Severe vegetation degradation associated with different disturbance types in a poorly managed urban recreation destination in Iran

Recreational activities worldwide have major impacts on the environment. This study examined the impact of different kinds of recreational activities on plant communities in a highly visited park in Mashhad, Iran. Vegetation in the park was sampled along 41 random 10-m transects with different human disturbances (trails, dirt roads, campsites) and undisturbed communities. Life form spectrum, species composition, species and phylogenetic diversity were determined for all communities. Disturbance increased the frequency of therophytes, but decreased the frequency of chamaephytes and percentage vegetated area. Recreational-mediated disturbance had variable impact on species composition, but decreased species and phylogenetic diversity compared with undisturbed areas. Roads and campsites caused the greatest damage, while trails had the smallest negative impact on vegetation. This study showed that damage to (semi-)natural park vegetation differs with recreation activity. This finding can help prioritise management activities to minimise negative impacts of recreation activities on local vegetation. The current visitor load to the urban park studied here appears too high to be sustainable over time, so better monitoring and restrictions on visitor numbers may be needed to minimise the negative impacts on park vegetation. The camping impacts can be managed by creating clusters of designated campsites to spatially concentrate the impact area. Low-impact practices should be communicated to visitors.

The Impact of Urban Recreation Environment on Residents’ Happiness—Based on a Case Study in China

Rapid urbanization promotes the expansion of urban tourism and recreation functions, but it also brings many problems, which affect residents’ happiness. Previous studies have emphasized the direct impact of urban recreation environment on happiness, and few have explored the indirect impact of urban recreation environment on happiness through subjective evaluation. Based on the survey data of nearly 10,000 permanent residents in 40 key tourism cities in China, this paper establishes a theoretical framework of the direct and indirect impact of urban recreation environment on happiness. The objective evaluation of natural recreation environment and sociocultural recreation environment has an important influence on happiness, but the influence of natural recreation environment is greater than that of sociocultural recreation environment. Individual subjective satisfaction with urban recreation environment mediates the relationship between urban objective environment and happiness. Urban parks have a positive effect on happiness, while tourist attractions have a negative effect. The influence of urban location on happiness is nonlinear. The high-income group is more sensitive to the recreation environment, while the low-income group is less sensitive to the recreation environment. These findings provide insights for further improving citizens’ quality of life and designing urban construction in developing countries under the conditions of rapid urbanization.

LAKE BASE URBAN RECREATION IN DHAKA METROPOLITAN AREA: HATIRJHEEL LAKE AS A POTENTIAL CASE

The main objective of this paper is to investigate tourists’ perceptions of services delivered by Hatirjheel lake-based Holiday recreation site in Dhaka Metropolitan area. The six structural variables were tourists' expectation, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and complaint. A face-to-face survey was conducted with tourists who had stayed for at least one hour in the Lake. The overall assessment of tourist satisfaction is 4.27 and tourist loyalty is 4.66, which indicates that the respondents are satisfied with the Hatirjheel area. The results indicated that air quality; noise pollution and sanitation were more important varieties. Tourists were more satisfied with the scenic area capacity, air quality, noise pollution and sanitation; while they were less satisfied with water quality, convenient traffic and parking. The sustainability of the Hatirjheel lake holiday recreation depends on the management and environmental management; therefore, the analyses and compares both sides of the utilization of the lake: the demand and the offer.

POTRET MASYARAKAT URBAN DALAM NOVEL RESIGN KARYA ALMIRA BASTARI

This study aims to: (1) describe the description of the prestige of urban recreation in Almira Bastari's Resign novel; (2) describe the description of the instant life culture of urban communities in Almira Bastari's Resign; (3) describe the description of the virtual lifestyle of urban communities in Almira Bastari's Resign; (4) describe the description of the individualist lifestyle of urban society in Almira Bastari's Resign novel. This type of research is qualitative research using descriptive methods. Based on the results of data analysis obtained; (1) the recreational prestige of urban community leaders in Almira Bastari's Resign includes education, employment, entertainment venues visited, and restaurants visited; (2) the instant life culture of urban communities depicted in Almira's Resign in general coming to fast food restaurants; (3) the individualist lifestyle of urban society in Almira Bastari's Resign as if it had never been separated from technology and communication in everyday life. Urban communities rely on information and communication technology to seek information, communicate, and obtain entertainment; (4) a portrait of the lifestyle of the individual urban society in Almira Bastari's Resign, like to do everything by yourself and some people prefer to live without the interference of othersKeywords: urban society, Resign novel, Almira Bastari

Spatial Green Belt Development Report in China

The green belt, located on the outskirts of a metropolis, has many characteristics such as good location, better landscape environment than urban areas, high availability in an original environment, low development costs and large and concentrated open spaces. With the huge population in China, this has led to a shortage of green space per capita and the shortage of recreational space. In view of such conditions, the recreational function of the green belt is very important, and can compensate for the shortcomings of tight urban recreation space. However, there has always been an important question about the scientific aspects and rationality of green belt use and control measures. In this paper, some outcomes of the Chinese green belt policy will be introduced. Then, three advantages and two disadvantages will be shown. Finally, reasons analyse and comparisons between China’s main cities and cities with a successful green belt will be given.

Brief Communication on Parents’ Perception towards Favourite Play Equipment, Satisfaction Level and Safety of Public Climbing Equipment in Malaysia

Public playground injuries caused by unsafe climbing equipment is a public health concern. This study aims to measure Malaysian parents’ perception towards their children’s favourite play equipment and satisfaction level on public equipment safety. A self-administered survey was employed among 50 Malaysians citizen, aged between 18 to 45 years. Data was descriptively analysed using SPSS version 21.0. The results showed that climbing equipment was favourite playing equipment among children. Furthermore, our study revealed that (90%) of parents were dissatisfied with public climbing equipment. We found that while (92%) of the parents agreed that safety levels of the climbing equipment should be improved. In addition, the study revealed that more than three quarters of respondents agreed to reduce free fall height, improve product materials, focus on reducing falls, and implement effective safety inspection including regular maintenance to improve the safety level of public climbing equipment. Results from this study could assist in advanced urban recreation safety for controlling injuries and regain parents’ trust on playground safety.