Open Space System Research Articles

Conceptual framework to incorporate drainage solutions in the urban open space system

Cities are increasingly dealing with challenges regarding the negative impact of rapid and mismanaged urbanization. Therefore, city planning must cope with the natural environment limitations, seeking a balance between the human activities and the well-functioning of the hydrologic cycle. This work aims to present a conceptual framework able to properly integrate the stormwater dynamics into the open spaces system in a functional way, establishing a Hydrological Interest Area, HIA, to structure urban expansion integrated into and respecting watershed natural processes. The initial step is to define a HIA, primarily consisting of open spaces that can be used for supporting urban drainage functions and to order land use in the urban expansion process. This delimitation offers the background for interpreting the watershed in three functional arches, especially covering the upstream, mid-reach and downstream areas of the basin, guiding the design of a set of flood mitigation interventions focusing on the use of Blue-Green Infrastructure. To illustrate and validate the proposed methodological framework, the design is evaluated by a flood modeling tool, using a hydrological-hydrodynamic cell-model. A case study was driven in the Bambu Watershed, a rapidly developing area in the municipality of Maricá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The proposed intervention includes an urban expansion scenario for a low impact development on flood behavior alongside with four parks: an upstream park with reservoirs, two multifunctional floodable urban parks, and a park dedicated to lagoon restoration. This plan complements riverbed modifications designed to enhance water discharge. The simulation showed significant reduction of water depths with a consequent decrease in exposure of buildings and roads, especially in the most critical region of the watershed. This framework highlights the importance of a multifunctional approach in land use and serves as a robust foundation for controlling urban expansion and proposing projects.

Driving forces and prediction of urban open spaces morphology: The case of Shanghai, China using geodetector and CA-Markov model

Urban open spaces offer both environmental and social benefits. However, comprehensive studies that integrate both quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the factors driving change in these spaces and their long-term predictions are lacking. Most existing studies concentrate on land-use development rather than conducting empirical research specific to urban open spaces in Shanghai. This study addresses this gap by employing a geographic detector (geodetector) to analyze the influence of various driving factors on open-space changes. These factors were then used as weight values in a multicriteria CA-Markov model to simulate and predict change in Shanghai's urban open spaces by 2050. The advantage of analyzing driving forces lies in their ability to capture the multifactor synergy influencing change in urban open spaces, aligning with the aim of this study to quantitatively evaluate the interaction between natural, climatic, and socioeconomic factors. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 policymakers and planners to assess the reliability of the quantitative predictions. The results indicate that socioeconomic factors are the primary drivers of change in urban open spaces. Specifically, the interaction between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and population density (PD) emerged as the most influential variables. For prediction outcomes, the unconstrained scenario predicts a decrease in open-space area from 5610.94 km2 in 2020 to 5124.36 km2 in 2050. The planning intervention scenario anticipates minimal changes in Shanghai's total urban open-space area with almost no floating changes. However, the economic development scenario predicts a rapid decline in open spaces. Experts and planners evaluated these three scenarios and confirmed the reliability and accuracy of the prediction models. The methods and findings of this study can support zoning planning for urban open-space systems in other cities and regions.

Exploring recreational ecosystem services and influencing factors in megaparks using mobile phone data—Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region

At the large scale, regions composed of multiple cities and large parks are important nodes in the regional ecological network system. They provide diversified Recreational Ecosystem Services (RES), which are key components of the regional open space system. Traditional data and methods for evaluating RES in large parks have not fully considered the interactions between visitors and urban physical space environments. This study, grounded in the Theory of the Delivery Chain, defines parks over 100 ha as “megaparks”, employs mobile phone signaling data to effectively distinguish between local and non-local visitors in megaparks in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. An index system was constructed to evaluate the RES effect of megaparks by measuring mobile check-in density, service radius, and turnover volume using Hierarchical Linear Regression (HLR) to reveal the relevant spatial influence factors of 677 megaparks. This study revealed that there are remarkable geographic and population differences in the RES effects of megaparks across cities in the Yangtze River Delta region. The turnover volume indicator can play an important role in measuring the RES of megaparks. Ten factors, including Internet users’ attention to parks, GDP per capita, Internet users’ attention to city, green coverage rates of megaparks, density of bus stations within a 500 m-buffer, the network distance to the administrative center, observable mountain or terrain fluctuations, landscape shape index, cultural heritage within the park, and supporting facilities around the park, have positive or negative impacts on the RES effect of megaparks, but none of the influencing factors worked simultaneously on the three indicators of mobile check-in density, service radius, and turnover volume of megaparks. We found that the turnover volume indicator is more advantageous in reflecting the spatial characteristics of RES in megaparks in a large-scale region, and the measurements are closer to traditional perceptions, which can serve as an important complement to the indicators of visitor mobile check-in density and service radius.

A study on the adequacy of gathering areas as urban spaces

Türkiye is located in a geography of the world that can be classified as a “high risk” in terms of earthquakes. During and after an earthquake, people feel the need to leave the structures they are in and reach open areas to protect themselves and feel safe. In addition to contributing to the city in a social, psychological, economic and aesthetic sense, these areas should be increased in number and quality, as they are used in accordance with the needs of people for the purpose of escaping from the earthquake disaster, shelter, housing. The open areas scattered throughout the city have been designated as disaster and emergency gathering areas according to the fact that they meet some of the standards mentioned in this study. The main question here is whether the urban open and green space system used as ’gathering areas' is in sufficient and appropriate conditions to respond to the needs after the earthquake and shorten the return to normalcy process. This study was designed to raise awareness of students about the use of urban spaces after the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023 and to reveal the level of gathering areas around them. Within the scope of the Urban Design course, students who are in different provinces due to online education were asked for information about the closest gathering area to them, including the distance of their places of residence to the gathering areas, the size of the gathering areas and their current use. In this context, the data related to the collection areas were collected from the students and discussed with the relevant literature. As a result, suggestions were made about the issues that should be taken into account when planning and designing the assembly area.

Evaluation of Open and Green Space Systems in the Context of Urban Livability

Urban that has overgrown in recent years have affected human lifestyle and ecological balance in a negative way. Open and green spaces decreased. With this, unhealthy urban conditions occur. Therefore, urban is becoming more unlivable. The aim of this study, starting from the problem of insufficient/unqualified open and green areas in urban, is to show that cities are more livable when the open and green spaces system is designed. The “top 10 livable cities” ranking the world cities are listed by 6 different institutions and the same cities included in this list are selected. The open and green areas of 4 different selected cities were examined. In the scope, two basic concepts are based on: open-green space systems and urban livability. As a result of the study, it has been seen that open and green space systems affect cities more livable. Therefore, open and green areas are planned systematically for maximum benefit with a sustainable approach. However, systems also need new approaches at some points. At this point, a hypothetical open green space system is proposed in this study. The concept of urban liveability and open and green spaces, an index of urban liveability, are explained. Then, open and green space systems in the literature are clarified with examples. To show the relationship between urban liveability and open green spaces, the research results done by different institutions, the most overlapping cities have been selected according to the top 10 list of most liveable cities list. The value of this study to make itself original and the literature contribution is that at the end of the research, a new open and green system was suggested based on the open and green systems in the literature.

Inclusion of ecosystem services in the management of municipal natural open space systems

Abstract Unprecedented urbanisation in the Global South is transforming natural urban landscapes, impacting on the ability of nature to provide essential ecosystem services. Within the context of pressures facing many urban natural open spaces, particularly in Africa, we used a local municipality in South Africa as a case study to (i) identify local government priorities for a natural open space system; (ii) develop an understanding of whether, and how, ecosystem services are considered by local government, and the reasons thereof; and (iii) ascertain the extent of proactive planning regarding regulating and other ecosystem services, including the temporal and spatial scales, and implications. In‐depth qualitative interviews (n = 12) were undertaken with senior municipal officials representing departments whose work impacts the environment. Municipal decision‐support documents were also analysed for any direct and/or indirect references to ecosystem services. Planning for, and management of, ecosystem services provided by natural open spaces is influenced by interwoven infrastructure, municipal service delivery and equity challenges, complex institutional constraints and poverty, with little focus on the socio‐economic opportunities and other benefits of natural open space systems. Values, perceptions and knowledge also influence the management of ecosystem services. The study contributes to understanding the opportunities and challenges for the future governance of natural open space in the Global South, which require explicit consideration in municipal planning, management and budgeting processes. Policy and management implications identified include prioritisation of the regulating functions provided by natural open space systems, pivotal to the urban resilience agenda; building on the inherent appreciation of nature features as city assets, while achieving socio‐economic upliftment; improved (on‐site) collaborative management of natural open spaces; and involvement of local government officials in the preparation and updating of environmental policies and decision‐support documents, to ensure skills and knowledge transfer and interest are entrenched in local government departments. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

A methodology for urban and regional planning: application in Cachoeira do Sul, Brazil

We aim to demonstrate the methodology used in the critical analysis of the municipality of Cachoeira do Sul (state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), which had its Master Plan recently revised and approved, verifying the urban practices implemented until then in the city. For the application of the methodology, data surveys, studies and mappings were carried out with systematization of a geographic database in a GIS environment, as well as on-site technical visits and application of questionnaires to apprehend the opinion of the population on important subjects in the development of the municipality, consolidating the technical and community readings of the territory. From these data, always guided by group discussions, we developed diagnosis, prognosis, scenarios, and guidelines, macrozoning and intervention proposals, filling gaps in the Master Plan in relation to planning with the landscape, the open space system and the development of the city and the region. Among the developed proposals, those related to urban mobility were highlighted in this article - urban and rural cycle lanes.

A inter-relação entre os espaços livres e os recursos hídricos urbanos: uma revisão sistemática da literatura

With the rapid urban growth, the expansion of cities has significantly impacted the environmental dimension. Within cities, open spaces play an important multifunctional role, being areas not occupied by buildings and with social, political and cultural relevance. The Open Space System (OSS) involves elements and relationships that structure this set of open spaces, including its water network, and its understanding is essential for the development and quality of life in urban areas. This bibliographic research used the Systematic Literature Review to understand the state of the art of scientific productions that interrelate public open spaces with water resources. Articles, dissertations and theses were selected. Bibliometric analysis revealed that the topic is widely discussed in specialized journals and has been researched in several countries. This systematic review contributed to outline the relationship between open spaces and water resources, highlighting the importance of integrated urban planning that promotes the conservation of natural resources and the creation of a sustainable urban environment.

Promoting ecological restoration of deeply urbanized hilly areas: A multi-scale ecological networks approach

With the deep expansion of urbanization, contradictions between human beings and the natural environment in hilly areas have shown the characteristics of multi-scale and complexity. The traditional construction of ecological network rarely focused on the relationship between ecological elements at different scales, which made it difficult to systematically solve the ecological problems. To address the gap, this paper proposed a novel framework to construct multi-scale ecological networks based on the discussion of the ecological environment problems at different space scales. Firstly, one of the most deeply urbanized hilly area in China (Changsha- Zhuzhou- Xiangtan urban agglomeration, CZXUA) was chosen as the study area. By constructing the multi-scale evaluation system of ecological patches importance (EPI) after conducting the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), the identification method of ecological sources was optimized at different scales. Then, spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) was used to sort out the resistance factors at different scales, and the multi-scale resistance surfaces was constructed accordingly. Furthermore, the multi-scale ecological networks from the CZXUA to the central urban area were cooperatively constructed through the Least-cost path (LCP), circuit theory, hierarchical transmission and scale nesting. Finally, based on characteristics of the ecological networks at different scales, the study constructed the overall ecological security pattern in urban agglomeration, the ecological space development framework in metropolitan area and the green open space system in central urban area, which was well applied to the territorial space planning at different spacial scales. The results made up for the deficiency of single-scale ecological network in neglecting the important details of local areas, and provided a feasible ecological restoration plan for the decision makers and practitioners. This study can contribute to cross-scale ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation in hills.

On the origin of garden cemeteries in the West and references in the conformation of the first model in Brazil

Garden cemeteries are found in many cities in Brazil and are an integral part of the system of urban open spaces and, therefore, fundamental elements in landscape planning, mainly due to their size. This article aims to investigate some of the first garden-cemetery models implemented in the West and the principles that were adopted in the first garden cemeteries built in Brazil. Using a systematic literature review, iconographic analysis, fieldwork and interviews, it was identified that one of the first garden cemeteries implanted in Brazil was the Cemitério da Paz, in São Paulo (SP), dating back to 1965, in which references were found mainly for lawn cemeteries and memorial parks in the USA from the mid-19th and early 20th centuries.

A Method Proposal to Adapt Urban Open-Built and Green Spaces to Climate Change

To rapidly adapt cities to the growing impacts of climate change, the open space system can play important functions as climate regulators and accelerators of sustainable urban development. To this end, this paper aims to provide a methodology that classifies open spaces on the basis of their physical characteristics and their contribution to climate vulnerability and articulates them according to the costs required for adaptation and the benefits brought. The method was applied to the city of Naples, which is an interesting case study due to its heterogeneous territory in terms of geomorphological features, such as hilly conformation and coastal location, and urban assets characterised by densely built urban fabrics with different distributions and kinds of activities. The results showed that (i) the open spaces with both low thermal and hydraulic performance are predominantly located in the peripheral part of the city, and (ii) the central area is strongly characterised by this dual issue. The latter output confirms the need to update the transformation rules of high historical-architectural value areas by introducing new resilience requirements criteria that cities are asked to have.

Effects of open space configurations and development patterns on future urban wildlife habitats and populations

The viability of wildlife populations in cities is strongly associated to the qualities of urban open spaces and development patterns. Open space systems can serve as armatures to address adverse effects of urbanization on biodiversity. Landscape planners and designers use spatial concepts to translate principles of landscape ecology into working diagrams of land use and land cover to anticipate ecological effects. This paper investigates the consequences of adopting different open space spatial concepts (corridors, patches, and network) in combination with development patterns (compact and dispersed), simulated in eight alternative future scenarios with computer model Envision. Two approaches were used to quantify the effects of the different spatial concepts and urban patterns on Red-legged frog (RLF), Western meadowlark (WML), and Douglas squirrel (DSQ) habitats and populations in an area of urban expansion. First, the amount of habitats was assessed for the initial landscape (ca. 2010) and for the eight future scenarios (year 2060). Second, using the Individual-Based Model (IBM) HexSim, populations of the three species were quantified. All scenarios had increased sums of habitat area, but results showed that differences in open space spatial concepts played a greater role in determining population sizes and were more influential than different development patterns. Network scenarios presented more habitats and the largest populations of RLF. Park and network scenarios showed the most habitats and populations for the WML. No open space and greenway scenarios did not have enough habitats for the WML, but presented the best results for the DSQ. Populations in compact development scenarios showed a small advantage over most dispersed development scenarios. However, in park and network scenarios, dispersed development showed a large influence in the increase of WML population. The study shows that the adopted framework is useful to predict the consequences of landscape plans on wildlife species populations, evaluate trade-offs, and inform planning decisions.

Identification of Local Accessibility Hubs and Leisure Amenities in Suburbanized Settlements: Case Study on the Suburban Zone of Prague

This paper focuses on the topological definition of the system of public spaces in suburbanized settlements. It identifies hubs with the best local accessibility within the system of public open spaces using the Space syntax method and analyses their leisure amenities. The topological investigation was performed on the example of the suburban zone of Prague, the immediate surroundings of which have been developing dramatically in recent decades. About 44 rapidly developing settlements in this area were included in the study and their system of public open spaces was analyzed using the Integration HH metric and local accessibility hubs (those with the highest Integration HH value) were identified. Subsequently, the placement of existing leisure amenities with respect to these accessibility hubs was evaluated. Only 32% of leisure amenities were located in the accessibility hubs, which indicates an unfulfilled potential of locally well-accessible places. At the same time, the placement of leisure amenities within new developments in areas difficult-to-access from other parts of the settlement poses a threat to the integration of the population from these new developments with those from other parts of the settlement. This paper offers solutions for preventing these issues, for identifying natural centers with the best accessibility, and proposes possible measures for mitigation of the identified problems.

Living on the Edge—Mismatches and Expectations in a Changing Landscape

This paper deals with the confrontation between the forms of urbanisation of Lisbon, Portugal, that extends its fringes over the Alcântara Valley. This same Valley—topography and hydrography—plays as determinants of the occupation that will assume distinct narratives. This gradual process is explained through three narratives about (1) the urbanisation of the margin driven by industrialisation and the construction of a stigmatised periphery, (2) the imposition of large capacity infrastructures far beyond what is local, (3) the system of open spaces and landscape projects and the urban brink that the valley claims. The debate focuses on the answers that the urban and landscape project, necessarily going through urban planning and its practical and theoretical scopes, i.e., Urbanism and urban planning thinking, especially in a broad present seeking to discuss both sides of the coin: on the one hand, an urban rehabilitation with public space for all, on the other hand, a qualified and central space that attracts real estate investment that may bring effects contrary to those expected. The article seeks to contribute (1) to a broader perception of the superimposition of processes that transformed the Alcântara Valley, (2) to a fuller dissemination of the urbanistic experiences in the city of Lisbon since this city is still vastly underrepresented in the international (primarily Anglo-Saxon) literature, (3) to deepen the debate between urban rehabilitation, urban regeneration, consequences and opportunities practiced is still trying to cope with.

A FLORISTIC INVENTORY OF TWO BOULDER COUNTY OPEN SPACE PARCELS: HEIL VALLEY RANCH AND HALL RANCH, COLORADO, U.S.A

An inventory of the vascular plants of Heil Valley Ranch and Hall Ranch in the north foothills of Boulder County was completed during 2017 and 2018, prior to a catastrophic forest fire that severely impacted this area in the fall of 2020. Heil Valley Ranch and Hall Ranch are keystone units of the Boulder County Parks and Open Space system. These large parcels (∼10,000 acres/4047 ha) represent a significant portion of publicly accessible open space in the county and represent an exemplary legacy of land preservation in the region. The biologically diverse foothill landscapes represent the ecotone between the High Plains and the Southern Rocky Mountains. Vital transition zones in the area harbor globally vulnerable and critically imperiled plant associations, the most detailed categorization described by the US National Vegetation Classification (2021). A total of 607 botanical specimens were collected over the course of 39 separate visits. There are 381 species from 82 families of flowering plants represented at the study area, with the greatest diversity occurring in Poaceae and the Asteraceae. Of these, 319 are native, 62 are non-native, and 7 species are of conservation concern. The present study is the first floristic study of these parcels and provides baseline data for future work in the area, as well as information for comparison to floristic works in the broader Front Range foothills region. Together, these studies inform conservation policy at a time when biodiversity is threatened both globally and locally. As the Front Range megaregion rapidly expands in human population, biological inventories will provide critical data to promote the expansion of conservation areas in parallel with urban growth.

Open Urban Space Regeneration Strategies Based on Urban Welfare: A Project and Experiment in the San Lorenzo District in Rome, Italy

The current socio-economic dynamics and the consequences induced by the pandemic emergency have generated a reflection on the need to recover the dimension of proximity and to share resources, spaces, infrastructures, and experiences. This solicits a remodelling of the system of public open spaces, based on a resilient, adaptive model; multifunctional and linked to the temporality of the functions that spaces can accommodate. The paper deals with the issues of planning and design of public open spaces around the needs of proximity and welfare. This is achieved through collecting and systematizing state of the art concepts on the role of public space within the urban structure of the city, and the formulation of guidelines for design, deduced from an empirical application conducted on a pilot district in the city of Rome. The paper aims to suggest to policymakers and planners a new approach and a path for future research and practice in the planning and design of more sustainable and inclusive green areas and public spaces, meeting the diverse needs of citizens. We undertook this objective through the experimental application of an intervention methodology on the public space system of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome.

What Informs the Choice of Free Seeds and Seedlings taken by Farmers while Adopting Agroforestry in Makueni County?

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to evaluate what informs the choice of free seeds and seedlings taken by farmers while adopting agroforestry in Makueni County.
 Methodology: This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study randomly selected 150 beneficiaries appearing in the list of 30,643 beneficiaries provided by Makueni County Long Rains Food Security Assessment Report (2013). This study used primary data which was collected through use of a questionnaire. After data had been collected through questionnaires, it was prepared in readiness for analysis by editing, handling blank responses, coding, categorizing and keying into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software for analysis.
 Findings: The study findings indicated that agroforestry is beneficial to farmers in several ways. They can access tree products such as fuel wood, herbs, fodder and vegetables among others within their farms rather than traveling to forests, making it cheaper and less time consuming. The time saved can be invested in productive activities and subsequently improve incomes and livelihoods. It is therefore important to underscore that agroforestry practices and scaling
 Conclusion: It can be concluded that the farmers were happy about the government initiative of distributing seeds. Free seed encourages planting of trees and woodlots by individual land users, institutions and community groups. Agroforestry can help in maintaining a viable system of green and open spaces for a functioning eco-system and work towards the achievement and maintenance of a tree cover of at least 10% of the land area of Kenya
 Recommendations: The study recommends for rigorous mobilization and sensitization of the community on need for active involvement in agroforestry. Agroforestry scaling can take advantage of the landscape restoration programs in Makueni County.

Evaluating the Role of Urban Drainage Flaws in Triggering Cascading Effects on Critical Infrastructure, Affecting Urban Resilience

The urban drainage system plays an important role in the urban infrastructure resilience discussion. Its functional failures can trigger cascading effects on other urban systems and critical infrastructures. The main aim of this work is to investigate and quantify urban flood resilience, offering an integrated methodological approach. In this process, the flooding consequences were quantified by hydrodynamic simulations, using a case study in an exploratory research method. A set of indicators was proposed to map the cascading effects generated by floods and the consequent quantification of urban flooding resilience. Two simulation scenarios were proposed to validate the methodological assessment framework proposed in this work. The first scenario represented the current flooding situation and showed the negative effects on the city systems resulting from disordered urban growth. The second scenario considered the improvement of the drainage behavior, considering a sustainable urban drainage approach supported by the concept of blue-green infrastructure integrated with the urban open spaces system. A comprehensive flood resilience assessment over time was conducted by analyzing the evolution of the System Integrity Index on both scenarios. The results showed that water dynamics play an important role in ordering land use and that preserving water spaces can efficiently respond to urban developing threats, dealing with floods in an earlier development moment, proving the importance of the drainage system as a preliminary structuring driver for supporting a sustainable urban planning, ordered according to environmental constraints defined by water dynamics.

Contribution to the discussion on healthy cities: analysis of the correlation between the MHDI and the presence of public open spaces in the city of Recife/PE

In Brazil there is an intuitive comprehension of the idea that open and green spaces affect the quality of life, but there are few effective correlation studies about the aspects that most contribute and support efficacious interventions in cities and their degree of relevance. In Europe and other countries, such as Canada, efforts have been made since the late 1980s to understand the contribution of these open spaces to quality urban living. Aiming to identify the intensity of this correlation in Brazil, and more precisely in Recife/PE, this paper explores the variables of the MHDI in different ways, as they relate to the concept of quality of life through the availability of public open spaces in the city. To support the study, a review of the literature about healthy cities, quality of life and open and green spaces was carried out, as well as an analysis of the available indexes that reflect the correlation of these concepts. As a result, the study identified a weak correlation between the MHDI variables and the presence of open spaces, including paved and green spaces; but also a better correlation when only the spaces with the largest vegetation coverage were considered. Finally, the study emphasizes the need to carry out new research based on other aspects of quality of life, in particular those related to health already contemplated in the international literature, to foster healthier cities in Brazil through a more efficient implementation of open space systems.

METHODICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONCEPT "HUMANIZATION OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT WITH ARCHITECTURAL-URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE"

The article is devoted to the introduction of the concept of "humanization of the urban environment with architectural and urban infrastructure". The scientific article also identifies the features of the formation of architectural and urban infrastructure in the urban environment. The analysis of scientific experience of development of the terminological device in the field of architecture on a question of humanization of the city environment is carried out. Peculiarities of formation of modern urban environment, which includes natural and anthropogenic subsystems, are determined. Regularities of creation of ecopolises as natural and anthropogenic systems are defined. The main problems of the modern urban environment are identified. The main vector of search of new approaches to humanization of architectural and town - planning infrastructure of urban environment is revealed. It is determined that the main direction in improving the living conditions of people and comprehensive improvement of the city environment is primarily environmental. The concept of humanization of the urban environment in the system "work – life – rest – leisure" is developed. The article raises the issue of comfort of people's lives in the modern urban environment. The main aspects of humanization of the urban environment in the infrastructure of the city in the system of open architectural spaces, human communication with which is carried out through appropriate communication channels (visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory). It is established that such communication channels provide the basic processes of human life in the urban environment. Three groups of tasks of humanization of the modern urban environment are defined, which are solved with the help of color taking into account its psychophysiological, emotional and aesthetic influence and in the system of visual information. It is determined that for a comfortable stay in an urban environment a person needs to satisfy his basic biological (utilitarian), physical-physiological, spiritual-aesthetic, socio-cultural and psychological needs everywhere in all spheres of life.