scholarly journals The utilization of Szczecin’s natural potential for the inhabitants recreation

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (43) ◽  
pp. 346-356
Author(s):  
B. Meyer

Natural environment potential encompasses such components as e.g. climate, relief, biota, waterways, all of these significant for the recreational activity carried out in nature. Such activity is increasingly more popular with city dwellers who, encouraged by new lifestyle trends, try to engage in active recreation on weekdays and at weekends. Existing environmental potential in urban areas may determine to a great extent the opportunity and nature of recreational activities of city inhabitants. Szczecin spans across a large area (over 300 km²) and enjoys versatile natural environment, with predominance of water and green areas (25% and 20% respectively). Green areas include forests with great landscape, recreational and specialist values, which allows the citizens (approx. 400 000 inhabitants) to engage in various forms of recreational activities. However, half of this area remains unkempt or not properly maintained which results in concentration of recreational traffic in the other areas, now hosting better leisure facilities though still not sufficient to meet the needs of the city’s population. The accumulation of tourist and recreational infrastructure over a limited area causes an over-concentration of recreational traffic, contributing to excessive exploitation of natural environment (as estimated, capacity norms are being exceeded 15-16 times). At the same time, even though there are several initiatives in operation aimed at integrating Szczecin’s green areas, the city still lacks a coherent, sensible system of developing and using Szczecin’s wooded areas which would benefit the citizens, as well as sustain the ecological balance of its forests. It can be thus concluded that the huge recreational potential of Szczecin’s wooded areas is used only in part. Key words: recreation, natural potential, woodland.

2019 ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Liubov Andriyivna Hileta

The aim of the study. Research the tourism and recreational activities of residents and visitors of the city of Lviv regarding the ecological state of green zones which perform a number of important functions, including social and environmental, which is to ensure that the residents of the city have the most favorable environmental conditions. Method. It is analized that within the Lviv urban ecosystem a green zone is allocated, that is, a system of territories with green plantations in unoccupied open spaces within a city or suburban area which have ecological, economic, recreational and aesthetic importance. The tourist and recreational use of the green zone has a significant negative impact on its condition. Results. The tourist and recreational activity of the residents of the Lviv urban ecosystem within the green zones is shown in walks, with pets included, mostly on unauthorized trampled trails, in organizing picnics, usually with the burning of fires, sports games and sunbathing and other, however, it is somewhat different depending on the type of green area and its affiliation with the nature reserve. Accordingly, the green areas of the Lviv urban ecosystem are exposed to such environmental effects as trampling of grass, which in turn leads to compaction of soil, compaction of the layer beneath, death of descending plants; collection of individual plants (usually flowers), which reduces the possibility of their self-renewal; mechanical damage to the green planting - a broken branch, kerf or notch on the trunk which cause infection of the trees with diseases and pests; contamination of the territory; burning of the upper layers of soil through unauthorized arrangement of fires, etc. Scientific novelty. Here is described the ecological consequences of the impact of tourist and recreational activities, which are quite large in local terms. Practical importance. It is stated that within the limits of the greenzones of the Lviv urban ecosystem, it is forbidden to damage and destroy trees, grass cover and equipment, consider a camp fire, arrange unauthorized rest places, passage and parking of transport, walk animals. But in order to reduce the negative impact of tourism and recreational activity on the state of the green zones of the urban ecosystem of Lviv, it is also necessary to introduce a system of management of the green zones of the city, which is, to create an interested administration.The wellestablished actions of the administration contribute primarily to the demarcation of the territory of the green areas, as well as to reduce the negative demonstration of recreational use of green areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Spina ◽  
Emiliano Tramontana

Abstract The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas is one of the main factors that reduce the liveability of cities. In recent years, to contrast urban sprawl, several nations have promoted policies aimed at developing urban green spaces. The importance of green oases within cities had already been highlighted, in 1977, by the architect Christopher Alexander who had developed a series of patterns including ‘City Country Fingers’ claiming that city development should consider the prolongation of country land in to the urban area. In several cities, especially in Japan, it is possible to recognize the imprint of urban development based on country fingers. This term refers to extensive urban intersections of agricultural land or wooded hills which, from the peripheral areas, penetrate the city. Inside them, there are urban windows, called city fingers, whose development direction is opposite to those of the country fingers. To recognize and analyze, in an automated way, these particular structures, a Python-based application was created. Starting from the original high-resolution image of Google Earth, a complete analysis was performed, labeling and delimiting urban and vegetational areas and extrapolating the main geometric parameters of the country and city fingers. The finalization of the results obtained was carried out through a classification model whose criteria were based on Alexander’s pattern. Thanks to this classification scheme, the distinction between Active Green Areas (country fingers) and Passive Green Areas (gardens and public parks) have been revealed for the analyzed cities. The tests performed showed almost ideal conditions for the city of Kamakura and a limited match for the urban area of Acireale. The proposed method is suitable for fields of application that require a qualitative and quantitative determination of the vegetation cover present within the city, an essential condition for correct territorial planning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 161-177
Author(s):  
Diego López-Collar ◽  
Francisco J. Cabrero-Sañudo

New geolocated records of the invasive ant Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868) are added to the previous references for the city of Madrid and its surroundings, and the possible causes of the occurrence and permanence of this species in urban areas are discussed. The data collection corresponds to a series of samplings carried out for the last three years in green areas of the city, bibliographic searches, citizen science platforms and personal communications. To date, eleven locations in the urban area of Madrid and four points outside the city have been registered. The city of Madrid is undergoing a colonisation by the Argentine ant, although it is not widespread yet, since observations over time and space are isolated and apparently unrelated. However, this species has a great capacity to disperse and establish new colonies, mainly human-mediated through the transport of goods, plants, gardening tools, etc. Considering the numerous colonizable urban green areas in the city that can provide the necessary conditions for its expansion, the Argentine ant should not be underestimated, and immediate action is strongly recommended.


GeoTextos ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Salles Maria de Macedo Rego ◽  
João Luis Jesus Fernandes

O trabalho em questão analisa, segundo o prisma da Geografia, a importância do patrimônio natural em ambiente urbano. Como objetivo principal, pretende compreender a percepção que os residentes na cidade de Coimbra (Portugal) têm da natureza e do papel que o património natural pode desempenhar na qualidade de vida da cidade. Para alcançar esses objetivos, inicia-se o texto com uma reflexão teórica que percorre conceitos como a topofilia e os olhares sociais sobre o ambiente e a natureza em contexto citadino. Depois, seguem-se dois procedimentos diferentes, mas complementares: (1) Como forma de registro da presença e do estado de conservação da natureza em Coimbra e da interação entre os cidadãos e o patrimônio natural naquele espaço geográfico, fez-se uma análise de campo com a montagem de um banco de dados fotográficos que representam excertos deste território; (2) Inquéritos por meio de entrevistas, em dois bairros da cidade – Vale das Flores e Monte Formoso – privilegiando adultos com idades superiores aos 30 anos. Apesar de a pesquisa ter revelado algumas contradições entre a prática e o discurso na percepção e na relação topofílica para com as áreas verdes urbanas, concluiu-se que a presença do patrimônio natural no ambiente urbano ainda se apresenta como uma questão secundária. Contudo, também se verificou que, para reforço desta relação simbólica e/ou funcional, o patrimônio natural deve estar presente em todo o contínuo urbano e não ficar restrito aos bairros mais elitizados ou aos parques. Abstract THE CITIZENS TOPOPHILIA AND THE NATURAL URBAN PATRIMONY: COIMBRA’S CASE STUDY This paper analyzes the importance of natural patrimony in the urban environment, under the prism of geography. The main objective of this study is to understand how nature is perceived in the city of Coimbra (Portugal) and the role that green areas and natural patrimony has in the quality of urban life. To achieve these objectives, this article discusses the conceptual argument about environmental perception, topophilia and the nature in the city. For this, it was used two different procedures: (1) Field analysis on the city of Coimbra with purpose to setting up a photographic database, to verify the presence, conservation and relationship to the natural patrimony inserted in urban environment; (2) Investigation through interviews in two neighborhoods of the city – Vale das Flores and Monte Formoso. The data revealed that the perception and the topophilic relationship to urban green areas are marked by the contradiction between practice and discourse. It was concluded that the presence of natural patrimony in the urban environment still present itself as a secondary issue. Moreover, it was concluded that to strengthen this relationship symbolically and/or functionally the natural patrimony must be present throughout all the continuous urban areas and should not be restricted to elite neighborhoods or parks.


Author(s):  
Adarsh S ◽  
Sajeeb R

The increase in population in urban areas have popularised high rise structures, as a means of accommodating more people in a limited area. The major concerns in the designing and construction of high-rise structures are the safety aspects against wind and earthquake forces, as the collapse of the structure can lead to a disaster. The seismic zoning map of India shows that a large area of India is prone to earthquakes. The growing use of high strength and lightweight materials in high-rise structures makes them more flexible and lightly damped, thereby making these structures more sensitive to dynamic excitations. Presence of irregularities, setbacks, open ground story, weak and soft storeys, also increases the seismic vulnerability of high-rise structures. Vertical ground shaking can be of significant concern in terms of amplification of acceleration along the height of the building, and also, achieving vertical isolation had been challenging as the gravitational load must be sustained by the isolation system. Quasi-Zero stiffness system was found to be effective in vertical isolation of structures. Installing damping devices at optimal locations, base isolation systems, and suitable seismic retrofitting strategies can enhance the seismic performance of structures. This paper reviews the various factors that lead to seismic issues in high-rise structures such as size, shape, configuration, structural aspects, and material properties. The appropriate remedies to address the seismic issues are also reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
pp. 09035
Author(s):  
Alexander Ischenko ◽  
Daria Shishkunova

In the modern world, urban areas are gradually replacing natural areas, which, in turn, negatively affects the environmental situation of the city. To solve this problem, people began to think about greening megalopolises in such a way that it did not occupy useful areas of the urban environment. The solution to this problem is possible by using vertical gardening technology in high-rise construction, which turns gray walls into vertical gardens. This technology allows not only decorating city streets, but also to significantly increase energy efficiency, create a natural environment, and have a positive impact on the psycho-emotional state of a person. This paper discusses various vertical gardening technologies for high-rise construction.


2019 ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
V. L. Pogodina ◽  
A. S. Matveevskaya ◽  
I. G. Filippova

A resident of a large city is increasingly in need of a complete rest in the bosom of nature, enjoy the peace and beauty of landscapes. The administration of megacities is concerned about the problems of preserving the natural environment and creating within the city limits a network of recreational areas where recreational activities can be organized. The necessity and importance of establishing a network of specially protected natural areas within the metropolis is not in doubt. But the status of the created nature reserves implies, for the most part, prohibitions and restrictions for the organization of recreational activities. A detailed description of recreational opportunities for the rational use of individual components of the city’s natural environment is presented. The authors conducted a geoecological analysis of the allocation of recreational areas in large cities. Features of nature that should be considered when designing recreational areas in large cities, on example of St. Petersburg, are noted.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pruthvin Shetty ◽  
Dwarakish g s

<p>The smart and sustainable city idea gained momentum in recent years in order to cope with population growth in urban areas and to make the city live. Cities are projected to consume 70% of the world's resources and 66% of the world population by 2050. Most of tier-3 and tier-2 cities will convert to tier-1 city, and we need to identify and protect the urban green spaces. Urban green areas have many esthetic advantages, including environmental benefits such as a fall in city temperature in the summer and absorption of rainwater. Social advantages are such as feelings of happiness and peace. Objective quantification of greenery on its neighbourhood spatial distribution may help identify essential and potential areas. Heterogeneous land uses describe urban areas. Urban heat island (UHI), with high Land surface temperatures (LST), is distinguished by its city development pattern, socioeconomic and anthropogenic activities. The LST is rising rapidly not only in cities but also in tier-3 & tier-2 cities.  Urban green areas, including parks, playgrounds, gardens and areas, such as ponds, pools, lakes and rivers, will contribute to the control of land temperatures in and around the city. Such spaces also lead to the formation of the Urban Cooling Island (UCI), where temperatures are comparatively cooler than surrounding temperatures, because of their shade of the trees and their evapotranspiration. This cooling island formation is referred to as the Park Cooling Island (PCI) impact. The present work aims to describe the effect of urban green and urban blue spaces on LST using a range of data sources with geospatial technologies. Udupi town, which comes under Udupi district, Karnataka, India is a tier-3 city, selected for the present research work. The data used in the study include Landsat 8 temporal satellite images and secondary data, such as field data from various government and semi-government organisations. LST has been measured using the emissivity reference channel algorithm from Landsat 8 thermal bands. Different indices such as Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index NDWI, Land Shape Index (LSI) are determined from images from Landsat 8. The results show that LST exists with high spatial variability and urban green, blue spaces have a stronger influence on LST.</p>


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1606
Author(s):  
Anouk L. Taucher ◽  
Sandra Gloor ◽  
Adrian Dietrich ◽  
Madeleine Geiger ◽  
Daniel Hegglin ◽  
...  

Increasing urbanization and densification are two of the largest global threats to biodiversity. However, certain species thrive in urban spaces. Hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus have been found in higher densities in green areas of settlements as compared to rural spaces. With recent studies pointing to dramatically declining hedgehog numbers in rural areas, we pose the question: how do hedgehogs fare in urban spaces, and do these spaces act as refuges? In this study, recent (2016–2018) and past (1992) hedgehog abundance and distribution were compared across the city of Zurich, Switzerland using citizen science methods, including: footprint tunnels, capture-mark recapture, and incidental sightings. Our analyses revealed consistent negative trends: Overall hedgehog distribution decreased by 17.6% ± 4.7%, whereas abundance declined by 40.6% (mean abundance 32 vs. 19 hedgehogs/km2, in past and recent time, respectively), with one study plot even showing a 91% decline in this period (78 vs. 7 hedgehogs/km2, respectively). We discuss possible causes of this rapid decline: increased urban densification, reduction of insect biomass, and pesticide use, as well as the role of increasing populations of badgers (a hedgehog predator) and parasites or diseases. Our results suggest that hedgehogs are now under increasing pressure not only in rural but also in urban areas, their former refuges.


2019 ◽  
Vol 265 ◽  
pp. 06012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Matveevskaya ◽  
Victoria Pogodina ◽  
Marina Ermolina

Life in big cities exacerbates a person's desire to be more often in the bosom of nature, enjoy the peace and beauty of landscapes. The administration of megacities is concerned about the problems of preserving the natural environment and creating within the city limits a network of recreational areas where recreational activities can be organized. In each region, this type of recreation is organized in accordance with the laws adopted in the state. According to geoecologists, the share of recreational areas should be at least 15% of the total area of the city. So for example the total area of such territories in St. Petersburg is only 6 004.4 hectares (which is 4.17% of the total area of the city). Comparison of the urban map of landscapes and located areas for recreation within the city allows concluding about the unequal representation of each landscape. This should be taken into account when designing new protected areas within the city. In the research, an attempt to generalize the theoretical material in the field of environmental and recreational resource studies is done. Also, a detailed description of recreational opportunities for the rational use of individual components of the city's natural environment is presented. The authors conducted a geoecological analysis of the allocation of recreational areas in large cities. Features of nature that should be taken into account when designing recreational areas in large cities, on an example of St. Petersburg, are noted.


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