Green spaces are not all the same for the provision of air purification and climate regulation services: The case of urban parks

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 132

Author(s):

Qijiao Xie ◽

Jing Li

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Urban Parks ◽

High Water ◽

Water Bodies ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Heat Island ◽

Island Effect ◽

Urban Heat

As a nature-based solution, development of urban blue-green spaces is widely accepted for mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect. It is of great significance to determine the main driving factors of the park cool island (PCI) effect for optimizing park layout and achieving a maximum cooling benefit of urban parks. However, there have been obviously controversial conclusions in previous studies due to varied case contexts. This study was conducted in Wuhan, a city with high water coverage, which has significant differences in context with the previous case cities. The PCI intensity and its correlation with park characteristics were investigated based on remote sensing data. The results indicated that 36 out of 40 urban parks expressed a PCI effect, with a PCI intensity of 0.08~7.29 °C. As expected, larger parks with enough width had stronger PCI intensity. An increased density of hardened elements in a park could significantly weaken PCI effect. Noticeably, in this study, water bodies in a park contributed the most to the PCI effect of urban parks, while the vegetated areas showed a negative impact on the PCI intensity. It implied that in a context with higher water coverage, the cooling effect of vegetation was weakened or even masked by water bodies, due to the interaction effect of different variables on PCI intensity.

Download Full-text

Perceptions of park visitors on access to urban parks and benefits of green spaces

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening ◽

10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126959 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 ◽

pp. 126959

Author(s):

Sukanya Basu ◽

Harini Nagendra

Keyword(s):

Urban Parks ◽

Green Spaces

Download Full-text

An estimated cost of lost climate regulation services caused by thawing of the Arctic cryosphere

Ecological Applications ◽

10.1890/11-0858.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (8) ◽

pp. 1869-1880 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Eugénie S. Euskirchen ◽

Eban S. Goodstein ◽

Henry P. Huntington

Keyword(s):

The Arctic ◽

Climate Regulation ◽

Regulation Services

Download Full-text

The barriers to millennials visiting Rouge Urban National Park

10.32920/14639175.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gillian Ramsay ◽

Rachel Dodds ◽

Daniela Furtado ◽

Yana Mykhayletska ◽

Anna Kirichenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

National Parks ◽

Public Transport ◽

National Park ◽

Outdoor Recreation ◽

Green Space ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Electronic Media ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Road Congestion

Intensified urbanization has led to more populated cities and less green spaces which are vital to community health, wellbeing and conservation. Rouge Urban National Park in Toronto has recently become Canada’s first urban national park. This park is ideally suited to the millennial population, offering outdoor recreation and green space that this growing market generally desires. There is, however, a lack of research into visitor motivations to urban parks and more specifically millennial motivations. Findings from 280 quantitative surveys found three main barriers to visiting the Urban National Park: distance, transportation, and awareness. The lack of public transport combined with road congestion and fewer millennials owning cars creates issues with accessibility. Poor branding and knowledge through electronic media creates low awareness within a demographic market so tied to technology. Keywords: urban national parks; millennials; distance decay theory; visitor motivations; Canada

Download Full-text

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urban Parks and Their Driving Forces in Xi'an, China from 1949 to 2015

Open House International ◽

10.1108/ohi-03-2017-b0023 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 112-115

Author(s):

Xuhui Wang ◽

Kewei Liu ◽

Kai Wang ◽

Jian Gong ◽

Yanjun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Green Space ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Spatiotemporal Dynamics ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Space Planning ◽

Suburban Areas ◽

Human Wellbeing ◽

Average Size

Urban parks play a key role in recreational activities, public health, and ecosystem services in urban areas. Using GIS and Fragstats, this study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban parks in Xi'an, China from 1949 to 2015 and the corresponding driving forces. The results show that the number and area of parks in Xi'an increased constantly during this period, especially from 2000 to 2015. Up to 2015, small green spaces, usually adjacent to streets, occupied the largest proportion among all types of parks. Archaeological parks were the largest in total area, but wetland parks were leading in average size of a single park. The density of parks was negatively correlated with their distance to the Clock Tower at the center of Xi'an. The dynamics of urban parks in highly urbanized areas were significantly different from that of their counterparts in suburban areas. Driving forces such as urban planning, urbanization and green space policies, and milestone events in the city's development jointly had a great effect on the distribution of parks in Xi'an. The research outcomes will support the upcoming Green Space Planning of Xi'an and benefit the pursuit of sustainability and human wellbeing.

Download Full-text

Assessing Nature-Based Recreation to Support Urban Green Infrastructure Planning in Trento (Italy)

Land ◽

10.3390/land7040112 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 112 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Chiara Cortinovis ◽

Grazia Zulian ◽

Davide Geneletti

Keyword(s):

Urban Planning ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Local Context ◽

Urban Green ◽

Innovative Methods ◽

Urban Green Infrastructure ◽

The City

Nature-based recreation is among the most relevant ecosystem services supplied by urban green infrastructure, affecting citizens’ physical and mental wellbeing. Providing adequate green spaces for nature-based recreation is among the main goals of urban planning, but commonly-used indicators offer a partial view on the issue. Innovative methods and approaches, such as the ESTIMAP-recreation model, appear as promising ways to increase the quality of information available for decision-makers by considering both the range of green spaces that provide the service and the locally-specific demand. The article presents an application of the ESTIMAP-recreation model to the city of Trento (Italy), aimed at testing its adaptation to the local context and the potential improvements brought to urban planning. The comparison of the results with traditional indicators based on the availability and accessibility to urban parks shows significant differences in terms of priority of intervention across the city, with implications on planning decisions. The application demonstrates that innovative methods can enhance the understanding of nature-based recreation in cities beyond the focus on urban parks, revealing a wide portfolio of actions that planners can put in place to promote nature-based recreation through a multifunctional green infrastructure.

Download Full-text

Allergenic fungal spores in the air of urban parks

Aerobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10453-020-09671-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Idalia Kasprzyk ◽

Agnieszka Grinn-Gofroń ◽

Agata Ćwik ◽

Katarzyna Kluska ◽

Paloma Cariñanos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fungal Spores ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Volumetric Method ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Seasonal Occurrence ◽

Aerobiological Monitoring ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Airborne Fungal Spores ◽

Burkard Sampler

Abstract Urban green spaces, especially urban parks, are essential for the proper functioning of cities, but they can be a serious source of airborne fungal spores. Aerobiological monitoring was carried out in urban parks of different typology to estimate the risk associated with fungal spores for citizens. Volumetric method was applied with the use of portable Burkard Sampler. In the air of the studied parks, the most dominant spores are strong allergenic or considered as potentially allergenic. Cladosporium spores were found in enormous concentrations in all studied parks, and it affected the low biodiversity of fungal spores in the parks. Compared to Cladosporium, concentrations of Alternaria spores in the air were several dozen times lower, but still a risk for people who are allergic. The fungal spores spectra and their seasonal occurrence in each park were similar. The highest similarities in the patterns of the season were found in the case of Cladosporium, Alternaria, Epicoccum, and the lowest in the case of Torula and Drechslera type. Due to the fact that allergy sufferers are most often polysensitized, the period when they should limit long visits in the urban parks is July–August, when the concentration of allergenic fungal spores of many taxa is the highest.

Download Full-text