Exploring Options for Public Green Space Development: Research by Design and GIS-Based Scenario Modelling

Philip Stessens,Ahmed Z Khan,Frank Canters

doi:10.3390/su13158213

Philip Stessens, Ahmed Z Khan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158213

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Abstract

Green spaces have a positive influence on human well-being. Therefore, an accurate evaluation of public green space provision is crucial for administrations to achieve decent urban environmental quality for all. Whereas inequalities in green space access have been studied in relation to income, the relation between neighbourhood affluence and remediation difficulty remains insufficiently investigated. A methodology is proposed for co-creating scenarios for green space development through green space proximity modelling. For Brussels, a detailed analysis of potential interventions allows for classification according to relative investment scales. This resulted in three scenarios of increasing ambition. Results of scenario modelling are combined with socio-economic data to analyse the relation between average income and green space proximity. The analysis confirms the generally accepted hypothesis that non-affluent neighbourhoods are on average underserved. The proposed scenarios reveal that the possibility of reaching a very high standard in green space proximity throughout the study area if authorities would be willing to allocate budgets for green space development that go beyond the regular construction costs of urban green spaces, and that the types of interventions require a higher financial investment per area of realised green space in non-affluent neighbourhoods.

Highlights

In the proximity model used in this study, seven theoretical functional levels (TFL) are defined, from the residential to the metropolitan scale, each corresponding with a minimum size and maximum distance, the latter obtained empirically (Table 2, Figure 1)
The results of the research by design (RbD) exercises for the improvement of green spaces (GS) proximity are discussed per Theoretical Functional Levels (TFL), and distinctive types and opportunities of GS creation are identified
Whereas the gaps in residential and play GS proximity are quite fragmented, in the higher TFL, clear zones start to appear, with a consistent lack in the historical centre up to district GS and a north-south partitioning for city and metropolitan GS

Summary

Introduction

Access to Public Green Spaces and Quality of Life. A good understanding of access to Brussels’ public green spaces (GS) is required, as these are essential for the well-being and quality of life of the region’s inhabitants. This is important for the current state, and for future development scenarios, as visiting urban green spaces has a general positive connection to reduced mortality [3], health protection [4], obesity in children and adults [5,6], and psychological well-being [7]. Access to urban GS has a positive effect on the development and well-being of children [16] and may contribute to coping with a wide range of behavioural problems [17]

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