Ecological Deviance: The Botanical Politics of Public-Sex Environments in Parks

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110453
Author(s):  
Zachary Nowak ◽  
Kari Roynesdal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Public Sex

The literature on public sex environments spans a number of disciplines, including public health, queer geography, and urban planning. Ethnographic, spatial, and epidemiological approaches have predominated but heretofore few researchers have dedicated much attention to the actual plants that provide cover for sex as well as other non-conformist activity in urban green spaces. We draw on recent work in environmental history and political ecology which include non-human organisms as crucial and possibly agentic members of dynamic assemblages. We examine the flora of three urban green spaces—and their landscape—and argue that botanical control of public sex environments has long been and still is largely an attempt to control supposedly deviant sexualities.

scholarly journals Enhanced threat of tick‐borne infections within cities? Assessing public health risks due to ticks in urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 823-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jani Jukka Sormunen ◽  
Niko Kulha ◽  
Tero Klemola ◽  
Satu Mäkelä ◽  
Ella‐Maria Vesilahti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Public Health Risks

scholarly journals Analysis of the Cooling Effect of Urban Green Spaces in Mitigating Micro-climate Change Using Geospatial Techniques in Adama City, Central Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biratu Bobo Merga ◽  
Kenate Worku Tabor ◽  
Girma Alemu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

Abstract Nowadays, addressing urban climate in urban planning through mapping has got world-wide attention. Greening urban environment is one of the best mechanisms to combat the effects of micro-climate change. Therefore, this study aims at analyzing the cooling effects of Urban Green Spaces (UGS) in mitigating micro-climate change in Adama City with special emphasis on land surface temperature variation with respective to vegetation cover for the last two decades i.e. from 2000 to 2020. Three different remotely sensed data of Landsat7 ETM+ (2000 and 2010) as well as Landsat8 OLI/TIRS (2020) were used in the study. The consistent land surface temperature data were retrieved from Landsat7 ETM+ and Landsat8 OLI/TIRS using mono window and split window algorithms, respectively. Regression and correlation analysis among Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) were also performed in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS V23). The study reveals that the proportion of Urban Green Spaces (UGS) to other land use/land cover particularly, dense vegetation cover were reduced from 29.3Km2(21.20%) in 2000 to 18.17Km2 (13.15%) in 2020. The main land dynamic process, which could considerably contribute to the increase in Land Surface Temperature, was the rapid expansion of built-up areas in the study area. The model produced through multiple linear regression analysis clearly indicates that the two urban parameters (built up and green areas) contributed 75.2% of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) variations in Adama City. The cooling efficiency (CE) and the threshold value of efficiency (TVoE) of green space in Adama City were calculated as 5.5 ± 0.5 ha. This finding implies that when Adama City municipality implements urban planning, allocating a green space area of 5.5 ± 0.5 ha reduces surface temperature by about 2.85 0C which is the most efficient to reduce heat effects. The study suggests that strengthening of plan execution capacity, public participation in urban planning and strengthening the development of urban green spaces as an important strategy to mitigate the effects of micro-climate change.

scholarly journals Vertical Stratification in Urban Green Space Aerobiomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake M. Robinson ◽  
Christian Cando-Dumancela ◽  
Craig Liddicoat ◽  
Philip Weinstein ◽  
Ross Cameron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Vertical Stratification ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Compositional Diversity

AbstractExposure to a diverse environmental microbiome is thought to play an important role in ‘educating’ the immune system and facilitating competitive exclusion of pathogens to maintain human health. Vegetation and soil are known to be key sources of airborne microbiota––the aerobiome. Only a limited number of studies have attempted to characterise the dynamics of the aerobiome, and no studies to date have investigated these dynamics from a vertical perspective simulating human exposure. Studies of pollution and allergenic pollen show vertical stratification at various scales, and present an expectation that such vertical stratification may also be present in the aerobiome. Such stratification could have important implications for public health and for the design, engineering and management of urban green spaces. For example, do children receive the same exposure to airborne microbiota as taller adults, and what are the downstream implications for health? In this study, we combine an innovative columnar sampling method at soil level, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 m together with high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to assess whether significant vertical stratification of the aerobiome occurred in a parkland habitat in Adelaide, South Australia. Our results provide evidence of vertical stratification in both alpha and beta (compositional) diversity of airborne bacterial communities, with diversity increasing roughly with height. We also found significant vertical stratification in known pathogenic and beneficial bacterial taxa, suggesting potentially different exposure attributes between adults and children. These results could have important implications for public health and urban planning, potentially informing ways to optimise the design and management of health-promoting urban green spaces.

scholarly journals Accessibilty of public urban green spaces within the spatial metropolitan network of Doha, Qatar

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heba T. Tannous ◽  
◽  
Mark David Major ◽  
Raffaello Furlan ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The State ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
The World

Most people regard green spaces as a necessity to enhance the physical health and psychological well-being of residents in promoting the general health and welfare of citizens and the environment (Röbbel, 2016). In the Modern Era, the availability of green spaces has become an integral component of urban planning for sustaining the quality of life in city environments, especially since the dawn of the 20th century. Due to globalization in rapidly-developing cities around the world, studies about green spaces are becoming an increasingly important part of the urban planning process (Mitchell and Popham, 2007). Accessibility can play an essential role in determining the location of green public facilities to maximize their usability for large populations, or otherwise limit use to a smaller community (Ottensmann and Greg, 2008). However, some public green spaces are inefficiently located or distributed in urban environments (Beatley, 2000, Gehl, 2010, Gehl and Svarre, 2013). In this paper, the accessibility of urban green spaces means the ease of reaching such locations from many origins within the urban spatial network from the macro- to the micro-scale. The inaccessibility or absence of green spaces in some urban areas is a notable consequence of rapid urbanization in many cities around the world. It is especially noticeable in the capital city of Doha in the State of Qatar, where rapid urban expansion and globalization has had a significant impact on the quality and quantity of green spaces available (Salama and Wiedmann, 2013a). The paper utilizes the network analysis techniques of space syntax to objectively investigate the accessibility of urban green parks and promenades in the metropolitan region of Doha (Penn et al., 1998, Hillier et al., 1993, Hillier and Hanson, 1984). At the heart of the paper is the question, does the size and location of urban green spaces follow a discernible spatial logic in terms of accessibility, linked to the design intent of public planning policies? Some findings in the paper indicate there is distinctive spatial and social logic to the physical and spatial characteristics of urban green spaces above a certain size in terms of metric area. In contrast, these characteristics in smaller urban green spaces tend to be more random, primarily due to issues of land availability and amenity provision in private developments. We conclude by discussing the potential implications of the study for public planning policy about green urbanism in the State of Qatar and other rapidly urbanizing cities around the world

scholarly journals A Qualitative Analysis of UK Wetland Visitor Centres as a Health Resource

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8629
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Reeves ◽  
Conor H. D. John ◽  
Kevin A. Wood ◽  
Phoebe R. Maund
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Health Resource ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

The health benefits associated with spending time in natural environments have been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and restrictions to safeguard public health have exacerbated the pre-existing mental health crisis and rise of non-communicable diseases. Thus, the importance of nature as a health resource has been elevated, hastening calls for a better understanding of how health benefits might differ across user groups and nature provisions. In this regard, urban green spaces have become the greatest research focus; however, blue spaces, especially inland freshwater (e.g., wetlands), remain less studied. First-hand user experiences are also under-represented. This exploratory study examines the motivations and benefits of active wetland centre users in the UK, both during and after visits. Responses to three open-ended questions were collated online from 385 participants, and a qualitative content analysis was conducted based on an existing taxonomy from users of urban green spaces. The results showed strong motivations to visit due to the biodiversity at the site (mainly the birdlife), while less tangible nature (e.g., fresh air) and amenities were also important. In contrast to other studies on natural environments, physical activity was a less influential motivation. Salient derived effects included positive and intensely positive emotions, relaxation and mental restoration. After visits to wetland centres, feelings of vitality and satisfaction were the most prominent effects that emerged. For decision-makers looking to leverage inland blue spaces for public health benefit, our results highlight the broad range and relative prominence of the reasons for use and the associated perceived health benefits derived by users of UK wetland centres. They highlight how biodiversity, abiotic nature and good amenities are important qualities to consider when planning, managing and encouraging people to use natural environments for health benefit, qualities that may also provide important environmental co-benefits.

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