scholarly journals A Hybrid Method for Citizen Science Monitoring of Recreational Trampling in Urban Remnants: A Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

Urban Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Greg D. Simpson ◽  
Jackie Parker ◽  
Erin Gibbens ◽  
Philip G. Ladd
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Hybrid Method ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Recreation Ecology ◽  
Ecological Variability ◽  
Recreational Walking ◽  
Local Ecosystem

Vegetation trampling that arises from off-trail excursions by people walking for recreation can negatively impact the structure of understory plants in natural spaces that are an essential element of urban green infrastructure in a modern city. In addition to reducing the esthetic quality and environmental values of urban remnant and replanted native vegetation, such trampling reduces the habitat that supports wildlife populations within the urban fabric. This case study draws upon several disparate methods for measuring vegetation structure and trampling impacts to produce a hybrid method that community-based citizen scientists (and land managers and other researchers) could use to simply, rapidly, and reproducibly monitor how trampling associated with urban recreation trails impacts the structure of understory vegetation. Applying the novel hybrid method provided evidence that trampling had reduced the vegetation structure adjacent to a recreational walking trail in an urban woodland remnant in Perth, Western Australia. The hybrid method also detected ecological variability at the local ecosystem-scale at a second similar woodland remnant in Perth. The hybrid sampling method utilized in this case study provides an effective, efficient, and reproducible data collection method that can be applied to recreation ecology research into aspects of trampling associated with trail infrastructure.

scholarly journals Visitor Satisfaction with a Public Green Infrastructure and Urban Nature Space in Perth, Western Australia

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Parker ◽  
Greg Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Visitor Satisfaction ◽  
Business District

The widely applied Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) provides relatively simple and straightforward techniques to assess how well the attributes of a good or service perform in meeting the expectations of consumers, clients, users, and visitors. Surprisingly, IPA has rarely been applied to inform the management of urban public green infrastructure (PGI) or urban nature (UN) spaces. This case study explores the visitor satisfaction levels of people using a PGI space that incorporates UN, close to the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. With diminishing opportunities to acquire new PGI spaces within ever more densely populated urban centers, understanding, efficiently managing, and continuously improving existing spaces is crucial to accessing the benefits and services that PGI and UN provide for humankind. An intercept survey conducted within the Lake Claremont PGI space utilized a self-report questionnaire to gather qualitative and quantitative data (n = 393). This case study demonstrates how the IPA tool can assist urban planners and land managers to collect information about the attributes of quality PGI and UN spaces to monitor levels of service, to increase overall efficiency of site management, to inform future management decisions, and to optimize the allocation of scarce resources. The satisfaction of PGI users was analyzed using the IPA tool to determine where performance and/or resourcing of PGI attributes were not congruent with the expectations of PGI users (generally in the form of over-servicing or under-servicing). The IPA demonstrated that a majority of PGI users perceived the study site to be high performing and were satisfied with many of the assessed attributes. The survey identified the potential for some improvement of the amenity and/or infrastructure installations at the site, as well as directing attention towards a more effective utilization of scarce resources. Optimizing the management of PGI spaces will enhance opportunities for individuals to obtain the physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits that arise from experiencing quality urban PGI spaces. This case study promotes the important contribution that high-quality PGI spaces, which include remnant and restored UN spaces, make to the development of resilient and sustainable urban centers.

scholarly journals Living Heritage in the Urban Landscape. Case Study of the Budapest World Heritage Site Andrássy Avenue

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4699
Author(s):  
Kinga Szilágyi ◽  
Chaima Lahmar ◽  
Camila Andressa Pereira Rosa ◽  
Krisztina Szabó
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Heritage Protection ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

Historic allées and urban avenues reflect a far-sighted and forward-thinking design attitude. These compositions are the living witnesses of olden times, suggesting permanence. However, the 20th century’s urban development severely damaged the environment, therefore hundred-year-old mature trees are relatively rare among city avenues’ stands. Due to the deteriorated habitat conditions, replantation may be necessary from time to time. However, there are a large number of replanted allées and urban avenues considered historical monuments, according to the relevant international literature in urban and living heritage’s preservation. The renewal often results in planting a different, urban tolerant taxon, as seen in several examples reviewed. Nevertheless, the allée remains an essential urban structural element, though often with a changed character. The Budapest Andrássy Avenue, a city and nature connection defined in the late 19th century’s urban landscape planning, aimed to offer a splendid link between city core and nature in Városliget Public Park. The 19–20th century’s history and urban development are well documented in Hungarian and several English publications, though current tree stock stand and linear urban green infrastructure as part of the urban landscape need a detailed survey. The site analyses ran in 2020–early 2021 created a basis for assessing the allées and the whole avenue as an urban ecosystem and a valuable case study of contemporary heritage protection problems. Andrassy Avenue, the unique urban fabric, architecture, and promenades have been a world heritage monument of cultural value since 2002. The allées became endangered despite reconstruction type maintenance efforts. The presented survey analyses the living heritage’s former renewal programs and underlines the necessity of new reconstruction concepts in urban heritage protection. We hypothesize that urban green infrastructure development, the main issue in the 21st century to improve the urban ecological system and human liveability, may support heritage protection. The Budapest World Heritage Site is worthwhile for a complex renewal where the urban green ecosystem supply and liveable, pedestrian-friendly urban open space system are at the forefront to recall the once glorious, socially and aesthetically attractive avenue.

scholarly journals Application of a Novel Hybrid Method for Flood Susceptibility Mapping with Satellite Images: A Case Study of Seoul, Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2786
Author(s):  
Roya Narimani ◽  
Changhyun Jun ◽  
Saqib Shahzad ◽  
Jeill Oh ◽  
Kyoohong Park
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Hybrid Method ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Susceptibility Mapping ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Flood Susceptibility ◽  
Flood Susceptibility Mapping ◽  
Flood Maps

This paper proposes a novel hybrid method for flood susceptibility mapping using a geographic information system (ArcGIS) and satellite images based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Here, the following nine multisource environmental controlling factors influencing flood susceptibility were considered for relative weight estimation in AHP: elevation, land use, slope, topographic wetness index, curvature, river distance, flow accumulation, drainage density, and rainfall. The weight for each factor was determined from AHP and analyzed to investigate critical regions that are more vulnerable to floods using the overlay weighted sum technique to integrate the nine layers. As a case study, the ArcGIS-based framework was applied in Seoul to obtain a flood susceptibility map, which was categorized into six regions (very high risk, high risk, medium risk, low risk, very low risk, and out of risk). Finally, the flood map was verified using real flood maps from the previous five years to test the model’s effectiveness. The flood map indicated that 40% of the area shows high flood risk and thus requires urgent attention, which was confirmed by the validation results. Planners and regulatory bodies can use flood maps to control and mitigate flood incidents along rivers. Even though the methodology used in this study is simple, it has a high level of accuracy and can be applied for flood mapping in most regions where the required datasets are available. This is the first study to apply high-resolution basic maps (12.5 m) to extract the nine controlling factors using only satellite images and ArcGIS to produce a suitable flood map in Seoul for better management in the near future.

A Linear-based Model for Multi-Microgrid Energy Sharing- A Western Australia Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Azizivahed ◽  
S. Ehsan Razavi ◽  
Ali Arefi ◽  
Christopher Lund
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Energy Sharing
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document