Park Entrance Research Articles

Application of the Contingent Valuation Method to Abidjan’s Banco National Park

Banco National Park, a protected area, is the subject of incessant attacks through anthropogenic actions. This study aims to determine the willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors to safeguard the Banco national park. To achieve this, we used the contingent valuation method. The estimation of the simple tobit econometric model revealed the factors that significantly influence WTP. Thus, preferentially for young people, adults and seniors are willing to provide more resources to contribute to the protection of the Banco park. Concerning marital status, the results reveal that compared to singles, relevant visitors of other marital statuses other than married express low WTP. Income positively increases the WTP expressed by visitors. The comparative study of the average WTP of visitors according to origins and income reveals that visitors from Côte d'Ivoire have an average income of 876 772 FCFA and those from other developing countries with an average income of 898 207 FCFA demonstrate non-significantly different average WTP. The same goes for visitors from Europe and other developed countries in North America and Japan with average incomes of 1 824 479 FCFA and 2 490 000 FCFA respectively. On the other hand, there is a significant difference between the means of visitors from developing countries including Côte d'Ivoire and those from developed countries. In view of these results, we recommend that entrance fees to the park be discriminated based on the origins of visitors. Thus, those from developing countries must pay lower park entrance fees than those from developed countries.

The moderating effect of place attachment on visitors’ trust and support for recreational fees in national parks

The success of fee programs on public lands hinges on visitors' perceptions and reactions towards recreational fees, emphasizing the importance of understanding visitor dynamics in park management decisions. Using Indiana Dunes National Park in the U.S. as the study context, this study investigates the role of trust and place attachment in shaping visitors' support for national park entrance fees. Informed by social judgment theory, we hypothesize that place identity (socio-emotional attachment) will strengthen the relationship between trust and fee support, while place dependence (functional attachment) will weaken it. Our sample included 900 park visitors. The findings showed that as visitors’ place dependence increased, trust in the park agency became less critical in fee support. However, place identity did not significantly impact the trust-fee support relationship. These results underscore the importance of building trust and fostering place dependence among visitors to increase support for fee-related decisions by park managers. This study extends the environmental psychology literature and the recreation fee literature by furthering our understanding of the interplay among trust, place attachment, and fee support in the context of protected area management, providing insights for policymakers and park managers grappling with the contentious discourse surrounding park fees.

Effective or useless? Assessing the impact of park entrance addition policy on green space services from the 15-min city perspective

This study investigates an innovative approach to enhance urban green space access by adding new park entrances rather than expanding the green space itself, aiming for sustainable urban development. Taking Shenzhen as a case study, we first developed a universal framework to identify potential locations for new entrances and used network analysis in ArcGIS to quantify green service improvements. Then, under the 15-min city concept, the impact on green accessibility and equity was assessed using the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method and Gini coefficient analysis. Results indicate that (1) new entrances enabled 21.10% of residents to access parks with an average reduced travel distance of 214.71 m, and increased the population within a 15-min walk to parks by 7.34%. (2) This strategy proved cost-effective, serving 27.66% of residents at 1/38 the cost of creating new green spaces. (3) Furthermore, the accessible green area within a 15-min walking or cycling increased by 0.18 km2 and 1.42 km2, respectively, without affecting green equity. Our findings support the policy of adding park entrances as a feasible and efficient urban strategy, supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 and 11, and the policy can be implemented across almost cities.

Visitors’ environmental attitudes and willingness to pay for nature conservation: the case of Langtang National Park in the Himalayas

<p>National parks are a destination for nature-based tourism (NBT) in both the developed and developing countries. National Park visitors with pro-environmental attitudes may be more likely to support the management's conservation efforts. However, managing and funding national parks and protected areas is a significant challenge, particularly in low-income countries. Visitor entrance fees to national parks are an often-heard option to secure sustainable funding for the management. This study aimed to measure environmental attitude and willingness to pay (WTP) for park entrance fees of international visitors to Langtang National Park in the Nepal Himalayas. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale was applied to assess environmental attitude, while a contingent valuation survey was carried out to explore WTP. International visitors of the park (n= 476) were surveyed over two years. The survey results suggest that national park visitors exhibited comparatively high pro-environmental attitudes, with a NEP score of 3.72 (5 being the highest score). Visitors were willing to pay a new entrance fee of USD 57.51 (mean) in comparison to the existing fee of USD 30. The willingness to pay a higher entry fee was positively correlated with a pro-environmental attitude and income. The increase in entrance fees could significantly improve the funding of national parks in Nepal and lead to an upgrade of its infrastructures without reducing the overall number of visitors.</p>

Traffic Volume Forecast of Parking Lot Entrance and Exit Roads

As people's living standards improve, commercial plaza development also more and more quickly, commercial plaza and the surrounding areas of transport vehicles, in the parking lot entrances and exits of highway road traffic conditions, the parking lot entrances and exits of low traffic capacity and traffic organization chaos (motor vehicles, electric vehicles and the status of the bicycle traffic complex). It is necessary to predict the traffic volume of the entrance and exit roads of the parking lot. In ningyang county lingyun building as an example, through direct observation records investigation parking lot parking condition and facilities, analysis of traffic organization form of the parking lot entrances, investigate the status of the parking lot entrance road and surrounding roads, using artificial paper counting method to collect parking entrance road traffic flow, speed and other data, The time series moving average and exponential smoothing are used to predict the traffic volume at the entrance and exit of the parking lot. The prediction results show that the two methods are suitable for the parking lot entrance traffic volume prediction, and the moving average method is more accurate than the exponential smoothing method, which is closer to the actual value.

Wildfire-driven entry closures influence visitor displacement and spending to alternative park entrance corridors and gateway communities around Yosemite National Park

Wildfire-driven entry closures influence visitor displacement and spending to alternative park entrance corridors and gateway communities around Yosemite National Park

Landscape Features Impact the Spatial Heterogeneity of Visitation Density within a Comprehensive Park: What Are the Seasonal and Diurnal Variations?

Urban parks are the main place for physical activities, generating numerous benefits to enhance human well-being. Many studies have investigated the impacts of landscape features on park visitation but ignored their seasonal and diurnal variations. Taking the Hunan Martyr Park in China as an example, this study aims to assess the seasonal and diurnal variations in the impacts of landscape features on visitation density. We quantified visitation density for 109 activity zones for both daytime and nighttime in summer and winter and investigated the impacts of landscape features of the activity zone and the surrounding environments on visitation density based on 16 quantitative indicators. The results show that: (1) The impacts of ground condition, connection to water, distance to park entrances, and distance to stores were consistent in different periods. Paved activity zones, zones close to water, zones further away from the park entrances, and zones closer to the stores had significantly higher visitation density. (2) Shading degree, connected pathway, and distance to toilets had contrasting impacts between summer and winter. Zones with a higher shading degree attracted more visitors in summer and deterred visitors in winter. Zones with fewer pathways connected and zones farther away from toilets had higher visitation density in summer but not in winter. (3) Shading degree, number of trees, presence of facilities (e.g., benches, tables, pavilion, and light devices), and connected pathway had contrasting impacts between daytime and nighttime. Zones with a high shading degree, zones with benches and pavilions, and zones without trees had higher visitation density in the daytime. Zones with light devices, zones with more connected pathways, and zones without tables had higher visitation density at nighttime. These findings highlighted the seasonal and diurnal variation of the impacts of landscape features on park visitation and can help to improve urban park design, especially for cities with hot summers and cold winters.

Assessing spatial equity in urban park accessibility: an improve two-step catchment area method from the perspective of 15-mintue city concept

Ensuring equitable access to urban parks is crucial for promoting the sustainable development of cities. In the post-COVID era, the concept of the 15-minute city has gained significant attention, emphasizing human-scale urban design and fine-grained governance. This study introduces an improved two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to accurately assess park accessibility and spatial equity in Guangzhou, considering the 15-minute city perspective. Firstly, a more effective framework is proposed to identify multiple park entrances that serve as supply points. Secondly, the population distribution is estimated using building areas and locationbased data through a random forest model. Furthermore, the supply capability index is estimated by considering the area of each park and its attractiveness index, derived from multiple geographic data sources. The results reveal unequal park accessibility in Guangzhou, with low-access areas mainly distributed on the fringe of study area in both walking and cycling scenarios due to the limited park supply or high-density population. With the influences of park entrances and the park attractiveness index, the spatial inequity of park accessibility may be more severe than previously estimated in other studies. This work enhances the understanding of park accessibility and facilitate effective planning for sustainable development and reducing environmental injustice.

Parameterized Site Selection Approach of Park Entrance Based on Crowd Simulation and Design Requirement

With the extensive application of data analysis in various parts of the landscape design process, Building Information Modeling (BIM), City Information Modeling (CIM), and Landscape Information Modeling (LIM) all aim to achieve key data sharing and collaboration in the whole cycle and promote the development of smart cities. Landscape element indicators are complex, diverse, and difficult to quantify, which is one of the reasons for the slow development of LIM. However, with the development requirements of LIM, quantifying landscape elements and transforming landscapes into digital landscape information has become a hot spot in the landscape design industry. Landscape parametric design aims to transform the design elements into quantifiable parameters, obtain the design scheme by changing the value of the parameters, and form the design results based on digital information. It is one of the foundations of LIM. Based on the Rhino + Grasshopper (R+G) platform, this study takes Shuixizhuang Park as an example and establishes the parametric design approach for the park entrance. The approach involves several steps: (1) Confirming the boundary and key points of the park to prepare the basic data for parametric design. (2) Utilizing the Physarealm Algorithm Method (PAM) to simulate crowd paths, the Site Slope Algorithm Model (SSAM) to analyze terrain slope, the Road Intersection Algorithm Model (RIAM) to determine the scope of the park entrance area based on the national and local design codes, and the Crowd Density Algorithm Model (CDAM) and Crowd Convenience Algorithm Model (CCAM) to analyze the density and convenience of the crowd to preliminarily confirm the park entrance. (3) Meeting the basic requirements of the crowd and vehicle gathering and spread by using the Square Area Review Algorithm Model (SARAM) and Parking Lot Review Algorithm Model (PLRAM) to recheck the site area of the park entrance square and park lot to optimize the park entrance. This approach constructs several site analysis models based on the R+G platform and introduces PAM to analyze crowd activity paths, proposing a landscape parametric design method that integrates crowd activity and landscape design requirements. Compared with the classical design, the landscape parametric design derived from the comprehensive data analysis reduces human interference, is more scientific and practical, and better meets the requirements of people entering the park. The approach also provides ideas for other landscape parametric site selections. By adjusting the values of element parameters, the approach can also be applied to the site selection and design of other landscapes.

Assessing Seasonal Concentrations of Airborne Potentially Toxic Elements in Tropical Mountain Areas in Thailand Using the Transplanted Lichen Parmotrema Tinctorum (Despr. ex Nyl.) Hale

The atmosphere of mountain areas may be contaminated by pollutants originating mainly from road traffic, as well as tourist and community activities within such areas. This study mainly aimed to assess the concentrations of airborne potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in two mountain areas in Thailand using lichen biomonitoring. Thalli of the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum from the relatively unpolluted area in Khao Yai National Park (KYNP) were prepared and exposed at nine sites in the KYNP and nine sites in Doi Inthanon National Park (DINP) during the rainy and dry seasons. The lichen transplants were collected and analyzed for 15 PTEs, including Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti, V, and Zn, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The result clearly showed that the atmosphere of many monitoring sites in both mountains were contaminated by the investigated PTEs. The contamination factors (CFs) revealed that several PTEs heavily contaminated the atmosphere at many monitoring sites. The pollution load indices (PLIs) clearly illustrated that the atmosphere of all sites had higher pollution loads in the dry season than in the rainy season, which was likely due to the higher numbers of motor vehicles and visitors. The highest pollution loads were observed at sites that had higher traffic density and human activities, including the park entrance site in the KYNP and the community site in the DINP. The lowest air pollution loads were discovered at the summit sites in both mountains. This study indicates that the atmosphere of mountain areas can be contaminated by some PTEs that are mainly produced by road traffic and local communities. It also confirms the ability of the transplanted lichen P. tinctorum to be an effective biomonitoring tool for airborne PTEs in natural environments.

Fecal contamination of urban parks by domestic dogs and tragedy of the commons

Contamination of public parks by dogs is a potential source of conflict among park users, causing “tragedy of the commons” problems. Besides the social conflict, feces can pose serious health risks to both dogs and humans. In this study we analyzed the extent and patterns of the distribution of dog feces in the urban parks of the City of Calgary. We collected dog feces from randomly selected locations in the urban parks. The average density of dog feces by the different dog leash policies of the parks and the distribution pattern of the fecal density within the parks were assessed, and the total contamination of the public parks for the entire city was estimated. We found off-leash parks to be significantly more contaminated than other types of parks. We estimated 127.23 g/ha of dog feces are left unpicked in city parks in total every week. Dog feces were found more often and in greater amount in off-leash parks, and near park entrances and parking lots, than in on-leash parks and away from the park entrances. These results suggest that public park visitors, especially those visiting off-leash parks, are likely to be exposed to large amounts of dog feces. Designation of parks as on-leash and educating dog-owners may be an effective approach for reducing the fecal contamination.

A Multi-Stage Deep-Learning-Based Vehicle and License Plate Recognition System with Real-Time Edge Inference.

Video streaming-based real-time vehicle identification and license plate recognition systems are challenging to design and deploy in terms of real-time processing on edge, dealing with low image resolution, high noise, and identification. This paper addresses these issues by introducing a novel multi-stage, real-time, deep learning-based vehicle identification and license plate recognition system. The system is based on a set of algorithms that efficiently integrate two object detectors, an image classifier, and a multi-object tracker to recognize car models and license plates. The information redundancy of Saudi license plates' Arabic and English characters is leveraged to boost the license plate recognition accuracy while satisfying real-time inference performance. The system optimally achieves real-time performance on edge GPU devices and maximizes models' accuracy by taking advantage of the temporally redundant information of the video stream's frames. The edge device sends a notification of the detected vehicle and its license plate only once to the cloud after completing the processing. The system was experimentally evaluated on vehicles and license plates in real-world unconstrained environments at several parking entrance gates. It achieves 17.1 FPS on a Jetson Xavier AGX edge device with no delay. The comparison between the accuracy on the videos and on static images extracted from them shows that the processing of video streams using this proposed system enhances the relative accuracy of the car model and license plate recognition by 13% and 40%, respectively. This research work has won two awards in 2021 and 2022.

Concatenating Daily Exercise Routes with Public Sports Facilities, Bicycle Lanes, and Green Spaces: A Feasibility Analysis in Nanjing, China

Public sports facilities have the potential to improve their functions as active living infrastructures (ALIs) in combination with bicycle lanes and green spaces. A favorable sequence of exercise intensities in different scenes is important for individuals to take physical activity scientifically. Our research aimed to explore the feasibility of promoting and consolidating this sequence using reasonable daily exercise routes concatenated by public sports facilities, green spaces, and bicycle lanes. Taking 25 major public sports facilities in Nanjing as an example, we obtained the cycling routes from open-source data and delineated the facilities’ cycling catchment areas to assess the coordination of bicycle lanes and facilities. Further, we evaluated the potential interactions between facilities and green spaces by checking the spatial intersections between park entrances and the above routes. The results revealed that with the integration of bicycle lanes, public sports facilities could provide services to most residential areas, and potential interactions between the facilities and parks existed already. Therefore, it was feasible to design reasonable daily exercise routes coupled with the existing facility layout. Moreover, the service gaps and potential interactions were affected by the layout of the facilities, the density of the bicycle lanes, the configuration of green spaces, and the official planning proposals. This research advances the understanding of how public sports facilities can be pivotal to the cooperation of ALIs with other infrastructures.

Investigation on sociodemographic and health inequity of greenspace using different greenspace indicators in 3 US urban communities

BACKGROUND AND AIM Study results are inconclusive regarding how greenspace exposure differs by sociodemographic status potentially due to lack of consideration of varying dimensions of greenspace. We investigated the inequity of greenspace and its health effects by sociodemographic status comparing various greenspace metrics. METHODS We used five metrics: vegetation levels measured by Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), percent greenspace, percent tree cover, percent tree cover along walkable roads, and percent people living <500m of a park entrance (park accessibility). We used data for 2008–2013 in Census block groups in 3 US regions: New Haven, Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina. We examined associations between each greenspace metric and indicators of income, education, linguistic isolation, race/ethnicity, and age. Logistic regressions examined associations between these greenspace metrics and age-standardized mortality controlling for sociodemographic indicators. RESULTS The region with the highest greenspace differed across metrics. Average percent greenspace was highest in Durham and lowest in Baltimore. Average percent people living <500m of a park entrance and percent tree cover along walkable roads were highest in New Haven. An interquartile range (64.7%) increase in people of color was associated with a 6.2% (95%CI: 3.1–9.3) increase in park accessibility, whereas it was associated with 0.03–7.3% decreases in other greenspace metrics. A 15.5% increase in the lower-education population was associated with a 2.1% increase (95%CI: -0.3%–4.6%) in park accessibility but decreases with other greenspace metrics (0.02–5.0%). The odds ratios of having an all-cause standardized mortality rate ≥75th percentile were inversely associated with all greenspace metrics except for park accessibility (OR=1.40, 95% CI: 0.52–3.75). CONCLUSIONS Environmental justice concerns and health benefits of greenspace can differ by form of greenspace and socioeconomic status within communities. Comparisons of greenspace between different greenspace metrics should be incorporated in decision-making. KEYWORDS Environmental justice, greenspace, health inequity.

Review on Automatic Smart Car Parking System

The purpose of this study is to provide an automated, user-friendly, and dependable parking system. Even if parking spots are known, many cars may chase them down, severely clogging the roads. In this study, we build and put into practice a smart parking system prototype. The suggested system has three operating modes: ON, OFF, and EMERGENCY. Through an IR sensor, the system was able to detect the presence of the automobiles blocking the main parking entrance. These IR sensors output data to the PLC (programmable logic controller). A worldwide trend is moving toward automatic automobile parking systems to determine precisely how much space is available for cars and to collect money as parking fees due to a scarcity of parking places and trained personnel. This new plan enhances the present auto parking system's dependability, and it can be readily put into place since it is highly cost-effective—using solar panels to provide all of its power—and the inexpensive IR sensor lowers the overall implementation cost. This type of equipment is important to address the issue of a lack of parking space in crowded cities since it is completely automated and assigns each user a unique ID that corresponds to the trolley that is assigned to them. The proportion of Indians who own cars and motorbikes has lately grown, boosting metropolitan traffic, as a result of changing economic behavior and an improvement in living standards. In order to facilitate the transportation network and guarantee the quality of urban life, parking difficulties will present a significant obstacle. In most major cities, it can be challenging for drivers to find a parking spot, especially during rush hour. The problem comes from not knowing where the open spots could be at that moment.

Investigation on urban greenspace in relation to sociodemographic factors and health inequity based on different greenspace metrics in 3 US urban communities

BackgroundStudy results are inconclusive regarding how access to greenspace differs by sociodemographic status potentially due to lack of consideration of varying dimensions of greenspace.ObjectiveWe investigated how provision of greenspace by sociodemographic status varies by greenspace metrics reflecting coverage and accessibility of greenspace.MethodsWe used vegetation levels measured by Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), percent of greenspace, percent tree cover, percent tree cover along walkable roads, and percent of people living ≤500 m of a park entrance (park accessibility). We considered data for 2008–2013 in Census block groups in 3 US regions: New Haven, Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland; and Durham, North Carolina. We examined geographical distribution of greenspace metrics and their associations with indicators of income, education, linguistic isolation, race/ethnicity, and age. We used logistic regression to examine associations between these greenspace metrics and age-standardized mortality controlling for sociodemographic indicators.ResultsWhich region had the highest greenspace depended on the greenspace metric used. An interquartile range (33.6%) increase in low-income persons was associated with a 6.2% (95% CI: 3.1, 9.3) increase in park accessibility, whereas it was associated with 0.03 (95% CI: −0.035, −0.025) to 7.3% (95% CI: −8.7, −5.9) decreases in other greenspace metrics. A 15.5% increase in the lower-education population was associated with a 2.1% increase (95% CI: −0.3%, 4.6%) in park accessibility but decreases with other greenspace metrics (0.02 to 5.0%). These results were consistent across the 3 study areas. The odds of mortality rate more than the 75th percentile rate were inversely associated with all greenspace metrics except for annual average EVI (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 0.43, 3.79) and park accessibility (OR 1.40, 95% CI: 0.52, 3.75).SignificanceEnvironmental justice concerns regarding greenspace differ by the form of natural resources, and pathways of health benefits can differ by form of greenspace and socioeconomic status within communities.Impact statementComparisons of exposure to greenspace between different greenspace metrics should be incorporated in decision-making within local contexts.

Enabling Fog-Blockchain Computing for Autonomous-Vehicle-Parking System: A Solution to Reinforce IoT-Cloud Platform for Future Smart Parking.

With the advent of modern technologies, including the IoT and blockchain, smart-parking (SP) systems are becoming smarter and smarter. Similar to other automated systems, and particularly those that require automation or minimal interaction with humans, the SP system is heuristic in delivering performances, such as throughput in terms of latency, efficiency, privacy, and security, and it is considered a long-term cost-effective solution. This study looks ahead to future trends and developments in SP systems and presents an inclusive, long-term, effective, and well-performing smart autonomous vehicle parking (SAVP) system that explores and employs the emerging fog-computing and blockchain technologies as robust solutions to strengthen the existing collaborative IoT–cloud platform to build and manage SP systems for autonomous vehicles (AVs). In other words, the proposed SAVP system offers a smart-parking solution, both indoors and outdoors, and mainly for AVs looking for vacant parking, wherein the fog nodes act as a middleware layer that provides various parking operations closer to IoT-enabled edge devices. To address the challenges of privacy and security, a lightweight integrated blockchain and cryptography (LIBC) module is deployed, which is functional at each fog node, to authorize and grant access to the AVs in every phase of parking (e.g., from the parking entrance to the parking slot to the parking exit). A proof-of-concept implementation was conducted, wherein the overall computed results, such as the average response time, efficiency, privacy, and security, were examined as highly efficient to enable a proven SAVP system. This study also examined an innovative pace, with careful considerations to combatting the existing SP-system challenges and, therefore, to building and managing future scalable SP systems.

Economic valuation of urban parks with historical importance: The case of Quinta do Castelo, Portugal

Urban parks have been increasingly important for people living in urban areas. There has been a growing need to be in contact with nature and to have a safe space to exercise and do recreational activities with family. These parks have proven to have positive health effects both physical and mentally. Furthermore, they contribute to better air quality and less pollution in cities. In addition to these recreational benefits, several parks have historic and cultural relevance. In this study, we examine the total economic value of an urban park with historic relevance, Quinta do Castelo, in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal. We applied the contingent valuation method using a questionnaire to obtain three values: the willingness to pay (WTP) for park entrance, readiness to engage in guided and well-being activities, and the willingness to donate (WTD) an annual value with the aim of preserving the park. The average WTP (per visit) is 0.66€ to enter the park, 3.13€ for guided activities, and 2.53€ for well-being activities. These values reflect the use value of the park. The average WTD (per donor) is 6.73€/year, which translates into a relevant non-use value. Total Economic Values (TEVs) achieve considerable values that range from an estimated 1.2 million euros for guided visits, 1.3 million euros for the entrance value, 1.4 million euros for well-being activities, and 1.1 million euros for the annual donation to preserve the park. Hence, our study highlights the importance of maintaining Quinta do Castelo Park, and of considering not only use value, but also non-use value when estimating total economic value of urban parks with historical relevance.

Marine resource recovery in Southern Thailand during COVID-19 and policy recommendations

COVID-19 and subsequent government health containment measures have slowed down economic activities worldwide, particularly tourism. With the number of foreign tourists entering Thailand during 2020 and 2021 greatly diminished, the number of tourists at marine and coastal attractions in Southern Thailand has declined as well. This study found evidence of a relationship between the decline of the number of tourists and marine resource recovery. This recovery appears in the form of cleaner beaches, clearer seawater and increased sighting of marine animals. Between 2020 and 2021, official reports found increased sighting of dugongs, dolphins, blacktip reef sharks, whale sharks, leopard sharks, sea turtles, green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and false killer whales at marine national parks in Southern Thailand. The study also found that, prior to the COVD-19 outbreak, the number of tourists at Patong Beach and Maya Bay exceeded their tourism carrying capacities. Finally, this study proposes eight policy measures related to tourism management for marine resource sustainability: conservation and recreation zoning, enforcing marine park closure, redesigning marine park entrance fee systems, ensuring adequate recreational facilities, stricter enforcement of the law, promoting alternative tourism sites, encouraging more inclusivity and participation in decision making processes, and enhancing public awareness.

Influence Mechanisms of Community Sports Parks to Enhance Social Interaction: A Bayesian Belief Network Analysis.

Urban green spaces provide multiple ecosystem services to improve human health and well-being. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are recognized as the most important services for urban residents through the key of social interaction. Researchers commonly acknowledge the function of community sports parks to enhance social interaction. Nevertheless, existing studies generally do not pay enough attention to the influence mechanisms of community sports parks and social interaction, especially the different types of spaces in community sports parks, which could be due to the complex feature of social interaction. This paper selects three community sports parks in Chongqing as the case study, uses BBN to identify the influence mechanisms of three common types of spaces (fitness equipment space, path space, and sports court space) in community sports parks and social interaction, aiming to explore how community sports parks enhance social interaction. The results indicated that sports court space such as basketball court and badminton court enhanced social interaction best; however, the spaces farther away from the park entrances were generally less effective in enhancing interaction. All these three types of sports spaces showed the influence mechanism of “Spatial Factors-Activity Type-Social Interaction”, while differences existed in the specific spatial influencing factors. The findings highlight that based on the BBN obtained in this study, the threshold range of spatial factors could be adjusted to enhance the effect of community sports parks on social interaction.