels (UGI > 0.5) in six districts increased by 2.71% in the study area from 2016 to 2020, and this proportion peaked at 36.04% in 2018. However, our result revealed that the increase was non-linear during this assessment period. (3) Although there was no significant increase or decrease in SHDI values in the study area, the distribution of the SHDI displayed a noticeable fluctuation in the northwest, southwest, and northeast regions of the study area between 2016 and 2020. Furthermore, we discussed and analyzed the influence of population on the spatial distribution of UGSs. We found that three of the five cold spots were located in the east and southeast of Haidian District. Therefore, the proposed workflow could provide rapid mapping and dynamic evaluation of the quality of UGS.

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SERVICE AREAS OF LOCAL URBAN GREEN SPACES: AN EXPLORATIVE APPROACH IN ARROIOS, LISBON

ISPRS Annals of Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-annals-iv-4-w1-111-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol IV-4/W1 ◽

pp. 111-116

Author(s):

R. Figueiredo ◽

A. B. Gonçalves ◽

I. L. Ramos

Keyword(s):

Spatial Data ◽

City Planning ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Planning And Management ◽

Service Areas ◽

Gis Environment ◽

Questionnaire Surveys

The identification of service areas of urban green spaces and areas with lack of these is increasingly necessary within city planning and management, as it translates into important indicators for the assessment of quality of life. In this setting, it is important to evaluate the attractiveness and accessibility dynamics through a set of attributes, taking into account the local reality of the territory under study. This work presents an operational methodology associated with these dynamics in local urban green spaces, assisting in the planning and management of this type of facilities. The methodology is supported firstly on questionnaire surveys and then on network analysis, processing spatial data in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. In the case study, two local green spaces in Lisbon were selected, on a local perspective explorative approach. Through field data, it was possible to identify service areas for both spaces, and compare the results with references in the literature. It was also possible to recognise areas with lack of these spaces. The difficulty to evaluate the dynamics of real individuals in their choices of urban green spaces and the respective route is a major challenge to the application of the methodology. In this sense it becomes imperative to develop different instruments and adapt them to other types of urban green spaces.

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Nature-Based Solutions in an Urban Perspective

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2019030003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 3

Author(s):

Sörensen

Keyword(s):

Flood Risk ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Wide Spread ◽

Water Utility ◽

Technical Problems ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Urban Catchments

The traditional engineering approach to manage urban drainage is by combined or separated sewers. In urban catchments, drainage systems may include different types of storage and detention facilities to avoid flooding from heavy rainfall. However, during recent decades, alternative ways to manage floods have evolved since traditional methods often harm the riverine ecosystems by pollution and erosion and increase the flood risk in the downstream extent of a catchment. Green spaces are important in urban areas for many different reasons: recreation, maintenance of biodiversity, city structure, cultural identity, environmental quality of the urban area, and as biological solutions to technical problems in urban areas. However, plans for urban green spaces often do not take into consideration the multiple purposes of green spaces and the relation between urban green spaces and water is only to a limited degree mentioned and discussed in such plans. Densification has become a dominating urban planning strategy, as many cities strive to reduce their negative, environmental impact. As a consequence of urban densification, the need for solid strategies to preserve, build, develop and ideally simultaneously increase the quantity (area) and quality of green and blue spaces (vegetation and surface water) in urban areas in a multifunctional manner increases. The combination of climate change adaptation, densification, pollution, the call for more green spaces, and a need to restore aging sewers, leads to strong interest in retrofitting of urban areas with nature-based solutions (NBS). Incorporation of NBS into decision-making and ways to handle integrative and multi-criteria aspects in the legal and organisational system are still to a great extent not done. The current regime for stormwater management, through piped drainage, is dominating and many cities face a lack of green spaces. Introducing more nature-based solutions is faced with barriers that are largely socio-institutional rather than technical. In this keynote session such barriers, as well as drivers, for wide-spread implementation of NBS, as well as data management strategies to help the implementation, are discussed. Based on transition theory, socio-technical transition towards wide-spread implementation of such measures were examined through interviews with municipal and water utility officials. Legal, organisational and financial changes are suggested. This keynote session also discusses urban, pluvial flooding and if NBS can be used as a strategy for resilient flood risk management. Spatial analyses of flood claims from insurance companies and the water utility company of Malmö are used to study how NBS impact flood risk.

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