Public Green Areas Research Articles

A Fuzzy Rule-Based GIS Framework to Partition an Urban System Based on Characteristics of Urban Greenery in Relation to the Urban Context

We present a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based framework implementing a Mamdani fuzzy rule-based system to partition in an unsupervised mode an urban system in urban green areas. The proposed framework is characterized by high usability and flexibility. The study area is partitioned into homogeneous regions regarding the characteristics of public green areas and relations with the residents and buildings. The urban system is initially partitioned into microzones, given the smallest areas in which a census of the urban system is taken in terms of resident population, type and number of buildings and properties, and industrial and service activities. During a pre-processing phase, the values of specific indicators defined by a domain expert, which characterize the type of urban green area and the relationship with the residents and buildings, are calculated for each microzone. Subsequently, the fuzzy rule-based system component is executed to classify each microzone based on the fuzzy rule set constructed by the domain expert. Spatially adjoining microzones belonging to the same class are dissolved to form homogeneous areas called urban green contexts. The membership degrees of the microzones to the fuzzy set of their class are used to evaluate the reliability of the classification of the urban green context. We test our framework on the municipality of Pozzuoli, Italy, comparing the results with the ones obtained in a supervised manner by the expert appropriately partitioning and classifying the urban study area based on his knowledge of it.

Infraestrutura verde nos espaços públicos como elemento de resiliência socioambiental pós-pandemia

A vida urbana vem sofrendo profundas mudanças em decorrência das perdas causadas pela pandemia de Covid 19, que segundo a OMS (Organização Mundial da Saúde) é uma disseminação mundial do novo coronavírus, colocando-nos diante de uma reflexão sobre os desafios para nosso futuro comum: Que modelo de planejamento urbano devemos construir, e como as pessoas poderão se apropriar dos espaços públicos e das áreas verde da cidade de forma segura, inclusiva e com qualidade de vida nesse período durante e após pandemia? A pandemia declarada em 11/03/2020 pela OMS colocou em questão e ressaltou a importância das áreas verdes e dos espaços públicos urbanos, em contrapartida ao isolamento social a que todos ficamos submetidos, como a única “vacina” disponível para evitarmos a contaminação. Ao mesmo tempo, esse futuro incerto, nos remete a perguntas e incertezas sobre a maneira como enfrentar a crise climática, e fortalecer a sustentabilidade urbana e a qualidade de vida das pessoas em todo o planeta. A retrospectiva das pandemias que o mundo vem enfrentando, enfatiza a importância das áreas verdes na qualidade ambiental urbana das cidades, tendo como um dos principais elementos de preocupação a saúde das pessoas. Nesse sentido, será necessário propor mudanças no espaço físico e na forma de uso dos espaços públicos e das áreas verdes como forma de ressignificação da vida urbana.

Public Green Areas and their Devaluation in a Dense City Fabric of Sarajevo: Case Study of Hastahana Park

In a country that is still considered to be in the transitional period, even though the last war was more than two decades ago, the laws and legislations of the urban development with the focus on green areas, are loosely interpreted into reality in today’s Bosnia. The laws on urban planning and development stipulated in the time of former Yugoslav republic were precise in defining parameters in planning. In the former system, these laws were implemented resulting in string of great urban developments. Such big urban projects were executed all over former Yugoslavia in the late 1950s and1960s when industry grew and cities expanded and modernized. These urban projects included residential buildings, public buildings such as schools, kindergartens, municipality buildings, commercial areas as well as healthcare and recreational facilities including sports terrains and public green areas. The ratio between built and un- built was greatly respected leaving enough green spaces for leisure activities. Nowadays, the laws and regulations inherited from the former system are loosely interpreted or are being changed in favour of private investors at the cost of quality of life of cities’ inhabitants. This paper aims to explore the importance of green areas, or lack of the same, in urban developments within dense city fabric in the period of post war Bosnia focusing on current developments in Hastahana Park. The Park is located in popular and largely discussed area of Sarajevo’s Marijin Dvor, were recent urban developments characterized it as new business district of the city. Today, the remaining of Hastahana, the only public park on Marijin Dvor is endangered. Its future is uncertain because the site has been proclaimed, by the municipality authorities, as construction site. Despite attempts by citizens to stop sales and construction in the park area, city authorities ruled in their own favour (or in favour of fast money gain) versus welfare of citizens. The example of Hastahana Park shows that due to strong political pressures the norms and regulations can be changed, the need for big investments is stronger than the care for the need of citizens. While European cities stream to improve the amount of public green areas in cities contributing to healthier environment, at the same time, Sarajevo decreases valuable green areas in favour of giving advantage to construction, increasing already heavy traffic and air pollution in the city. Such reckless and irresponsible decisions have long-term impacts on city development and quality of life of its citizens.

Entrepreneurial Models of Inclusive Civil Culture- The Case of Zapopan Agro-Ecological Park

This research aims to analyze the model of entrepreneurial inclusive civic culture created and developed in the Zapopan Agro-Ecological Park (PAZ). Based on the need to rescue vacant urban land use with the participation of residents residing in the surrounding colonies, social movements, civil society, and local government, they have designed and implemented actions to create PAZ (PEACE). The Zapopan Agro-Ecological Park is an area of green innovation where in addition to the cultivation of vegetables, vegetables, medicinal plants, and decoration under relations of cooperation, trust and community support, the formation of social capital that sustains a culture of peace based on environmental sustainability activities. The results of the implementation of this project, born from bottom of the social and power structures, constitute a significant experience in the regeneration of public spaces and green areas that provides greater economic efficiency in terms of family income, a greater relevance of equity, inclusion and social justice and improvement of environmental sustainability. It is concluded that Zapopan Agro ecological Park is a model of entrepreneurial inclusive civil culture. This park marks a milestone in the regeneration of public spaces with a project of social and environmental relevance.

A new perspective to map the supply and demand of artificial night light based on Loujia1-01 and urban big data

The notable increase in artificial night light (ANL) induced by the rapid urbanization process has been widely studied, but a deep understanding of the supply and demand status of ANL is still lacking. This paper attempts to map the supply and demand of ANL from the human perspective by using advanced Loujia1-01 nighttime imagery and social media derived population density (PD) data, which provides a new tool for light regulation in urban management. The bivariate clustering based k-means algorithm and template matching technique are integrated to delineate mismatch regions at the block scale to further analyze the underlying reason for unbalanced status. The results showed that the high supply but low demand (HSLD) ANL status was the leading component in the mismatch regions, occupying more than 650,000 ha and mainly occurring in the city center. The HSLD proportion was considerable in terms of public services (44%), commercial (40%), industrial (39%), transportation (56%), and green space areas (53%). Moreover, the HSLD area notably increased 946 ha over time from 18:00 to 22:00. The measurements for validation obtained by field investigation showed highly linear relationship with ANL (R2 = 0.75) and PD (R2 = 0.62), and the mapping results were consistent with the actual conditions. This study reveals the highly unbalanced ANL status, and appeals to planners for the establishment of optimal lighting regulations to alleviate disruptive effects.

Diversification of Municipalities Located in the Impact Area of National Parks in Terms of Environmental Requirements of Sustainable Tourism

The main objective of the paper was to show the diversification of Polish municipalities that have national parks within their boundaries in terms of implementing sustainable tourism priorities. The study focused on ecological and environmental aspects, primarily related to the shaping and maintenance of green areas, as well as waste and wastewater management. The assessment was based on statistical data taken from the Local Data Bank for the years 2012–2018. The authors determined their own set of indicators, describing green areas management, the environmental risk associated with waste and wastewater generation, and the reshaping of the forest and agricultural landscape. The obtained results were compared with the spatial diversification of the surveyed administrative units in terms of tourist attractiveness carried out by us in 2018. The study made it possible to indicate, among others, municipalities that are prime tourist destinations and have highly developed tourist facilities, but do not keep up with sustainable tourism activities. There are also units that carry out activities in the field of forest and agricultural land protection, invest in public green areas, properly manage sewage and wastewater, and, at the same time, are not attractive for tourists.

The Analysis of Green Areas' Accessibility in Comparison with Statistical Data in Poland.

The study discusses the problem of public green areas’ accessibility for the residents of large cities in Poland. The purpose of the research is to assess the possibility of applying the British Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard (ANGSt) method in determining the amount of natural green space available to residents in Polish conditions including, in particular, the assessment of accessibility using data collected by the Central Statistical Office and the verification of results based on detailed research. The identification of green areas for 18 voivodeship cities in Poland was prepared using the GIS programme, taking into account public green space, provided for general access and free of change. The verification of the ANGSt method consisted of mapping spatial barriers extending the route of access either on foot or by roads as well as closed private areas. The conducted research revealed that, after taking into account the access routes to selected areas, the distance to public green areas increased, on average, from 50 m in the smallest cities (Gorzów Wielkopolski and Olsztyn) to as much as 450 m in Warszawa. A detailed analysis showed that the discussed accessibility was reduced, on average, by almost 10% for the residents of the analysed cities. It was also found that the introduced barriers did not affect the accessibility of more distant, larger green space areas.

Evaluation of Thermal Comforts and Utilizations of Some Green Open Spaces in Cilegon City

Green Open Space (GOS) in urban areas is significant for the community and plays a role in improving the comfort of microclimate. There is very limited public GOS in Cilegon City, so the local government continues to increase the number of public green areas in each sub-district. Evaluation of thermal comfort and the utilization by the public’s in GOS of Cilegon City was essential for improving the quality and developing the green area in the city. This research was carried out in the Jogging Track Krakatau Junction (JKJ), Taman Kota Layak Anak (TLA), and Taman Kecamatan Jombang (TKJ), from March until June 2019. The research used descriptive qualitative methods (visitors’ perceptions and preferences) and quantitative methods (THI). The result showed that in JKJ, there were 50 species – 2462 trees which mostly have shaded function; in TLA, 14 species – 98 trees; and at TKJ, 39 species – 540 trees, both of those parks, the trees have shaded and aesthetic functions. JKJ is the best to reduce temperature; such as 2.4-3.7°C, then the second was TLA that 1.2-2.9°C; and TKJ 0.8-2.3°C. The average Thermal Humidity Index (THI) at JKJ was 27.6; then TLA was 28.0; JKJ was 28.3. These values were not comfortable, but mostly the visitors came to the three GOS in the morning or the afternoon. Thus 67-73% of respondents said that three GOS were comfortable, and 6-7% very comfortable at JKJ and TLA. The result of utilization of GOS according to user’s activities showed that JKJ was used for jogging/sports (55%), recreation (26%); TLA for recreation (47%), family gathering (38%); TKJ for recreation (67%). The others were used for playing with children, taking pictures, and shopping for a culinary delight. There were 60-73% of visitors expressed their satisfaction with the existence of GOS. Recommendation for improving GOS such as; 1) JKJ: Pruning the trees to reduce the humidity therefore THI is more comfortable; adding the ornamental plants in the welcome area, benches, trash cans, and planting food crops and vegetable crops at agricultural areas; 2) TLA and TKJ: Adding the shaded trees at children’s play areas and near the benches, some ornamental scrubs, and some benches.

Woody plant composition and diversity of urban green spaces in Istanbul, Turkey

The high urbanization rate of Istanbul in response to rapid population decreased the size and amount of green spaces. Thereby, every green space types are of vital importance in terms of conservation of urban biodiversity. In this study, it was aimed to compare woody species composition of main green space types consist of artificial and natural sites. Botanical gardens had the highest diversity followed by gardens. Residential areas showed to be important in terms of shrub (52%) and evergreen species (58%), which are mostly exotics (71%). The ratio of the invasive plants in the composition was higher in parks, which contain highway greenings and public gardens. Since the most tree species used in public green areas of Istanbul were mostly same with the species used in European cities, all of the green space categories having varied composition must be considered as interconnected habitat patches in urban planning.

Assessment of Green Spaces Development in Prague During Years 1901–2010

Abstract Although the issue of urban greenery is a frequently discussed topic and numerous case studies have already documented the beneficial functions of green spaces in the cities, studies on the balance of urban greenery during the past 20th century are few. This research follows up the issue of Prague urban green spaces during the years 1901–2010 and documents the changes in Prague public greenery in that period. The analysis specifies the development of public greenery and characterizes its categories in the individual decades of the 20th century. The percentage of public greenery and its area in hectares are given for each decade. Furthermore, the total green area is confronted with the number of inhabitants then living in Prague. The results have shown a continuous development and expansion of urban greenery. Their application will be beneficial to the city planning for sustainable development and further management of current and future public green areas as a part of the capital’s urban structure.

Spatial Evolution and Critical Factors of Urban Innovation: Evidence from Shanghai, China

The critical role of urban innovation in sustaining urban economic resilience has been widely acknowledged by scholars. Yet there is far from a full spectrum of understanding about how innovation performs, despite China’s innovation outputs having far outweighed most countries’. The perennial concern regarding the spatial patterns of innovation has been biased towards the macroscale, and long-standing efforts to explore the determinants of innovative vitality are focused on internal factors (e.g., research and development activities, and firm size). Considering these inadequacies, this research investigates how innovative activities are spatially distributed and how the pattern evolves in cities at the microscale, and examines influencing factors of the external environment. The patent data from 2000 to 2015 in Shanghai are geocoded and mapped into 1 km2 hexagon grids to identify local clustering. Gini coefficient is computed to show the high concentration of innovation activities across space. The hot spot analysis based on the Getis–Ord (Gi*) statistic shows that innovation exhibits a strong concentration propensity at the microscale and gradually moves toward a polycentric pattern. However, the extent of concentration decreases over the study period. Firms dictate innovation activities, and individuals and universities also play a role in downtown innovation growth. The regression using random effect model shows heterogeneous effects on different innovation actors. The overall urban innovation output, dominated by firms, is significantly influenced by public budget expenditures and green space areas. The science and technology grant has a positive impact on authorities but not university and research institutes. This research not only contributes to a methodological innovation for measuring and visualizing an innovation pattern but also enriches our understanding of spatial evolution and critical factors of innovation activities in urban China.

Assessing the Impact of Garbage Classification on China’s Economic Environment

This article mainly studies the impact of waste classification on China’s economy and environment. For the economy, the annual per capita waste removal volume, waste disposal cost, and waste disposal profit from 2008 to 2017 were selected as the three input indicators, and GDP was used as the output value. A BP neural network model based on GM (1,1) was established. The GM (1,1) model is used to predict the values of the three indicators in the next five years. The relationship between GDP and the three input indicators is determined using the BP neural network. The three indicators are substituted into the model to obtain the GDP in the next five years. value. As for the environment, the number of resource processing plants, resource processing capacity, and resource processing capacity are selected as three input indicators, and the per capita green space area is used to measure the impact on the environment. The same method is used to predict the per capita public green area in the next five years. The results show that garbage classification will have a beneficial impact on China’s economy and environment, but the impact will weaken year by year.

Non-domestic water consumption in the city of Alicante, Southern Spain (2000-2017): an exploration of trends and users

Since the end of the 1990s, a marked decrease in water consumption has been observed in the main conurbations of developed countries. However, the studies carried out on this topic have traditionally focused on the analysis of domestic use. The aim of this research is to look into the non-domestic water consumption (NDWC) in the city of Alicante, Southern Spain (2000-2017), differentiating between three consumption categories: 1) private users; 2) public use (council and official uses); 3) watering public green areas and cleaning streets. The results obtained show that NDWC has recorded a decrease of 38.9% (2000-2017) in Alicante. However, it should be emphasised that water consumption trend has been different according to the uses linked to the factors that affect them: economic crisis (2008), the real estate boom (1997-2008) and the use of treated water.

The Distribution and Accessibility of Urban Parks in Beijing, China: Implications of Social Equity.

As public service facilities, urban parks offer many benefits for daily life and social activities for residents. However, the accessibility of public parks to urban residents is often unevenly distributed in spaces that cannot be utilized fully. Here, we used the urban parks in Beijing, China as a case study and examined the relationship between urban park accessibility and population distribution at different administrative levels. Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve were used to evaluate the social equity of urban park accessibility, and the location quotient was used to identify the spatial difference between urban parks and resident population. The results of our study show that the urban park accessibility varies at district and subdistrict levels and that places with more urban parks usually have higher accessibility. Very importantly, the spatial equity is different from the social equity, a mismatch exists between the spatial distribution of urban parks and population, particularly for the elderly residents. These results generate valuable insights, as, in China and many developing countries, current urban public green space planning only uses the ratio of public green space to urban construction land and the per capita public green area.

Coupling Coordinated Development and Exploring Its Influencing Factors in Nanchang, China: From the Perspectives of Land Urbanization and Population Urbanization

The coordination relationship between land urbanization and population urbanization is crucial for achieving sustainable development under economic transition. Moreover, the balance between land urbanization and population urbanization is essential to guarantee the urbanization process of an entire city. This paper empirically analyzes the interaction between land urbanization and population urbanization in Nanchang from 2002 to 2017 based on the coupling coordination model (CCM). The impacts of the coordination degree on coordinated development are quantified by multivariate linear regression (MLR). The results show the following: (1) The indices of land urbanization and population urbanization in Nanchang showed an upward trend, and therefore the coordination degree in Nanchang increased significantly from 2002 to 2017. (2) The coordinated development of urbanization underwent two stages: disordered and moderately disordered. (3) The urban population proportion and the supporting capability of agricultural production had a positive impact on coordinated development. Meanwhile, the results also show that per capita education expenditures and the per capita public green area had negative impacts on the coordination degree, while economic development and the urban industrial structure were positive contributors to the coordination degree. Finally, this paper proposes that policies should be formulated to achieve coordinated development of urbanization. It can be concluded that the results regarding coordinated development of urbanization can help decision makers formulate effective measures to achieve coordinated development in the future.

Contribution of private gardens to habitat availability, connectivity and conservation of the common pipistrelle in Paris

Urban sprawl is one of the greatest global changes with major negative impacts on biodiversity. Recent policies have acknowledged the value of urban green areas in counterbalancing such impacts. However, these policies are largely focused on public green areas, ignoring the role and potential of private green areas for urban ecological value. This paper aims at evaluating the importance of private gardens for habitat availability and connectivity in Paris, France, using the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) as model species. We hypothesize that public green areas contribute more to habitat availability than private gardens because of their large area, and that private gardens contribute more to connectivity than public green areas because of their scattered locations in the city. Using data on common pipistrelle activity and information on vegetation and building height, we quantify the respective contribution of public green areas and private gardens in the bat habitat availability and connectivity. Our results show that despite the low proportion of private green areas in Paris (36% of the total green areas), they still contributed up to 47.9% of bat habitat availability and decrease the resistance of the city matrix by 57%. The distribution in the city matrix and vegetation composition of those areas appeared especially beneficial for bat habitat availability and connectivity. The study demonstrates the importance of private gardens in the ecological value of cities in complementing public green areas. Our results confirm the need to develop more inclusive urban conservation strategies that include both public and private stakeholders.

COMFORT AND WELFARE ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SQUARES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF CRATO-CE

The urbanization process of the majority of the Brazilian cities has occurred without appropriate planning that would consider the importance of environmental components. Nevertheless, it is widely known that the quality of urban life depends on a variety of factors, such as infrastructure, socioeconomic development and environment related aspects. With regard to these last factors, public green areas are essential for the maintenance of public welfare and, among these places, the public squares function as social interactive and leisure options for citizens. Due to their beauty, the squares contribute to urban ornamentation and usually host civic or religious events. Thereby, this study aimed to characterization the social and environmental role played by the public squares in the municipality of Crato-CE. As a methodological approach, bibliographic researches, as well as, the application of 50 questionnaires have provided the necessary information. The results suggest that there is a diversification of the squares frequenters at different times of the day, in addition to a variety of reasons that influence people to stay at or pass by these places. It was perceived that being at squares stimulates positive feelings, as the feeling of happiness described by 46% of the interviewers, freedom experienced by 30% and contact with nature by 15%. Therefore, it is undoubtedly possible to emphasize the importance of public squares for the municipality and the wellbeing of its citizens.

Fostering the implementation of green solutions through a Living Lab approach – experiences from the LiLa4Green project

For dealing with participatory aspects in urban planning, the method of Living Labs (LL) currently turns out to be a most popular and promising approach. In our project LiLa4Green we apply such a Living Lab in the City of Vienna for implementing green solutions in densely built settlement areas characterised by heterogenous ownership and building structures, few public open space and green areas and the dominance of car traffic. In the first year, the potential analysis of the status-quo situation was completed, and the Living Lab had been established. First lessons from the now successfully running LL process can be drawn. The analysis and the initiated process revealed deficits, but also clear potentials for the implementation of green measures which could significantly improve the current situation. So far, the Living Lab process made clear that the people are generally affected and therefore interested in the topic of heat stress and greening the city, but it does not seem to have top priority for them. Although many people could be addressed and involved in discussions, only a small group of people were willing to take part in the first workshop. Confronted with such challenges the strategy for the next stage was to bring the LL process closer to the people’s everyday life context and to extend the participatory methods. Innovative ICT-solutions which help to intuitively visualize and understand green solutions and their effects were tested, as well as a co-decision process for the realization of a first intervention was offered. The higher participation rate in the second green lab indicates that this is a promising approach which will be continued in the further LL process.

KARAKTERISTIK STOMATA PADA POHON DI RUANG TERBUKA HIJAU UNIVERSITAS TANJUNGPURA KOTA PONTIANAK

The purpose of this study was to describe the stomata found in pulai, mahang, saga, white meranti and ketapang plants in the green space area. This study uses a descriptive method to describe stomatal characteristics such as stomatal type, stomata size and number of stomata in perennials, mahang, saga, ketapang and white meranti. The study was conducted in two green open areas, namely the Untara Sylva Arboretum and in the public green open area. Length of stomata observation for 2 weeks. Overall the results of the observations obtained 4 (four) types of stomata that are the same in the two regions. The types of stomata are anisocytic in Pulai (Alstonia scholaris), anomosytic in mahang (Macaranga pruinosa), parasitic in saga (Adenanthera pavonina), pickled on white meranti (Shorea bracteolata), anisocytic on ketapang (Terminalia cattapa). In the Sylva Arboretum area, Untan, plant origin has a stomata number of 15 with stomata size of 14.1 μm, stomatal hole 8.03 μm and neighboring cells 14.7 μm. In the green open space area of the plant, there were ketapang plants had 35 stomata with a stomata size of 16.03 μm, a stomata hole of 8.03 and a neighboring cell of 6.57. the stomata structure shows that the leaves found in the arboretum region have large stomata while the outside of the general green open space has a small stomata. Different conditions of light and temperature greatly influence the variation in numbers on the size of the stomata, stomatal holes and neighboring cells. The farther the distance between plants and crowded places the more the size of the stomata decreases.Keywords: green open space, number of stomata, stomatal types, trees

MEASUREMENT AND DRIVING FACTORS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN SHENYANG CITY

Based on the three-dimensional (3D) ecological footprint model, this paper has provided the measurements of the dynamic changes of the 3D ecological footprint of Shenyang from 2005 to 2016, and the analysis of the driving factors behind such footprint through the partial least-squares regression. Our research findings reveal that: The overall per capita 3D ecological footprint of the Shenyang City went upward from 2005 to 2016, with an average annual growth rate of 16.5%; at the meantime, the per capita ecological carrying capacity showed a year-on-year downward trend at an average annual rate of 0.79%. The analysis of partial least squares regression indicates that urban ecological construction and environmental pollution constitute the significant factors that lead to the increase of the ecological footprint year by year in Shenyang. On the contrary, the exchange and trade, the environmental governance and the structure of land use are conducive to relieving the pressure on the ecological expansion. Our analysis of the importance of variable projections demonstrates that per capita public green area and the emission indicators of the industrial waste have imposed a greater influence on the index of ecological footprint of Shenyang and are relatively consistent with the comprehensive evaluation results of the regression analysis. In the future, we shall enhance the efficiency of urban ecological construction by optimizing industrial structure, using clean energy, actively developing foreign trade and exchanges, and rationally planning urban land use.