Public perceptions on urban open space and city livability in Barishal, Bangladesh

Abstract

ABSTRACT Parks and green spaces in neighborhoods encourage physical exercise. Lack of POS design guidelines, budget restrictions, and public input have rendered these few POSs obsolete and unable to meet modern visitor needs. The objectives of this study are to understand and evaluate the residents’ perceptions regarding existing open space and its relationship with the city’s livability. Public open space physical and activity parameters were surveyed using a field physical and observation survey—an interview based on a questionnaire collected opinions about public open spaces. After gathering stakeholder data, the Spearman correlation in SPSS is used to analyze the association between public open space perception and quality of life. The study shows that the mean value of satisfaction level is 2.95. Which indicates the overall satisfaction level is “unsatisfied to neutral.” On the other hand, the correlation coefficient between public open space and City Livability is 0.1752 or 17.5%. It indicates that public open space account for 17.5% of the variance in city livability, with the remaining variance explained by other factors. The most significant takeaway from qualitative data analysis is that there is no blueprint technology for providing, managing, and maintaining public open spaces in the BCC area.