Parks In Urban Areas Research Articles

Monitoring Outdoor Parking in Urban Areas With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Monitoring Outdoor Parking in Urban Areas With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

User behaviors in a community-based multifunctional urban park with dog friendly area

Urban parks are essential for community revitalization; for example, they are places to walk dogs and interact with other dog keepers. This study focused on an urban park with a dog-friendly area to be used by both dog keepers and other users as an alternative to off-leash dog parks that completely separate them and clarified aspects of park use through behavioral observation. The behaviors of 7122 visitors in 14 areas in the park and 294 pairs of dogs and their keepers in the dog-friendly area were observed. The results showed that the visitors’ age groups and use behaviors differed by area. The dog-friendly area was in constant demand among dog keepers as a place where they could stay and interact with others and as a destination or relay point when walking their dogs. Visitors used the park in accordance with rules and morals, and the park was well managed. As it can be comfortably used by everyone (with or without dogs), this park can serve as a model for the development and maintenance of community-based multifunctional parks in urban areas.

Leveraging business intelligence solutions for urban parking management

Efficient parking management is essential for enhancing customer experience, mobility, accessibility, and overall quality of life in urban areas. In recent years, parking analytics have emerged as valuable tools for understanding drivers’ behavior and developing data-driven management strategies. However, the application of these tools is often hindered by the complexity of data extraction, transformation, loading and analysis. Additionally, the implementation of these tools can be time-consuming and costly, further limiting their practical use for operators and urban authorities. To address this issue, this paper presents the development of a Business Intelligence tool specifically designed to facilitate parking management through the automated flow of transaction data between collection, processing, and analysis systems. The tool provides easy-to-use analytical capabilities that allow parking managers to analyze parking transaction data, identify trends and patterns, and make informed decisions about parking management quickly and easily. The cost-effective implementation of this tool presents a valuable solution for managing on-street parking in urban areas. This study highlights the potential of Business Intelligence tools for parking management and contributes to improving the effectiveness of parking management.

Which characteristics represent the gentrification affected by parks? A study case in Nanjing, China

The provision of newly constructed parks in urban areas offers numerous benefits to residents but also gives rise to the phenomenon of green gentrification. Accurately defining the extent of park services, examining the characteristics of gentrification resulting from new parks, and identifying the key park features that contribute to gentrification are crucial for research. This study employs network analysis tools to determine the service area of new parks and utilizes data on the attributes of new parks in the central urban area of Nanjing, residential transaction data, POI data, and census data. A canonical correlation analysis is conducted to explore the canonical correlation between the characteristics of green gentrification and the attributes of the new parks. The findings reveal that the housing price premium, the proportion of high-end commercial places and the proportion of elderly population were the typical characteristics of green gentrification, with the correlations of −0.896, −0.530 and 0.415, respectively. In addition, park service facility density, park service facility type, park area and park perimeter are the key park characteristics that were easy to cause gentrification, and the correlations with the typical characteristic variables of newly built parks were 0.742, 0.657, −0.594 and −0.570, respectively. Based on these results, it is suggested that the house price premium best reflects the characteristics of green gentrification, while small parks with robust service capabilities can help mitigate the effects of green gentrification. The research findings provide novel strategies for alleviating gentrification resulting from the construction of new parks.

Progressive Relationship Between Sustainable Development of Elderly Care Institutions and Spatial Environmental Factors: A Study Based on the Influence of Supermarkets, Medical Accessibility, and Parks in Urban Areas.

To study the relationship between three variables, namely, the number of supermarkets around, the average distance to medical institutions designated to be covered by basic medical insurance, and the presence of parks around, and the sustainable development of elderly care institutions. This paper is based on the census database of elderly care institutions in Beijing. We ran a self-developed Python program to mine the database after adding three variables, namely, the number of supermarkets around, the average distance to medical institutions designated to be covered by basic medical insurance (hereinafter referred to as "designated medical institutions"), and the presence of parks around, and then used the least squares method in regression analysis. The number of years of depreciation for fixed assets had some degree of influence on the occupancy rate of an elderly care institution under sustained operation. The occupancy rate of above 80% was efficient for an elderly care institution. There was a progressive relationship between the external spatial factors and the internal resources of an elderly care institution in terms of influencing the occupancy rate of the institution. Optimizing the spatial distribution of elderly care institutions should first optimize the choice of location. The occupancy rate of an elderly care institution was closely related to the convenience of living conditions and that site selection was crucial for such a facility. We arrived at two recommendations for the future development of elderly care institutions, 1. Reducing the number of the institutions in areas with unfavorable geographic positions and serving senior care needs within an appropriate close distance, so as to better optimize the spatial distribution of senior care facilities, improve the efficiency of resource allocation. 2. Strike a balance between the economic benefits of operating entities and the social benefits associated with older people.

Enhancing Urban Living with Automatic Parking Management Systems : A Comprehensive Review and Case Study

As urbanization continues to rise, the need for efficient and safe parking solutions has become more important. In recent years, automatic parking management systems have been developed to address this need. This paper presents a comprehensive review of automatic parking management systems. It discusses the various types of automatic parking systems, the components of an automatic parking management system, and the benefits of implementing such a system. The paper also presents a case study of an automatic parking management system implemented in a commercial building in Singapore. The case study evaluates the effectiveness of the system and highlights the challenges faced during the implementation process. The results of the study suggest that automatic parking management systems are an effective solution for managing parking in urban areas.

Field Measurements and Human Perception to Remediate Noise Pollution in the Urban Public Parks in Saudi Arabia

The deleterious effects of noise pollution on public health have been well documented, with traffic noise being identified as a significant contributor to stress and adverse impacts on the human body and mind. In this study, sound levels at 12 different points in Al-Oqailat Park in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, were measured using a sound level meter (SLM), with the study’s primary objective being to conduct this measurement. The experimental results were then compared with perception measurements collected from users who frequently visited Al-Oqailat park. Sound measurements were taken in four different zones (A, B, C, and D) during rush hours between 1:30 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. It was found that noise levels at point A1 peaked at 79 dBA at 4:40 p.m., while the lowest level recorded was 41.1 dBA at point D2 at 2:35 p.m. The range of noise levels varied between 79 and 41 dBA, with a rate of decline of 48.10%. Zones A and B seemed to have the highest noise levels during rush hours, since they were located closest to King Fahd Road and Al-Adl Street, while zone D exhibited the lowest noise levels due to its location as a parking lot for Buraydah Court. An intermediate noise level was found in zone C, in the middle of Al-Oqailat park. The people perception results, completed by 84 park visitors, showed that zone A was identified as having exceptionally high noise levels compared to the other zones, with zone D having the lowest levels. These results were consistent with the experimental findings and reflected that the points along King Fahd Road and Al-Adl Street had the highest noise levels. Overall, the research highlighted the dominance of car traffic and horns as the primary sources of noise pollution in and around Al-Oqailat Park, emphasizing the significance of meticulous site selection for parks in urban areas.

Investigation of ornamental plants of the palm family in public and private space in Ho Chi Minh City and their application in landscape design

The study was conducted from January 2021 to April 2022 in a number of public parks, residential parks in urban areas, major streets and boulevards, and coffee shops in Ho Chi Minh City. The study was performed by using survey forms, taking pictures and collecting samples. Identification of trees was done by morphological comparison and analysis of collected data, and then information was used for landscape design via using professional design softwares. The results showed that 23 species belonging to 20 genera of the Arecaceae family were identified. Public parks had 22/23 species while residential parks, coffee shops and streets had 17/23 species, 8/23 species and 4/23 species, respectively. Trees of the Arecaceae family identified included 16 species with solitary stem and pinnate (69.5%) and 7 species with clustered trunk and palmate (30.5%). Sketchup, Lumion, and Photoshop softwares could be used for conceptual design that combines the palm trees and other species in the landscape.

How vegetation impacts preference, mystery and danger in fortifications and parks in urban areas

Parks and heritage fortifications are important components of urban green spaces in many cities in terms of benefitting people and urban nature as well as preserving cultural heritage. Heritage fortifications, like parks, can offer various cultural ecosystem services. Therefore, recognising the preferences of their visitors is relevant from the perspective of creating and managing spaces that are people-friendly. In this research, we have attempted to identify the nature of the relationship between mystery, danger and preferences while considering the complexity of these relationships. Therefore, we examined the preferences expressed by 83 participants for 60 fortified and 60 park landscapes in Poland. The research results indicate that in the case of parks, greenery increases the sense of danger, which lowers preferences, despite the mysterious appeal of such scenery. In turn, vegetation in parks should be shaped in a manner that ensures safety. In the case of forts, the feeling of mystery makes the vegetation more appealing, despite the fact that it evokes a sense of danger. The preservation of vegetation on historical fortifications is advisable because it helps to maintain the mystery that some visitors might enjoy. These findings may help to successfully plan and design sustainable urban green spaces that are visually and socially accessible.

Identifikasi Taman Ramah Anak di Kota Semarang

Provision of parks in urban areas must consider the needs of children. The existence of a child-friendly park has a goal to fulfill children's rights. Child-friendly parks are closely related to Child Friendly City which is one of the things that the City of Semarang wants to achieve. Children's activities in the playground will be more meaningful if safe and comfortable facilities are available so that children do not feel bored. The purpose of this study was to assess the condition of the park in the city of Semarang as a child-friendly park. Based on this assessment, an evaluation of the provision of child-friendly parks in the city of Semarang was compiled. The method used is scoring. After knowing the score for each park, the percentage of the park as a child-friendly park is calculated. The results showed that Taman Bumi Rejo, Kedondong, and Citra Satwa were suitable as child-friendly parks. Meanwhile, Tirto Agung Park cannot be said to be a child-friendly park because there are several indicators that have not been met. The evaluation given is that special care and supervision is needed so that the condition of the park is suitable as a place for children to play. Some facilities need updating such as play furniture, soft mats, and toilets. This research can be useful for the Semarang City government in improving the condition of the park so that it is safer for children.

Purification effect of aquatic plant communities in constructed wetland park: a comparative experiment of Tianhe wetland park in China

Constructed wetland parks in urban areas can offer the potential for integrating water conservation and purification. Compared with other treatments, filtering out pollutants by wetland plants is one of the methods used widely for its fast processing time and limited costs. And species allocation plays an important role in the purification process. However, some problems are still waiting for further discussions, such as the purification efficiency in winter due to plant growth rate, etc. Against this background, this paper introduced the Tianhe Wetland Park in China as the site for a comparative experiment, to propose a methodology for testing the purification effect under different plant communities. Through site investigation and lab experiments with water monitoring, the process of water purification by wetland was simulated in the park. After a period of observation and measurement, seven water indexes (pH value, dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand, and turbidity) were selected for the evaluation of water quality to compare the different absorption efficiency by different communities. As a result, the research showed that a configuration of plant community using arboreal, emergent, and submerged plants can carry out a good purification effect during the winter, including Callistemon viminalis, Bischofia javanica, Canna indica, Juncus effusus, Vallisneria natans, and Hydrilla verticillata var. rosburghii. The removal rate of DO, TU, COD, TP, and TN by the designed community can reach 43%, 65%, 45%, 51%, and 62% in sampling sites. Finally, based on the research results, further suggestions for the development of wetlands were proposed to improve park management in the study area.

Transport Automation in Urban Mobility: A Case Study of an Autonomous Parking System

Parking road vehicles is one of the most tedious and challenging tasks a human driver performs. Despite the low speeds involved, parking manoeuvres are among the main causes of minor and sometimes major traffic accidents, especially in urban areas where limited parking spaces are available. Furthermore, searching for a parking space wastes time and contributes to unnecessary road occupancy and pollution. This paper is dedicated to the development of an autonomous parking system for on-street parking in urban areas. The system is capable of fully automated parking manoeuvres from drop-off to pick-up zones, thus removing human drivers from the vehicle control loop. The system autonomously navigates to the parking space and parks the vehicle without human intervention. The proposed system incorporates a communication protocol that connects automated vehicles, parking infrastructure, and drivers. Several convenient human–machine interface concepts for efficient system communication and state monitoring have been developed. A methodology for validating the system in real time is proposed, which includes functionality requirements and a description of parallel and perpendicular parking manoeuvres. The proposed pipeline is tested on an electric vehicle platform with automated functions, where successful technological functionality is demonstrated.

Differences in likelihood of use between artificial and natural turfgrass lawns

Parks in urban areas provide a range of significant benefits across natural and social systems. These critical urban green spaces and those who manage them are faced with balancing budgetary constraints, sustainability goals, and user requirements. Competing demands are exemplified in the difficulties faced in managing the dominant form of park vegetation: natural turfgrass lawns. Traditionally turfgrass lawns can have high input requirements (e.g., water and fertilizer), which may cause negative environmental effects if not managed properly. One proposed solution is the adoption of artificial turfgrass lawns which do not require the more intensive inputs of natural turfgrass lawns. However, park users’ perceptions of the equivalency of artificial and natural lawns across various use cases remain unknown. Thus, we surveyed adults in the United States to elicit responses on the most common uses of public lawn spaces, as well as specifically how likely they were to use artificial and natural lawns across various use cases using photos of each type. Overall, significant differences were found between participants' likelihood to use artificial lawns compared to natural lawns with small to moderate effect sizes across the majority of use cases. This work suggests that park users are generally more hesitant to use artificial turfgrass lawns compared to using natural turfgrass lawns. More work needs to be done on understanding specific reasons for why park users seem to prefer natural lawns across various use cases compared to artificial lawns. The current work generates several implications for decision making and management of public lawn green spaces: Higher favorability towards natural turfgrasses across many use cases should prompt managers to assess the suitability of low input turfgrasses to meet user preferences while addressing management, budgetary, and sustainability constraints and targets. Individuals utilize lawns for a wide variety of use cases. Park level observational surveys could be employed by public land managers and parks departments to assess use cases in any given park and/or park sub-area to better align management regimes with uses. Artificial turfgrass lawns could be used in specific contexts where constraints demand, such as sports fields where individuals held equally favorable views towards artificial and natural turf.

Planning Method for Urban Subway Park-and-Ride Station and Parking Berth

For satisfying the growing demand of parking in urban area and relieving traffic congestion in downtown, under the condition of urban subway park-and-ride (P&R), the methods of site selection and scale calculation of parking lots are studied. Selecting Xi'an Rd. business circle in Dalian as study object, both survey and analysis of parking demand were conducted. Based on the principle of random equilibrium selection, the logit model of P&R demand was constructed. Then the forecasting models of parking demand both in downtown and peripheral zones were proposed respectively. Using the minimum travel distance of vehicles as the objective function, site selection optimization model of P&R station was constructed. The calculation methods of scale for parking lots in both downtown and P&R station were also processed. For the case of Xi'an Rd. business circle, not only the site of P&R station was planned, but the scale of parking berth was calculated. According to the plan and calculation, the total number of parking berth has increased from 3380 to 4011. Among the planned berths, 75.7 % are in the business circle and 24.3 % in P&R stations are outside downtown. Thus, the number of planned berths in the business circle has actually decreased by about 8 %. The research indicates that, for downtown with subway system, by reducing parking berths in downtown and increasing them in P&R stations outside the urban area, this planning method is more beneficial to relieve the problems of parking and traffic congestion in downtown than traditional method.

The inequity of distribution of urban forest and ecosystem services in Cali, Colombia

Little is known about urban forest planning, management and its benefits in emerging countries. The uneven distribution of tree canopy cover and parks in urban area is related to environmental justice, especially with disadvantaged socio-economic and marginated communities. However, the inequity of urban forest in many cities of emerging countries where often found irregular and unregulated land use patterns and social and socio-economic inequities, is hardly highlighted. This study explores the inequity of distribution of tree canopy cover and public park in Cali, Colombia. Utilizing the traditional socio-economic indices, the stratification, linear regression analysis is conducted to describe relationship between total tree canopy cover, tree canopy cover of various land use types, number of parks and park area per capita. The result demonstrates that lower income communities have lower tree canopy cover, fewer parks and smaller park area than higher income communities. This paper discusses importance of accounting for urban forests and ecosystem service in city planning efforts and better strategies of reducing inequity in emerging countries. Addressing the inequity of urban forest could be a better strategy to create resilient, sustainable, safe and livable cities in emerging countries.

Endoparasite Infections of the European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Central Italy.

Simple SummaryThe European hedgehog is a very common animal in Europe. This animal usually lives in woods but often it is possible to find it in gardens and parks in urban areas. Few studies describe parasites infecting the European hedgehog in Italy. In the present study, endoparasite infections and associated lesions were investigated in hedgehogs from two different regions of central Italy (Latium and Tuscany), where no investigations had been performed before. Several helminth and protozoan species were identified in the intestine and respiratory tract of the animals analyzed. The presence of the respiratory worm Crenosoma striatum was found to be associated with bronchial lesions. This study contributed to the knowledge of parasitic infections of the European hedgehog, the most frequently hospitalized animal in wildlife rescue centers.The European hedgehog is a synanthropic mammal, widely distributed in Europe. This species usually inhabits the edges of deciduous or mixed woods, but it is also very common in private gardens and public parks. Despite its popularity and frequency of contacts both with humans and with wild and domestic animals, few studies have examined the endoparasitic fauna of the hedgehog in Italy. In the present study, endoparasites of naturally deceased hedgehogs (n = 40) from central Italy (Latium and Tuscany regions) were investigated, along with concurrent gross and histopathological lesions. The most prevalent identified endoparasites were Crenosoma striatum (45%), Capillaria erinacei (42.5%) and Brachylaemus erinacei (22.5%), in accordance with previous reports from hedgehogs in southern Italy. In few subjects, Physaloptera clausa, Acanthocephalans and Cystoisospora rastegaeivae coccidia were also identified. The infection by the lungworm C. striatum was found to be significantly associated (p < 0.01) with bronchial hyperplasia and peribronchiolitis upon histopathological examination. Awareness of the most common parasitic infections in the hedgehog and of their effects on the health of these animals is extremely important, especially in wildlife rescue centers, where European hedgehog represents the most frequently hospitalized mammal species.

Walking Accessibility to Parks: Considering Number of Parks, Surface Area and Type of Activities

Parks and green spaces are desirable destinations for diverse reasons including exercising, playing, relaxing, and socializing. In this paper, we demonstrate that simultaneously considering number of parks, surface area and type of activity provides an improved understanding of walking accessibility to parks in urban areas. Using open datasets and a configurable tool, we find that in Montreal, 95% of the population have access to three or more parks, 83% can access 3 or more playgrounds, and 10% can access 3 or more open air activities within a 1 km walk. The accessible surface area varies considerably across the region. The tool reveals distinct patterns that better reflect the diversity of needs and uncovering specific inequalities, and can therefore contribute to improved decision-making.

새만금 기본계획에 따른 녹화공간의 과제와 개선방안에 관한 연구1

The purpose of this study is to analyze green space plans and their changes in the Saemangeum master plan and to organize the problems and challenges of the ongoing project to find ways for green space improvements. The Saemangeum master plan for green spaces is hard to secure the area for a base park and continuous green spaces due to the business site development, the increasing and insufficient costs for the disaster prevention forests that are not integrated with the infrastructure, the high rate of non-landing in eco-environment areas, and the prolonged afforestation by the installation of floating solar power. The ongoing project problems for green spaces are the difficulties of green space formation in the East-West and South-North roads by sea dredge and waterproof, the continuous reduction of park green area rates in Saemangeum industrial complex, and decrease in green area in waterfront cities with inclusion of disaster prevention forests in their park green area ratio 20%. Suggestions for Saemangeum afforestation by these issues are the followings. First, in order to expand the base park, neighborhood parks in urban areas and metropolitan areas should be reflected in the Saemangeum master plan and the budget. Second, green areas should be expanded by promoting compatibility with land use plan. Third, the dredged soils from water solar power plants and the profits from power generation should be utilized for the urgent creation of disaster prevention forests. Fourth, environmental ecological sites planned to be used for other purposes should be adjusted in their location and function. In addition, a new department being in charge of various projects for the park green areas is proposed.

Assessing equity in park accessibility using a travel behavior-based G2SFCA method in Nanjing, China

Spatial equity of parks is a major concern in environmental justice studies. While many measurements have been used to evaluate access to parks, few studies have considered the impact of travel behavior on park accessibility. This study aims to establish a travel behavior-based Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (TB-G2SFCA) method to assess spatial equity of parks in the Nanjing region, and Local Moran's I index is applied to identify spatial agglomeration patterns in assessing equity. The results demonstrate that (1) the traditional single-mode model maybe cannot provide accurate approach to evaluating park accessibility while the TB-G2SFCA method can provide a more realistic park accessibility evaluation; (2) the inhabitants of most communities distributed south of the Yangtze River can obtain better park services than the northern areas; (3) the spatial disparities of equity in park accessibility are severe in three suburban districts, relatively minor in four central districts, and insignificant in two central districts. These findings may assist urban planners and policy makers to frame more reasonable policy and planning to improve spatial equity to parks in urban areas.

Deep survival analysis of searching for on-street parking in urban areas

Searching for parking is a significant contributor to urban road congestion leading to additional costs for the driver emerging from the increased time spent traveling and fuel consumption. The present work attempts to model the duration for searching for parking space monitored with smartphone sensing using the widespread parametric and semi-parametric survival models, as well as random survival forests and deep learning survival models. The available dataset consists of more than 48,000 driving trips conducted in the Region of Attica, Greece, and is enriched with exogenous variables, such as population density and land use in each trips’ destination area. Findings reveal that the time of day in which the trip was performed, as well as trip duration and length, significantly affect parking searching duration. In addition, the land use of the destination area appears to be a significant factor for predicting parking searching duration. Although all survival models share similar results in terms of the significance of the parameters, deep survival neural networks noticeably improve the survival time predictions.