Experience Them, Love Them, Protect Them—Has the Pandemic Changed People’s Perception of Urban and Suburban Green Spaces and Their Conservation Targets?

Public green and open spaces fulfil various social, ecological, economic, and aesthetic roles, which complement each another, but can also compete with one another. COVID-19 pandemic catalysed multiple societal changes, including citizens’ perception, needs and expectations posed towards urban green spaces. This article discusses the extent to which the temporally and geographically changed patterns of experiencing these natural spaces also influenced users’ perception and behaviour as well as their appreciation of the conservation areas. The study is based upon two surveys carried out in the greater metropolitan region of Vienna, the capital city of Austria. A quantitative survey (representative online panel) among Viennese population (n=1012), as well as qualitive interviews with experts responsible for conservation areas, administrators of federal parks, along with NGOs representatives were carried out in spring and summer 2021. Our study shows the changed use of urban and suburban large green spaces and conservation areas: first, from the perspective of those responsible for the areas as well as the visitors. Both perspectives supplement one another. They highlight also changed perception of urban citizens towards green spaces during COVID-19 pandemic. An increased importance of time spent in nature (68%) and possibility to visit large green areas (67%) was reported by Viennese citizens. Also, higher recognition of green spaces located close to home was observed among 69% of the respondents. Thus, the presented study contributes to the ongoing international discussion on the transition of societal needs and its effects on urban green spaces induced by the pandemic. Presented results deliver solid arguments highlighting the need of urgent transformation towards a more sustainable, resilient and healthy urban space.

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Practical Functioning of a Sustainable Urban Complex with a Park—The Case Study of Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13095071 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 5071

Author(s):

Beata Makowska

Keyword(s):

Urban Space ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Cultural Center ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Urban Complex

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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Experiential Contacts with Green Infrastructure’s Diversity and Well-Being of Urban Community

Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies ◽

10.21834/aje-bs.v2i2.178 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 65-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mazlina Mansor ◽

Ismail Said ◽

Ismail Mohamad

Keyword(s):

Green Infrastructure ◽

Small Town ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Publishing House ◽

Well Being ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Open Spaces ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Infrastructure Network

The study explores the significance of residents’ experience with an array of green infrastructure in Taiping, a small town in central Peninsular Malaysia. It argues that the existence of a composite of greenery and open spaces in a town that has diversity contributes to sense of well-being of residents. Green infrastructure network is a composite of various types of greenery and open spaces linked by streets, waterways and drainages encircling and connecting urban areas, at all spatial scales. In Taiping, the green infrastructure network consists of a town park, street planting, open spaces of public buildings, pocket spaces between shop-houses, school playfields, neighbourhood open space, home gardens, and river corridors. Questionnaires (n=335) and semi-structured interviews (n=33) explored the diversity of the green infrastructure in the town and the causal relationship to well-being—physical, cognitive and social. The data suggested that green infrastructure afford residents diversity of experience. Diverse experiences of green infrastructure network, physically and visually attract residents to participate in active activities, to socialize and to perform other transactional activities outside their homes. Therefore, the effects from the participation trigger many positive moods such as serenity, relaxation, comfort and satisfaction. Moreover, in physical and social terms, experiencing urban green spaces such as parks and gardens afford town residents active living, and community participation and harmony. There were modest relationships between the dimensions of diversity with the well-being dimensions, suggesting that residents felt diversity affect their sense of well-being. Hence, the results implicate that urban green spaces are essential amenity for towns and cities that afford an individual and a community physical, cognitive and social well-being. Keywords: Green infrastructure, Small town, Diversity, Well-being © 2017 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia.

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Urban green spaces and cancer: a protocol for a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018851 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. e018851 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Marion Porcherie ◽

Mathilde Lejeune ◽

Marion Gaudel ◽

Jeanine Pommier ◽

Emmanuelle Faure ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Space ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Green Space ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Controlled Vocabulary ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Primary Data ◽

Urban Green ◽

Hand Search ◽

Urban Green Spaces

IntroductionGreen space in the built environment is an important topic on the health agenda today. Studies have shown that access to green spaces is associated with better mental and physical health, yet green spaces can also be detrimental to health if they are not managed appropriately. Despite the increasing interest in urban green spaces, little research has so far been conducted into the links between green spaces and cancer.ObjectiveThe purpose of this scoping review is therefore to map the literature available on the types of relationship between urban green spaces and cancer.Method and analysisWe followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols 2015 guideline to report the protocol. To conduct this scoping review, we will use a structured search strategy based on controlled vocabulary and relevant key terms related to green space, urban space and cancer. We will search MEDLINE (PubMed), GreenFILE (EBSCOhost), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (EBSCOhost) and ScienceDirect as electronic database as well as hand-search publications for grey literature. This review will therefore provide evidence on this current topic, one which could have practical implications for policy-makers involved in choices which are more conducive to healthy living.Ethics and disseminationNo primary data will be collected since all data that will be presented in this review are based on published articles and publicly available documents, and therefore ethics committee approval is not a requirement. The findings of this review will be presented at workshops and conferences, and will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

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GREEN INDEXING OF HISAR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-5-921-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol XLII-5 ◽

pp. 921-927

Author(s):

D. Singh ◽

S. Mondal ◽

R. S. Hooda

Keyword(s):

Green Space ◽

Urban Green Space ◽

Green Spaces ◽

World Health ◽

Support Vector ◽

Open Spaces ◽

Relative Deviation ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces

Abstract. Urban Green Space (UGS) enhances the structure of the landscape of a city. It provides economic, social and health benefits to the inhabitants. Rapid urbanization and increase in population has put extreme pressure on urban green spaces. Therefore, mapping of urban green spaces is important to facilitate the urban planning sustainably. This study has been taken up to map the UGS in the Hisar Municipal Corporation (HMC) area of Haryana State constituting an area of 4197.32ha using high resolution LISS-IV data of November, 2017. Three different methods namely (a) Onscreen Digitization (b) Support Vector Machine-based classification (SVM) and (c) Multi Resolution Segmentation (MRS) have been tested to extract the green spaces. The onscreen digitization method has been considered as best method as compared to SVM and MRS because of the intervention of human mind and full control on manual editing. The SVM under estimated the green space for HMC with average relative deviation of 15%. However, it extracted the green area precisely without mixing of open spaces. MRS have given good results in terms of total area (relative deviation was 5%), however, spatial distribution of green spaces have been mixed with open spaces. The study identified the green index of HMC and suggested the suitability and sustainability of the city based on World Health Organization (WHO) defined standards. Green space for Hisar Municipal Corporation was 1690.96ha with average urban green space index of 0.40. Per capita green cover for HMC was 9.69m2/inhabitant, which is as per the standard reported by WHO i.e. 9m2/inhabitant. Further study may suggest some other algorithm for better results and automatic green space extraction.

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Challenges to the Multi-Functional Uses and Multifarious Benefits of Urban Green Spaces: Basis of Urban Biodiversity Planning and Management in the City of Manila, Philippines

International Journal of Environmental Science & Sustainable Development ◽

10.21625/essd.v1i1.33 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 69

Author(s):

Leonora Gonzales ◽

Dina Magnaye

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Well Being ◽

The Philippines ◽

Urban Biodiversity ◽

Capital City ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Planning And Management ◽

Biodiversity Planning

Urbanization is a global phenomenon which is projected by the United Nations to grow annually at 65 million between 2000 and 2030 in developing countries. As an archipelagic nation, the Philippines is considered as a highly urbanized nation where over three-fourths of its population is estimated to reside in urban areas, posting a proportion of one person residing in rural area for every three in urban area. The National Capital Region (NCR), the core region of the counry, registers a 100% urbanization level and where the most densely populated areas converged. It generally exhibits an urban population growth rate that exceeds the national growth rate. Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is the second largest and the worldâ€™s most densely populated city given its small land area and huge human population. The concentration of people in this city and the urbanization processes are foreseen to create environmental stress leading to potential biodiversity losses coupled with other urban environmental occurrences such as flooding, air pollution, sea level rise, earthquake, subsidence, traffic congestion, water pollution, among others. These natural and man-made hazards pose challenge to the multi-functional uses and various benefits of urban green spaces (UGS). UGS play a significant role in enhancing the quality and resiliency of the environment as well as in improving the health and general well being of city dwellers. It is in this context that the challenges and opportunities of UGS are examined. The paper attempts to identify and determine the factors that influence UGS as basis for urban biodiversity planning and management.

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Perceptions and Expressions Pertaining to Cultural Ecosystem Services in Urban Green Spaces Using Text Mining Techniques

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1188742/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hajung Ko

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Space ◽

Green Space ◽

Survey Methods ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Subjective Perception ◽

Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces

Abstract Objectives: To distinguish between the differences in cultural services based on the type of urban green area, through atypical expressions.Context: Urban green spaces provide important ecosystem services, with cultural ecosystem services (CES) playing a significant role in citizens’ lives. Nevertheless, these are often undervalued as it is difficult to quantitatively evaluate the characteristics of an individuals’ subjective perception of urban space. By examining social media content, we can analyze the content created by users and grasp demand values. Methods: This study analyzed urban green areas in the inland of Ansan city in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Data were collected twice, on October 3, 2017 and October 4, 2018, to verify that the extracted keywords were representative. We extracted keywords from blog posts related to CES and evaluated the possibility of using them as quantitative indicators. Results: The results indicate that the perceived expression words were different depending on the type of green space. Certain CES such as “exhibit” and “climbing” are affected by green space type. However, it was difficult to identify emotional responses to CES. We found that some words contained double meanings, which made it difficult to evaluate individuals’ perceptions of CES based on the frequency of specific words.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that social media data on CES greatly extends the type and, especially, the volume and scale of information derived from traditional survey methods. The significance of this study lies in its attempt to quantitatively evaluate the recognition of CES in daily life.

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

Proceedings of the 56th ISOCARP World Planning Congress ◽

10.47472/kuxq1422 ◽

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

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Planning of Urban Green Spaces: An Ecological Perspective on Human Benefits

Land ◽

10.3390/land10020105 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 105

Author(s):

Teodoro Semeraro ◽

Aurelia Scarano ◽

Riccardo Buccolieri ◽

Angelo Santino ◽

Eeva Aarrevaara

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Space ◽

Well Being ◽

Urban Ecosystem ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Urban Context ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Urban Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Green Spaces

In the context of urban land-use growth and the consequent impacts on the environment, green spaces provide ecosystem services for human health. The ecosystem services concept synthesises human–environmental interactions through a series of combined components of biodiversity and abiotic elements, linking ecological processes and functions. The concept of green infrastructure (GI) in the urban context emphasises the quality and quantity of urban and peri-urban green spaces and natural areas. In dense urban contexts, the applications of GI are limited and not applied to the potential urban spaces such as roofs and gardens. Often, roofs are characterised by impermeable paved surfaces with negative effects on human well-being, whereas garden designs do not consider social needs and environmental interactions. The role of urban stressors or the urban context as a driving force or pressure of urban green space is not always well understood and employed in the planning of green spaces. This is partly due to a knowledge gap between different science disciplines that operate on different scales, from single processes of the plants (which focus on plant responses to environmental stresses affecting human well-being) to urban ecosystems (which focus on the biodiversity and urban space planning–human well-being relationship). This can create a paradox, as green spaces that are not adequately designed might not produce the expected effects. In this paper, an overview of benefits and limitations of applying the ecosystem services approach when designing green spaces is presented. The focus is on the main urban ecosystem services provided by green roofs and community gardens such as GI that can represent strategies to provide ecological and social multifunctionality to waterproofed surfaces connected to the buildings and low-exploited gardens being the main areas that affect dense urban settlements, and thus, increasing the ecosystem services in the urban environment, such as reducing the Urban Heat Island, as well as flooding events. Specifically, the paper highlights (i) feedback between ecological processes and functions that support ecosystem services, (ii) urban environmental stresses in relation to disservices that these can create for human well-being and (iii) key issues that should be considered in the planning and design of urban ecosystem services. Such a new vision of urban ecosystem services highlights the need to look at GI as an active part of the urban space design in the built environment.

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