Green Park Research Articles

Greenery as a mitigation and adaptation strategy to urban heat

The absence of vegetation in urban areas contributes to the establishment of the urban heat island, markedly increasing thermal stress for residents, driving morbidity and mortality. Mitigation strategies are, therefore, needed to reduce urban heat, particularly against a background of urbanization, anthropogenic warming and increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves. In this Review, we evaluate the potential of green infrastructure as a mitigation strategy, focusing on greenery on the ground (parks) and greenery on buildings (green roofs and green walls). Green infrastructure acts to cool the urban environment through shade provision and evapotranspiration. Typically, greenery on the ground reduces peak surface temperature by 2–9 °C, while green roofs and green walls reduce surface temperature by ~17 °C, also providing added thermal insulation for the building envelope. However, the cooling potential varies markedly, depending on the scale of interest (city or building level), greenery extent (park shape and size), plant selection and plant placement. Urban planners must, therefore, optimize design to maximize mitigation benefits, for example, by interspersing parks throughout a city, allocating more trees than lawn space and using multiple strategies in areas where most cooling is required. To do so, improved translation of scientific understanding to practical design guidelines is needed. The urban heat island effect poses increasing morbidity and mortality challenges in a warming world. This Review discusses how urban vegetation — specifically, green parks, green roofs and green walls — can be used as a strategy to mitigate heat.

Local or Neighborhood? Examining the Relationship between Traffic Accidents and Land Use Using a Gradient Boosting Machine Learning Method: The Case of Suzhou Industrial Park, China

In cities, road traffic accidents are critical endangerment to people’s safety. A vast number of studies which are designed to understand these accidents’ leading causes and mechanisms exist. The widely held view is that emerging analysis methods can be a critical tool for understanding the complex interactions between land use and urban transportation. Using a case study of Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) in Suzhou, China, this paper examines the relationship between different land use types and traffic accidents using a gradient boosting model (GBM) machine learning method. The results show that the GBM can be used as an effective accident model for a variety of research and analysis methods by (1) ranking the influential factors, (2) testing the degree of interpretation of each variable as the complexity of iterations changes, and (3) obtaining partial dependence plots, among other methods. The findings of this study also suggest that land use types—including facility points—demonstrate differing degrees of influence at two geographical scales: local level and neighborhood level. In the ranking of relative importance at both scales, the variables of education institutions, traffic lights, and service institutions are all ranked high—with a more significant influence on the occurrence of accidents. However, residential land and land use mix variables differed significantly in both scales and showed a significant deviation compared to the other results. When adjusting the complexity of the decision tree, the local level is more suitable for measuring variables such as residential areas and green parks where pedestrians and vehicles have fixed mobility periods and moderate flows. On the contrary, the nearest neighborhood level is more suitable to a small number of variables related to public service facilities at fixed locations, such as traffic lights and bus stops. In the partial dependence plots, all variables, except educational institutions and residences, show a positive correlation for accidents in the fitting process. The results of this study can ideally help inform transportation planners to reconsider transport accident occurrence rates in the context of the proximity to various land use types and public service facilities.

Do green park characteristics influence human-wildlife distance in arboreal squirrels?

As an increasing number of wildlife are colonizing urban areas, how to control human-wildlife interactions has been a pivotal challenge in wildlife management and urban planning alike. Close human-wildlife proximity and associated behaviors such as flight initiation distance (FID; the distance at which animals initiate escape from approaching humans) is one of many important ecological elements underlying direct human-wildlife interaction. However, how habitat features in urban areas affect human-wildlife distance is still virtually unknown. Understanding the key factors of urban habitats that influence flight distance would provide important insights for improving both wildlife and park management. Using the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, we examined how urban green park characteristics influence variation of two flight distances: FID and vertical escape distance (VED; the height at which target animals stop climbing in the tree after escape) among parks. We found that park features such as the intensity of artificial feeding, the proportion of green space, tree density, and the density of recreational equipment influenced FID and VED. Particularly, high feeding intensity decreased FID and VED, while high green space, high tree density, and high density of recreational equipment increased FID and VED. Our results suggest that manipulating environmental characteristics is an effective method to control human-wildlife interactions, which could be implemented in park management.

Research on the Greening Rate and Spatial Differences of Urban Residential Neighborhoods in Shenzhen

Residential green spaces are one of the most frequently used urban green space types. Aiming at filling a gap in the existing greening indicators with considerations on the spatial differences of residential green spaces, as well as to inform the improvement of urban green space service, three greening indicators, i.e. residential unit’s green coverage rate, green view index, and park ratio within a 500 m service radius, are proposed in this paper. This study selects 14,196 residential units in built area of Shenzhen City in 2017 to measure the greening rate and the geographic spatial factors of the units upon multi-sourced geographic databases such as land cover maps and street view images. The research reveals that: 1) the three indicators can all independently measure the greening rate within or around residential units; 2) the studied residential units are low in residential unit’s green coverage rate and park ratio within a 500 m service radius, but high in green view index; 3) there are significant disparities of the greening rate and the surrounding parks in 500 m service radius among the studied units, and among different housing property rights, showing a disequilibrium in green space service; and 4) the greening rate of residential units is mainly impacted by factors such as development intensity, types of housing property right, altitude, and location. In conclusion, it is suggested that urban green space layout should prioritize improving the spatial distribution and layout of residential green spaces, especially for the socially vulnerable population. Finally, the study points out that the park ratio within a 500 m service radius can be adopted as a supplement to existing greening indicators for residential areas.

植被群落特征对城市生态系统服务的影响研究进展

生态空间（林地、灌木、草地、水体）所产生的生态系统服务极大的改善了人类的生存环境，在城市绿地破碎化日益严重、绿地质量逐渐降低、乡土植物逐渐减少、入侵风险逐渐加剧等生态背景下，如何维持稳定而持续增长的城市生态系统服务供给，一直困扰着当下从事城市生态学领域研究的学者和城市管理者。植被群落作为城市绿地系统的基本组成单元，在绿地破碎化趋势下，可作为研究内容来探讨城市生态系统服务维持或提升策略；植被群落泛指城市中常见的、具有明显边界的、按照一定分布规则的植物群落单元，既包括道路绿地、居住区绿地、公园绿地等，也包括城市郊野自然林地。但对植被群落生态功能的研究也多停留在对某一生态问题的简单相关性研究，缺乏系统性和整体性。从微观层面的植被群落角度，整合相关文献研究，介绍了受植被群落特征影响的6种典型城市生态系统服务，综述了植被群落特征对这6种城市生态系统服务的影响机理，对植被群落特征因子进行总结、归类，从树种特性、垂直结构、水平结构、其他4个角度构建了"植被群落特征因子对城市生态系统服务影响关系表"。最后面向典型生态系统服务提升提出了城市低质量植被群落地区的营建和更新原则，以期为今后城市园林部门、规划部门制定城市绿地系统规划提供基础性技术支撑。;The ecosystem services generated by ecological spaces (woodlands, shrubs, grasslands, and water bodies) have greatly improved the human living environment. In the context of increasing fragmentation of urban green spaces, decreasing quality of green spaces, diminishing native plants and increasing risk of invasion, how to maintain a stable and sustainable increase in the supply of urban ecosystem services has been troubling scholars and urban managers. As a basic component of urban green space systems, vegetation communities can be used as a research component to explore strategies for maintaining or enhancing urban ecosystem services in the context of green space fragmentation; vegetation communities refer to common urban plant community units with distinct boundaries and according to certain distribution rules, including both road green space, residential green space and park green space, as well as natural woodland in the urban countryside. while studies on the ecological functions of vegetation communities were mostly confined to simple correlation studies of a certain ecological problem, lacking in a systematic and holistic approach. This paper introduces six typical urban ecosystem services that are influenced by vegetation community characteristics from the perspective of urban vegetation communities at the micro level, integrating relevant literature studies. This is followed by an overview of the mechanisms by which vegetation community characteristics affect these six urban ecosystem services, and a summary and categorisation of vegetation community characteristics factors. A table of relationships between vegetation community characteristics and urban ecosystem services was then constructed from four perspectives:tree species characteristics, vertical structure, horizontal structure and others. Finally, the principles for the establishment and renewal of urban low-quality vegetation communities are proposed for the enhancement of typical ecosystem services, with the aim of providing basic technical support for urban landscape departments and planning departments in their future planning of urban green space systems.

Influence of urban heat island on Tilia tomentosa Moench. blooming

Temperature increase in urban areas due to a high share of paved and impermeable surfaces affects indigenous woody species by making changes in their biological processes. Field research includes monitoring the blooming period of 18 individuals of Tilia tomentosa Moench. in one vegetation season located in three different habitats (green strip, paved surface, and park). The beginnings of four blooming phenophases are monitored (beginning of blooming, beginning of full blooming, end of full blooming, and end of blooming), as well as the total duration of blooming. Analyzed individuals are located in the densely built-up part of Novi Sad in Serbia which is under the influence of the urban heat island effect. The results show that the blooming period of individuals located in the park lasted longer and occurred later. Between individuals from green strips and paved surfaces there are no significant dif?ferences in the blooming period and the occurring of phases, but in relation to park individuals, blooming duration is shorter and occurs earlier. Besides age and hereditary traits, air temperature as a part of the microclimate of analyzed habitats is a very important factor when analyzing the blooming phenophase. In that way, the change in blooming phenophases can be an indicator of the adaptability of indigenous species to the urban heat effect and climate change.

转型中工业城市的公园绿地社会公平性研究——以东莞市东城街道为例

作为城市重要的生态空间，公园绿地为城市提供环境基础及景观保障，其资源的合理分配是社会公平的重要体现。提出公园绿地社会公平性新的内涵，即无论个体所处的人居环境条件如何，其获得的城市公园绿地质量应该平等。工业城市向服务型、创新型城市的转变是中国城镇发展的典型趋势，研究其公园绿地的社会公平性为城市更新改造与公共资源分配提供重要的科学依据。以东莞市东城街道为例，构建社会-经济-自然复合人居指标体系与公园质量评价体系，基于可达性模型与Pearson相关性系数对公平性进行测度。结果表明：由于区域更新强度及顺序不同，研究区的绿地布局存在不公平现象，居民享受的公园质量与小区的自然、经济要素具有一定的关联。转型中的工业城市高质量公园聚集于风景资源优越的高端居住区，其他公园质量普遍不佳。工业园区以及旧城区为公园服务盲区的主要聚集地。;As an important ecological space in the city, the park green space provides the environmental foundation and landscape guarantee for the urbanization process. Moreover, the reasonable allocation of park green space is an important embodiment of social equity. Social equity emphasizes the rights and democratic values of residents and considers the fairness of use of parks by different social groups. This paper proposes a new connotation of social equity of park green space: no matter what the living environment is, the quality of urban park green space obtained by individuals should be equal. The transformation of industrial cities into service-oriented and innovative cities is a typical trend of urban development in China. The study on the social equity of park green space in the industrial city provides an important scientific basis for urban renewal and public resource allocation. Thus we build a social-economic-natural composite residential index system of community and an evaluation system of park quality. The quality of parks is evaluated in terms of the categories of parks, the proportion of forest land, the proportion of water, and the level of recreation facilities. The research uses network analysis to construct the accessibility model, while service coverage rate and service overlap rate are combined to measure the service level of parks in the study area. Based on the analysis of park quality and accessibility level, the research uses Pearson correlation coefficient to measure and analyze fairness, the service and layout problems of industrial city parks and their causes are discussed in combination with the economic development level of industrial city. Taking Dongcheng Street of Dongguan as an example, the results show that: (1) due to the varying intensity and progress of regional renewal, high-quality parks are mainly concentrated around the areas with excellent scenery resources, while other regions are generally of poor quality. (2) the laggard nature of park construction in the industrial region, old city reconstruction and the existence of undeveloped area and private garden make the blind area of park service accounting for 22.29% of the study area. (3) there exists the unfair phenomenon of green space service level in the research area. At present, the layout of urban park green space relies on the original mountain and water system, and the new urban area develops high-end residential areas by virtue of high-quality parks. Therefore, the overall quality of parks enjoyed by the community has a certain correlation with its natural and economic indexes. In the future, industrial cities should expand urban cultural connotation, develop the diversified park system, and improve the quality and distribution of parks. This study takes transitional industrial cities as the research area, comprehensively discusses the social equity of green space parks in combination with natural, economic and natural living environment elements. With the stratified random sampling method, taking the community as the basic research unit is better than the previous studies taking the streets and districts as the basic units, and the objective problems are more specifically exposed. Also, it is of practical significance to discuss the allocation of public resources from the perspective of park quality.

城市花粉致敏植物种类构成、分布与潜在危害评估——以深圳市为例

气传致敏花粉会引发过敏症，且可通过每年在花粉季的反复接触逐渐加重，危害人体健康，严重时甚至危害生命。花粉致敏植物在城市中被广泛引种栽培，导致城市花粉症患者数量激增。以深圳市为案例，基于建成区600个样地的实地调查数据，分析花粉致敏植物的种类构成与时空分布，通过构建花粉浓度及花粉致敏危害潜力计算公式，评估花粉致敏危害潜力及其分布特点。结果显示：①调查记录到深圳市建成区花粉致敏植物46科92属186种，其中外来种占43.37%，其中美洲、亚洲和大洋洲来源占国外外来种的81.00%。花粉致敏植物种数以公园绿地最多，达126种。植物花粉致敏等级以Ⅰ级为主，达154种。②花粉致敏植物的盛花期为春夏季，占全年累计开花种数的65.02%。最高峰出现在8月，开花种数达92种。 ③花粉浓度潜力最高值也出现在8月，占全年总值的12.13%。豆科和禾本科植物贡献比例较大，分别占乔木和草本总值的40.86%和64.13%。龙岗区花粉浓度潜力占比较高，占各季花粉量的26.06%-29.42%。④冬春两季各样地花粉致敏危害等级均不高，但夏秋季有些样地达到二级重度危害。罗湖区调查样地全年花粉致敏危害等级均较低，光明区在春夏秋季致敏危害等级皆较高。高危害等级样地主要出现在附属绿地及公园绿地。⑤花粉致敏植物防控措施情景模拟结果，去除主要花粉致敏植物种类比降低所有花粉致敏植物的花粉浓度潜力更有效。本研究为城市花粉致敏植物的管理、规划、养护和研究提供参考。;Airborne allergenic pollen can cause pollinosis and aggravate every year through repeated exposure in the pollen seasons, endangering human health and even life in severe cases. Allergenic pollen plants have been widely introduced and cultivated in cities, leading to a sharp increase in the number of urban pollinosis patients. In this study, based on the investigation data of 600 plots in the built-up area of Shenzhen as a case study, the species composition and the spatiotemporal distribution of allergenic pollen plants were analyzed, and the potential allergenic hazard with its distribution characteristics was evaluated by constructing calculation formulas of pollen concentration and pollen allergenic potential. The results showed that: ① In the built-up area of Shenzhen, a total of 186 species of allergenic pollen plants from 46 families and 92 genera were recorded. Among the allergenic pollen plant species, 43.37% were alien species, with 81.00% of them originated from America, Asia, and Oceania. The number of allergenic pollen plant species was highest in park green space, up to 126. Allergenic levels were mainly graded Ⅰ, covering 154 species. ② The peak bloom stages of allergenic pollen plants were spring and summer, with flowering species accounted for 65.02% of the annual total. The peak month appeared in August, concerning 92 flowering species. ③ August had the highest potential value of pollen concentrations, accounting for 12.13% of the annual year total. The contribution of Leguminosae and Poaceae were relatively high, respectively, accounting for 40.86% and 64.13% of the arbors and the herbs totals. The values in the Longgang District were relatively high in all seasons, reaching 26.06%-29.42% of respectively seasonal total. ④ The allergenic hazard levels in all plots were not high in winter and spring, but some plots reached second-level severe in summer and autumn. The hazard levels of investigated plots in the Luohu District were relatively low throughout the year. In contrast, those of investigated plots in the Guangming District were relatively high in spring, summer, and autumn. The high-hazard-level plots mainly appeared in the subsidiary green space and park green space. ⑤ Results of scenario-simulation for allergenic pollen plants prevention and control measures showed that the effect of removing major allergenic pollen plant species might be better than that of reducing the pollen concentrations of all allergenic pollen plant species. This study provides a reference for the management, planning, and maintenance of urban allergenic pollen plants, and the research and solution of urban pollen allergenic problems.

A Comparative Research Between Domestic and International Landscape Design of Green Parks based on Bibliometric Analysis

A Comparative Research Between Domestic and International Landscape Design of Green Parks based on Bibliometric Analysis

Effect of land use and cover change on soil organic carbon fractions and enzymatic activities in lakeshore wetland of north shore of Lake Chaohu

为了揭示湖滨带土地利用与覆被改变对土壤有机碳库及生态功能的影响，本文选取了巢湖湖滨带（北岸）9个典型样方，分析和比较了表层（0~30 cm）土壤有机碳组分特征以及相关酶的活性.结果表明，巢湖湖滨带不同采样点土壤总有机碳（TOC）含量变化范围为2.88~11.2 g/kg，平均含量为9.12 g/kg，其中原生芦苇（Phragmites australis）湿地土壤TOC含量最高（11.2 g/kg），而芦苇群落消失后形成的荒滩土壤TOC含量最低，仅为2.88 g/kg.表征湖滨带湿地缓冲性能的土壤阳离子交换量（CEC）也以原生芦苇湿地土壤为最高，并与TOC含量呈现明显正相关.湖滨带表层土壤溶解性有机碳（DOC）和易氧化有机碳（EOC）含量变化范围分别为150~370 mg/kg和1.7~5.2 g/kg，其变化幅度明显高于TOC，其中DOC含量各采样点差异最为显著.除多酚氧化酶外，次生水柳林（Homonoia riparia Lour.）表层土壤几种酶的活性较原生芦苇湿地土壤皆有所上升，特别是蔗糖酶活性增加幅度最为明显.受人类活动干扰较大的湖滨绿地公园和人工草滩土壤过氧化氢酶、脲酶和蔗糖酶酶活性普遍显著低于原生芦苇湿地.除多酚氧化酶外，土壤中几种酶活性与土壤有机碳组分EOC和DOC含量均呈现显著的正相关，其中蔗糖酶活性与DOC含量之间相关系数最高（r=0.907），其相关性均达到极显著水平.土壤溶解性有机碳和蔗糖酶可以作为表征因土地利用与覆被变化导致湖滨带湿地退化以及生态恢复效果的敏感性指标.;In order to explore the effect of land use and cover change on lakeshore soil organic carbon sequestration and it ecological function, nine typical sample plots with different plantations along the north shore of Lake Chaohu were investigated, and the surface soils (0-30 cm) organic carbon fractions and the enzymes activities were analyzed and compared. The results showed that soil total organic carbon (TOC) was 2.88-11.2 g/kg, with an average of 9.12 g/kg. The soil under native Phragmites australis reed wetland showed the highest TOC content, and the TOC content in the wasteland formed after the disappearance of P. australis reed community was the lowest with the value of only 2.88 g/kg. The cation exchange capacity (CEC), which can be used to characterize the buffer performance of lakeside zone, was highest in the native P.australis reed wetland soil and positively correlated with TOC. Soil labile organic carbon fractions content, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC) from the lakeshore wetland, ranged from 150 to 370 mg/kg and from 1.7 to 5.2 g/kg, respectively. The range of change in soil DOC and EOC between different sampling sites was larger than that in TOC. Especially, the difference of DOC content between different vegetations was the most significant. The activities of several determined enzymes in the surface soil of secondary Homonoia riparia Lour. Forest, except polyphenol oxidase, were higher than those in native P. australis reed wetland soil. Especially, the invertase activity increased most obviously. However, lakeshore urban green park and artificial grassland showed significantly lower activities of catalase, urease and invertaseas compared with native P. australis wetland. Correlation analysis showed that there existed significant relationships between soil enzyme activities except polyphenol oxidase and soil DOC and EOC. Especially, the correlations of invertase activity to the content of DOC reached remarkably significant level with the highest coefficient (r=0.907). Based on the above results, it is concluded that the DOC and invertase as the sensitive indicators, could well characterize the degradation process and ecological restoration effect on lakeshore wetland buffering function due to land use and cover change.

Urban and Regional Planning Strategies to Achieve Sustainable Urban Development: (Subject review)

Sustainable urban planning provides cities with the ability to combat climate change. Integrated urban hubs built to put together residents, events, houses, and green facilities, with convenient walking and cycling connections between them and an almost excellent bus service to the rest of the area. This ensures that everyone has equal access to benefits and facilities with the lowest financial and environmental prices with the most productive and healthy combination of transport types, and with the highest tolerance with damaging occurrences. For long-term sustainability, peace shared prosperity and prosperous, democratic society, inclusive growth is critical. Ideally, communities can create strategies to protect the natural habitat of land use as best as they can. Public developments with multiple bike paths and footpaths parallel to green fields and roads that integrate natural habitats are more effective planning initiatives, increasing the attractiveness and feasibility of mobility alternative steps. Stadt proposals for green parks, wide sidewalks and car-free zones at the city centers would also implement walkable street policies. In integrated development, reduction in urban sprawl has been a critical priority. In terms of geography, bringing the jobs, family and shopping as similar as possible was important. Urban planning, in conjunction with vehicle paths, would rely on omnipresent links both to the public transport and the pedestrian route; therefore, in addition to organized mass transportation, effective modes of travel do not necessarily require automobiles (walking, cycling) remain an option. The optimal city would be exceptionally densely situated, with a variety of environmentally sustainable transit options.

Iconoclasm in New York: Revolution to Reenactment by Wendy Bellion

Reviewed by: Iconoclasm in New York: Revolution to Reenactment by Wendy Bellion Michelle Sizemore (bio) Iconoclasm in New York: Revolution to Reenactment wendy bellion Penn State University Press, 2019 272 pp. On July 9, 1776, a crowd toppled the equestrian statue of King George III in Lower Manhattan after a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. They beheaded the leaden king, smashed him to bits, and shipped off his remains to be melted into bullets for Washington's army. This much is well-known. Wendy Bellion's new book completes the story, offering a fascinating chronicle of the statue from its creation, installation, and display to its destruction and afterlife. The book's expansive investigation [End Page 955] of the battered statue focuses an account of early British American iconoclasm as a national "creation story" (3). Indeed, a great strength of the study is its dilation from fine details such as choice of the statue's material and its orientation in Bowling Green park to the broader sweep of transatlantic protest. In Bellion's words, "Iconoclasm in New York asks why Americans destroyed the statue of George III in 1776—and why they keep bringing it back." The answers are rewarding. Iconoclasm in New York argues that this legendary mock execution of the king dramatizes a fundamental tension in early American identity formation, for it was an act that at once figuratively severed political ties and secured cultural ties with Great Britain. By enlarging her survey of the event, Bellion builds on histories that view the symbolic regicide exclusively as a sign of American independence. The transatlantic scope and extensive timeframe of the project elucidate the continuities between radical protest in Revolutionary-era New York and British folk and Reformation practices. Further, this research adds to art history's burgeoning study of destruction, of which iconoclasm forms a crucial subset. The book is divided into two parts, each containing two chapters. Part I, "Iconoclasm: The Eighteenth Century," explores American iconoclasm in the eighteenth century within a longer British history and larger Atlantic network of people and objects. Part II, "Afterlife: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries," traces the material remains of the statue and subsequent representations of its demolition. This structure makes manifest "how iconoclasm has continually shaped American identities since the very formation of the United States" (13). To set the stage for a discussion of the king's statue, chapter 1, "Idols in America: Liberty Poles," examines its immediate antecedent: the cycle of creation and destruction of five liberty poles in Manhattan between 1766 and 1776. Converted from pine masts, the liberty poles were powerful symbolic structures paraded from East River shipyards to the Commons (now City Hall Park), along the northern border of the city. The rituals of raising and felling invested the poles with meaning and agency. Both the American patriots who celebrated the poles and the British soldiers who demolished them transformed wooden posts into animate forces, joined in a reiterative process of creation, destruction, and recreation. For this reader, a wonderful highlight of the chapter is the prehistory of the masts, when they were trees in northern New England. Considered "princes of [End Page 956] the American forest" (24), the extraordinarily tall and perfectly straight white pines were valued for their sublime natural beauty and for shipbuilding, especially for masts; in addition, the jurisdiction over cutting white pines had long been under dispute between colonists and royal authority, making the trees one of the most contested resources in the British Empire. As Bellion explains, the liberty pole preserved these economic, political, and natural associations in its charged symbolism. This example is representative of the thorough attention given to every facet of icon-making and-breaking throughout the book. This chapter establishes the book's emphasis on the "thing power" of political icons in eighteenth-century America and beyond. Following the work of Jane Bennett, Bellion conceives of these objects as vital matter and proposes that we approach iconoclasm not simply as the human destruction of things but as a phenomenon in which things act on people and participate in the rituals of destruction. Importantly, these objects signified differently among New York's diverse population...

Cd and Pb in the “soil-plant” system of Holosiyiv green park area in Kyiv

In this paper, the content of metals (Cd and Pb) was investigated in soil-plant system of Holosiyiv green park area in Kyiv. Kyiv is the capital and largest city of Ukraine, and has an anthropogenic load. Metals pollution in various degrees in green park areas may affect people’s health through different paths. We propose to control the lead contamination in soil because Pb concentration levels were above when compared with background values in almost all samples of soil and exceeded the maximum permissible concentration in sites of top of hills in park. Moreover, the obtained results indicated high concentrations of lead in studied plants; most of them are medicinal and traditionally used by people. The highest phytomass concentration of Pb was observed in Asarum europaeum L., whereas Impatiens parviflora DC and Urtica dioica L. had the highest plant up-taking indexes for both studied metals.

Determinants of residents’ preferences for Urban Green infrastructure in Nigeria: Evidence from Lagos Metropolis

Understanding preferences for urban green infrastructure (UGI) and the factors responsible for these are very important for adequate provision and effective management of these vital components of the urban environment. There are however very few studies that provide insight into residents’ preferences for UGI in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to examine residents’ preferences for the different forms of UGI with green, tree, water and other features and the factors that influence these in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. The data were obtained via a questionnaire survey of 1560 participants in the study area and analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that the participants generally showed more preferences for UGI with green features including green corridors, lawns, sports fields, parks and gardens than others. Variation in the participants’ preferences for UGI was mainly due to differences in their local government area of residence. Nevertheless, the four top determinants of participants’ preferences for the different forms of UGI were the environmental and health benefits and quality of UGI as well as the respondents’ involvement in pro-green infrastructure activities in their neighbourhoods. The study conclude that urban planners should focus on strategies that maximise the environmental and health benefits and quality of green infrastructure and foster citizens’ participation in the development and management of UGI in cities in Nigeria and others countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Vertical structure of the cool island in a large urban park

Greening of cities is one of the mitigation strategies for urban hot environments in summer, because green parks in cities have a lower temperature than the surrounding built environment in summer, called cool islands phenomena. This study took the micro-meteorological measurements in an urban park (Shinjyuku Gyoen, Tokyo Japan) and analyzes the vertical structure of a cool island at night. Vertical profiles of air temperature were measured simultaneously in the park and the nearby town area by the tethered balloons. In the park area, a cold air pool was present in the first 50 m from the ground, as opposed to neutral stratification in the town area. The cold air pool grew vertically at night. Meanwhile, surface air temperature difference between the park and the town increased up to 2 °C.The ground-based instruments recorded the park breeze which is cold airflow to town area for 21 nights over two summer months. In most cases, the park breeze had at least 16 m depth and traveled for more than 122 m from the park edge. It is hypothesized that the park breeze is the gravity current. The observations made in our study can aid evaluating worth of urban green.

Mobile Observation of Air Temperature and Humidity Distributions under Summer Sea Breezes in the Central Area of Osaka City

Thermal environment of urban areas in the summertime has become harmful to human health due to global warming and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Mobile observations enable us to obtain the distribution of air temperature at microscale, such as urban blocks, which cannot be captured by the coarse network of meteorological sites. A series of mobile measurements was executed in the central area of Osaka City in Japan, around the Nakanoshima district which lies between two rivers, to investigate the air temperature and humidity distributions in a built-up area under sea breeze conditions. Upper wind and surface temperature of the rivers were also observed using pilot balloons and infrared thermography camera, respectively. The mean air temperature in Nakanoshima was generally lower than that of the surrounding area. Urban geometries such as building density and building height seem to affect the mean air temperature by changing the ventilation efficiency. Humidity was inversely correlated with air temperature distribution but was higher at the confluence of rivers and green parks. The depth of the sea breeze layer was found to be about 1 km. Sea breezes close to the ground surface penetrated the city along the rivers, sandwiching the Nakanoshima district. During the daytime, the surface temperatures of the rivers were lower than the air temperature observed at the nearest stationary observation point, and the difference reached approximately 2 °C.

Experimental investigation and modeling of photovoltaic soiling loss as a function of environmental variables: A case study of semi-arid climate

Photovoltaic technology is still developing in the MENA region. Nevertheless, soiling remains a major cause for performance loss in PV Modules. In this work, the soiling rate is modeled as a function of environmental data with several modeling methods such as the multiple linear regression model (MLR), multiple linear regression with interaction model (MLRWI), the mathematical model generated by the response surface methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), by using one-year of ground measurements from an amorphous array with a capacity of 2.16 kWc. The experiment is carried under a semi-arid climate at Green Energy Park research facility (Benguerir, Morocco). The dust analysis was carried out by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) in two periods (December 2017 and June 2018) in order to define the mineralogy and morphology of our dust samples. The results of this study show that, the daily energy drop reaches 0.43 kWh/day and 0.61 kW/h/day in the dry period and 0.03 kW/h/day in the rainy period, where the expected produced energy is 5.59 KWh/day. The daily performance ratio drop reaches an average of 6.1%/day and 1.6%/day in the dry and rainy period respectively. During the dry period the soiling ratio reaches an average of 0.35%/day. The MLR method marked the lowest correlation with r2 = 0.23, this correlation improved to reach r2 = 0.48 by using the MLRWI method. ANN model shows the best performance and accuracy with r2 = 0.813 and around 0.026 in the RMSE indicator.

How youth are socially engaged in parks: a participatory-approach for understanding youth perceptions and use patterns

Parks are often linked to physical activity for youth provided by park equipment and amenities. Yet, urban green spaces and parks can also afford important opportunities for young people to develop a sense of community, identity and be socially engaged. Spending more time in green spaces can significantly impact the satisfaction and well-being of park users. In this respect, the attractiveness of parks to youth is an important factor to support socially cohesive behaviours. Differences in park preferences and user needs are important, particularly since research often seeks to understand where park users of all ages spend their time and with whom, rather than directly measuring their social network. Hence, parks as sustainable community facilities should promote social interactions among youth, and between youth and adults, which can lead to cohesive behaviours integrated into a social setting. In order for park settings to become favoured by youth, they must afford a range of opportunities for youth activities. This research proposes a youth-friendly participatory-approach that includes a multi-day workshop with youth to explore their social interactions in parks in greater depth. Using drawings, freehand mapping, and discussions using aerial photos of local parks can help us understand how youth use parks, and how they relate to other park users.

Analysis of Greening Ecology in Landscape Reconstruction of Construction Waste Dump in Wind-sand Area

In order to solve the problem of increasing urban construction waste, taking QiuLing Park in Hohhot as an example, the green space park after the landscape transformation of urban building was investigated. In this paper, the characteristics of green planting in the fragile ecological areas were analyzed, based on the relationship between ecological environment factors, the method of configuring vegetation in the landscape of construction waste in the park was discussed. Meanwhile, combined with the climatic and meteorological conditions of the region, the function and ecological benefits of the urban green space after the transformation were evaluated. It can provide experience for landscape construction and ecological restoration of construction waste dump.

Spatial Accessibility Analysis of Parks with Multiple Entrances Based on Real-Time Travel: The Case Study in Beijing

Parks are an important component of the green infrastructure in cities. They provide multiple benefits for residents’ life. Due to the uneven spatial distribution of parks, it is necessary to evaluate the spatial disparity about residents’ access to parks. The two-step floating catchment area method is suitable for measuring the accessibility of urban parks. However, few studies have noticed the representative of entrances of parks, especially adding them into the process of accessibility measurements. The floating catchment area is often determined by road speed and empirical travel time. In this article, the impact of multi-entrances of the park will be considered and real-time travel time is used in calculating accessibility. In a case of multi-entrance parks in Beijing, the average travel time of the sub-district is calculated, and with the support of the modified method, the spatial accessibilities of car driving, public transport and car-public transport mixed travel modes are obtained. The results show that the time–space compression effect of car driving is more obvious and the mixed travel mode presents the advantage of high accessibility index. This study has a theoretical and practical value for urban planning, such as advising urban planners on the siting of green park space.