Urban Public Parks Research Articles

Benefits and Returns of Adopt-A-Park Programme in Kuala Lumpur

A collaborative partnership between local authorities and corporate agencies in maintaining and managing urban public parks through the Adopt-A-Park Programme has become a standard approach throughout the United States and Europe. In the Malaysian context, this programme came into the limelight of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) practices via the Greener Kuala Lumpur initiatives. Between 2012 and 2018, fifteen corporate agencies have shown their proactive involvement through corporate social responsibility (CSR) to beautify and maintain the urban green spaces in Kuala Lumpur via the park adoption programme which helped Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur / KL City Hall (DBKL) to manage its public parks effectively despite the limited budget. This paper aims to examine the benefits and returns of the Adopt-A-Park Programme at the Laman @ Eco Sky and the Metropolis Park to DBKL, park users and park adopters. Park users' satisfaction and allocations spent by the corporate adopters are analysed descriptively. Results show that while DBKL saved about RM24 million of the maintenance cost, 94% of the adopted park users are satisfied with the quality of the park. This programme should include more parks, especially in low-income communities.Keywords: Adopt-A-Park Programme, Adoption, Urban Park, Benefits and ReturnseISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.1930

Revitalization Of Historical Urban Parks Using A Smart Approach

Urban Park can play a great role in providing the city with more sustainable environment. Large green areas contribute also in creating healthy living environment and increasing human productivity. Moreover, historical urban parks have cultural, social and economical values. However, many historical gardens are not in an active use especially in developing countries because of lack of maintenance and other fundamental aspects that meets different users needs such as safety, conformability and social activities. The revitalization cost of the historical public urban park makes a great pressure on the government especially in developing countries. Smart technologies can offer a good. The main objective of this research is to highlight the importance adopting the smart landscape approach and smart technologies in the revitalization program, as it may have the advantages of reducing pressure on the government for the garden development and maintenance. The research finally concludes with recommendations the importance of implementing smart park approach in the revitalization of historical urban parks to improve park efficiency, human conformability and develop sustainable tourism.

Use of a public park for physical activity in the Caribbean: evidence from a mixed methods study in Jamaica

BackgroundSmall island Caribbean countries such as Jamaica are now facing an epidemic of obesity and decreased physical activity (PA) levels. Public parks have been shown to be important resources for PA that also provide psychological and social benefits associated with increased PA. There are no studies that document PA in parks in the Caribbean.MethodsThis study utilized a mixed method approach by using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to obtain baseline data on park usage patterns in Emancipation Park, a large urban public park in Jamaica. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to gain additional insights on the park’s use for PA.ResultsThe park was used mostly by females, in the evenings and by persons 18–64 years old. Females had significantly lower mean energy expenditure (EE) than males (0.078 versus 0.080 kcal/kg/min, p < 0.05). In-depth interviews revealed that safety, a central location within a business district, aesthetic appeal, a walking track and individual health benefits were key reasons for persons engaging in PA at the park.ConclusionsThis is the first study to describe the usage of a public park for PA in Jamaica. The study elicited aspects of park use for PA in a major urban park in Jamaica from different vantage points by using direct systematic observation augmented with a qualitative approach. It revealed important differential park use for PA by sex, age group and EE levels, and provided insights into factors that motivate and hinder park usage for PA. This can be used by policymakers in Jamaica to inform PA interventions to reduce obesity, provide baseline data for comparisons with other parks in developing countries and to advocate for well-designed public parks.

Реновационное проектирование общественных парков в городах крайнего севера (Западная Сибирь)

The article is devoted to the issue of the specifics of the renovation design of urban public parks and recreation areas in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra to create a comfortable living environment.

Biodiversity conservation in urban parks: a study of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Rio de Janeiro City

Urban green recreational spaces may provide habitat for animals and plants. We investigated the importance of urban public parks in the city of Rio de Janeiro with regard to the conservation of ant species by comparing both the structure of the ground-dwelling ant community between urban parks and continuous forests and the influence of environmental factors on possible differences. Fifteen urban areas were sampled (5 isolated parks, 5 non-isolated parks and 5 forest areas). Ants were sampled at sardine bait stations and through manual/visual searching in quadrats around the baits. We identified 120 ant species (4 exotic species) distributed across 38 genera and 7 subfamilies. The four exotic species were Monomorium floricola, Paratrechina longicornis, Pheidole megacephala and Tetramorium simillimum. Both the taxonomic and functional diversity of ground-dwelling ants were higher in continuous forests, followed by non-isolated and then isolated urban parks. Environmental factors were found to be key drivers influencing the differences in ant community structure among continuous forests and urban parks. Soil compaction and canopy cover predicted the diversity patterns of the taxonomic and functional compositions of the ant communities. The ant species in the study areas exhibited a non-random pattern of distribution and a spatial association of species segregation. There was high spatial turnover of ant species in the study areas, indicating that conservation efforts are required in all studied urban areas, not just those areas considered to be species rich. Therefore, we need to conserve more species in more areas, not necessarily those high in richness.

Safety evaluation methodology of urban public parks by multi-criteria decision making

Proximity to green areas makes a positive impact on citizens’ life quality. Sustainability principles generally govern modern urban public park design. This paper proposes a novel Safety Evaluation Methodology of Urban Public Parks (SEMUPP) which includes a multi-criteria solution to rank a set of urban public parks according to their safety level. Eleven groups of Urban Public Park (UPP) safety factors and seventeen quantifiable criteria are proposed as the basis for UPP safety assessment. Modification of Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) technique is applied to solve the constructed multi-criteria decision-making problem (MCDM). Six urban public parks located in Vilnius (Lithuania) are estimated to test the effectiveness of the SEMUPP.

Fotografias em Instagram: imagens de práticas corporais e sociabilidades em parques públicos citadinos de lazer

O objetivo do artigo é identificar e refletir acerca das sociabilidades humanas por meio da análise de imagens de práticas corporais em parques públicos citadinos de lazer fotografadas e veiculadas no Instagram. É um estudo exploratório de natureza quanti-qualitativa sobre imagens capturadas no Instagram e tomadas aqui como moldura, através do sistema de busca e rastreamento da geolocalização de dois parques públicos de cidades metropolitanas brasileiras, as quais foram importadas para o MAXQDA com o intuito de facilitar a categorização e a elucidação das informações qualitativas. Como primeiras sínteses, as sociabilidades se expressam de forma singular na internet, ao lado de imagens espetacularizadas da vida cotidiana dos sujeitos, que no instante em que fazem suas postagens estão produzindo relações sociais mediadas por imagens, portanto estreitando seus círculos sociais. Dessa forma, o espaço real e o espaço virtual não se constituem como ambientes distintos quando o assunto é a sociabilidade humana.

Public Prevention Plans to Manage Climate Change and Respiratory Allergic Diseases. Innovative Models Used in Campania Region (Italy): The Twinning Aria Implementation and the Allergy Safe Tree Decalogue.

In recent years, climate change has been influenced by air pollution, and this destructive combination has justifiably sounded an alarm for nations and many institutional bodies worldwide. Official reports state that the emission of greenhouse gases produced by human activity are growing, and consequently also the average temperature. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that health effects expected in the future due to climate change will be dramatic, and has invited international groups to investigate potential remedies. A task force has been established by the Italian Society of Allergology, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC), with the aim to actively work on correlation between pollution and climate change. The Task Force provided prevention tools to suggest city leaders how to improve the health conditions of allergic people in public urban parks. The "Allergy Safe Tree Decalogue" suggests the preparation and maintenance of public low allergy-impact greenery. Through the Twinning ARIA project, the Division for the Promotion and Enhancement of Health Innovation Programs of Campania Region (Italy), sought to promote the implementation of the project in the regional Health System. The main objective will be to investigate the current use and usefulness of mobile phone Apps in the management of allergic respiratory disease, through Mobile Airways Sentinel networK (MASK), the Phase 3 of the ARIA initiative, based on the freely available MASK App (the Allergy Diary, Android and iOS platforms). The effects of these prevention activities will be registered and compared with monitoring efforts thanks to the Aerobiology Units, located throughout the Campania area. A joint effort between researchers and public administrations for the implementation of prevention plans coherently with the two models proposed in a specific area, i.e. the Decalogue for public administrations and the MASK Allergy Diary app for individual patients suffering from allergy, will be implemented as a pilot.

Analyzing the Level of Accessibility of Public Urban Green Spaces to Different Socially Vulnerable Groups of People

This study estimates the factors affecting socially vulnerable groups’ demand for and accessibility levels to green public spaces in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Dhaka is a high-density city with one of the lowest levels of green space per capita in the world. Dhaka has just 8.5% of tree-covered lands, while an ideal city requires at least 20% of green space. Urban public green space provides a healthy environment to city dwellers as well as ecological soundness. This study aims to examine the effects of population density and size of a community area (Thana) on the social demand for and accessibility to green parks. To determine the socially vulnerable group demand index, this study used demographic data from the National Population and Housing Census 2011 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This study used geographical data extracted from Google Earth Pro to measure accessibility levels, and additionally analyzed geographical data with ArcGIS 10.0 and Google Earth Pro. We drew radius circles using Free Map Tools to measure time-distance weighted scores from community areas to urban green spaces. The results show that the large population size of socially vulnerable groups creates very high demand at the score of 0.61 for urban green public parks and small-sized, high-density community areas generate very good accessibility at 2.01% to green public spaces. These findings are highly useful to policymakers, urban planners, landscape engineers, and city governments to make a compact city sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. Moreover, the notion of a “smart city” might be a smart solution in order to manage Dhaka Megacity sustainably in this modern technological age.

Urban public parks and mental health in adult women: Mediating and moderating factors.

The association of green spaces such as urban public parks and mental health might vary according to personal characteristics and characteristics of the park and be mediated by the use of the park. We investigate the association between urban public park coverage and mental health in adult women, the moderation of this association by personal and park-related characteristics, and the mediation of the association by use of public space. Combining data from a cross-sectional survey of the adult female population of Tijuana (Mexico) in 2014, and a study of public spaces in 2013, we analyzed the association between park coverage in buffers of 400 and 800 m from participants' homes and score in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D). We tested for mediation by use of park and interaction of urban park coverage with personal and park characteristics. Urban public park coverage in the 400-m buffer had an inverse association with CES-D score that was moderated by age (significant only for younger participants), with no evidence of mediation. Park coverage in the 800-m buffer also had an inverse association with CES-D score, moderated by age and occupation (significant for younger participants and homemakers), and a mediated association was also observed. There was no interaction between park coverage and park characteristics in their association with CES-D score. Our results confirm the potential of public parks to improve mental health and suggest that this effect could be more important at some stages in the life course for women. The upper-middle-income, Latin American country setting adds to the current knowledge that is mostly based on high-income countries.

Assessing Nighttime Place Identity using Measurable Indicator Scoring Technique

This paper is a comparative study of place identity of nighttime urban public parks between Shah Alam that was built in 1957 and Putrajaya in 1999. This study used four research domains that form place identity adapted from Relph, 1976 and Cheshmehzangi, 2012. The method of this study involves the behavior mapping survey and the questionnaire survey. The data were then analysed using Measurable Indicator Scoring Technique (Karim, 2008) to ensure constant comparative process by creating analytic codes. It is hope that the findings from this study would help to improve the place identity and functions of future nighttime urban public parks.Keywords: Nighttime place identity; urban public park; Measurable Indicator Scoring TechniqueeISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Estructura, composición y diversidad del arbolado urbano de Linares, Nuevo León

Los bosques urbanos y áreas verdes de las ciudades proveen beneficios directos a la población, como mejorar la temperatura y la calidad del aire, protegen el suelo y permiten la permeabilidad de agua al subsuelo. El objetivo del trabajo fue determinar la estructura, composición y diversidad del arbolado urbano de Linares, Nuevo León. Se recabó información dasométrica de áreas verdes urbanas y parques públicos; se trabajó con seis camellones, 14 parques y 25 plazas con una superficie de 273 904 m2. Se registró el diámetro normal (d1.30), la altura total (h) y el diámetro de copa (dcopa). Se calculó la densidad de especies vegetales por área verde urbana y su número total. La diversidad fue evaluada mediante los índices de Shannon-Weiner y de Margalef. El total de individuos fue de 2 066, pertenecientes a 41 especies, 34 géneros y 25 familias. La más representativa fue Fabaceae con seis taxones; Fraxinus americana (fresno) es sobresaliente desde el punto de vista ecológico, con 25.67 N ha-1, que representa 34.03 % de la abundancia total, 1 225.38 m2 ha-1 que equivale a 46.93 % de dominancia y 30.91 % de IVI; seguida de Quercus virginiana con 22.46 % y Washingtonia robusta con 11.56 %. El índice de Shannon-Weiner registró un valor de H’ = 1.99 y H'max = 3.17, y el índice de Margalef DMg = 5.24. Se concluye que el arbolado urbano estudiado está compuesto, principalmente, por especies introducidas, de las cuales la más importante es el fresno.

The Influential Image of Nighttime Urban Public Park in Forming Place Identity

The design of urban public park is an important factor which influence urban community leisure. The objective of this study is to investigate the community perceptions on nighttime leisure activities in urban public park. The questionnaire survey is done in Padang (green field) located in the urban center of Shah Alam and Putrajaya using random stratifies technique. There are four types of variable studied related to nighttime leisure in an urban public park namely comforts, conveniences, safety and nighttime leisure. The findings from this study are expected to show a positive perception of nighttime leisure in urban public park towards urban community.

CPTED Checklist for Urban Public Parks’ Crime Prevention Accreditation Assessment

도시지역에서의 공원이란 시민들의 건강과 휴양 그리고 정서생활에 도움을 주고 녹지를 확보하여 환경에 도움을 주는 공간이다. 하지만 누구에게나 개방되어 있는 도시 공원의 특성상 공간의 안전을 위협하는 소수의 위협들은 다수의 이용자인 시민들에게 불편함을 주거나 위협을 초래하는 경우가 발생한다. 이와 관련하여 각종 선행 연구들은 공원에서 범죄가 빈번하게 발생하고, 시민들의 휴식공간이라는 공원의 제 기능을 다 하지 못하고 있다는 문제를 지적하고 있다. 특히 최근 많은 관심을 받고 있는 사회적 약자를 대상으로 한 범죄에 대응하기 위한 도시공원의 설계 관리가 중요함을 일관되게 강조하고 있다. 이에 이 연구에서는 CPTED의 기본이론을 토대로 도시공원의 범죄예방과 관련된 선행 연구를 분석하여 도시공원에 적합한 CPTED 요소를 추출하고 도시공원의 방범환경 인증평가 체크리스트를 개발하였다. 이러한 체크리스트를 바탕으로 크기별, 종류별 공원 5곳을 선정하여 실제 현장 조사를 실시하고 안전요소를 분석하여 최종 체크리스트를 도출하였다. 이 체크리스트의 최종평가분야는 관리운영, 감시, 접근통제, 영역성, 활동성 지원 CPTED요소를 기반으로 하고 이에 더하여 안내표지, 방범 및 안전시설, 가점항목으로 설정하였으며 각각의 세부평가항목으로 구성하였다. 이 연구에서 개발한 체크리스트의 평가기준은 모든 공원에 대한 범죄예방 인증평가를 수행할 수 있도록 하는 범용 체크리스트로 이러한 평가기준은 다양한 규모와 형태를 가진 공원들의 특성을 고려하여 평가와 인정의 기본원칙에 의거하여 다양한 형태로 변형되어 활용할 수 있도록 하였다. 이와 관련하여 범죄위험을 예방하는데 있어 중요한 분야의 핵심 항목들에 대해서는 높게 배점하고 정성적인 평가에 의해 배점을 차등적으로 주도록 하였다. 또한 신규 공원뿐만 아니라 기존에 있던 공원들도 적극적 개선을 통해 인정을 받게 하고자 하는 취지로 만들어 전체적인 공원 안전개선을 위한 기반이 되도록 하였다. 본 체크리스트는 경찰청이 범죄예방진단팀(CPO)을 통해 시행 중인 도시공원의 범죄예방우수시설 인증사업에 활용하고 있다.Urban public parks are supposed to be the places for citizens’ rest, healing and public health. However, as public parks are usually open for 24 hours almost every day they are often exposed to criminal attacks within the realm of the space. The crime problem therefore threatens the public safety and security. Previous studies on public parks and crime safety continuously indicate that urban parks are vulnerable to crime and disorder and became the cause of fear of crime due to poor environmental design and planning in terms of CPTED. In this context the researchers have developed a checklist for accreditation/certification of urban public parks for crime prevention by analyzing the examples applying the CPTED principles in public parks and reflecting the field survey results in South Korea. In regard to the item and point, the crucial points for public parks rated highly and the grading was differentiated by qualitative evaluation. In addition, basic principles for certification of Secure/Safe Public Parks Awards were suggested, including operating a rating system to certify public parks so as to promote efforts for improvement, not awarding the certification to parks if any relevant regulations are violated, applying the evaluation items or points in accordance with the local context. The assessment checklist can be revised and used in various ways according to the regional circumstances and can contribute to the security and safety of public parks. The Police Crime Prevention Officers (CPO) are to utilize this checklist for the Secure Public Parks Certification Awards program in order to enhance the level of security for public parks in major cities in South Korea.

Exploração de recursos alimentares por psitacídeos (Aves: Psittaciformes) em uma área urbana no Brasil

Psitacídeos que vivem em cidades podem utilizar as praças urbanas como áreas para reprodução, refúgio ou alimentação. No entanto, existe pouco conhecimento sobre a dieta dessas aves nestes ambientes. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivos identificar os recursos alimentares explorados por psitacídeos em praças urbanas e verificar as estratégias de forrageamento utilizadas. Foram visitados 10 praças urbanas da cidade de Uberlândia, MG, Brasil, no período de maio a dezembro de 2011. As aves foram investigadas pelos métodos animal-focal e ad libitum. As observações foram realizadas pela manhã e no final da tarde, totalizando 480 h de esforço amostral. Foram registrados 278 eventos de alimentação de quatro espécies de psitacídeos: Eupsittula aurea, Psittacara leucophthalmus, Brotogeris chiriri e Diopsittaca nobilis. As aves observadas consumiram recursos alimentares de 33 espécies vegetais, incluindo frutos (somente polpa, polpa junto com semente ou somente semente), flores, néctar e folhas. As famílias de plantas mais exploradas foram Fabaceae, Bignoniaceae e Arecaceae. A dieta dos psitacídeos foi bastante diversificada, com a exploração de uma ampla gama de espécies vegetais, principalmente as exóticas. Isso evidencia a importância das praças urbanas na alimentação, permanência e conservação de algumas espécies de psitacídeos nos centros urbanos.

How Urban Community Perceived Nighttime Public Park for Leisure Activities

The design of urban public park is an important factor which influence urban community leisure. The objective of this study is to investigate the community perceptions on nighttime leisure activities in urban public park. The questionnaire survey is done in Padang (green field) located in the urban center of Shah Alam and Putrajaya using random stratifies technique. There are four types of variable studied related to nighttime leisure in an urban public park namely comforts, conveniences, safety and nighttime leisure. The findings from this study are expected to show a positive perception of nighttime leisure in urban public park towards urban community.Keywords: Image; urban public park; place identity; nighttime leisure activitieseISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v3i11.106

A Year in the Life of a Public Park: Route-Making, Vigilance and Sampling Time Whilst Walking

This paper offers a systematic, experimental, walking methodology to facilitate an ethnography of a major urban public park undertaken in the north-east of England in 2009–10. Ethnography puts the body in-place, placing the senses within the streams of life to be observed through experience; walking is one means of so doing. Walking traditions have frequently been used to observe, record and analyse the minutiae of urban life, with recent qualitative methodologies seeking to use walking to underpin ethnographies. Walking must negotiate the specificity of place and time, with all walks taking place in a real-world of materially, spatially, complex, vital and rhythmic landscapes. My aim was to systematically capture some of these patterns. Ethnographies typically use sustained field-based immersion; yet, some research utilises sampling strategies to guide observational procedures. Combining these methodologies allowed me to develop a methodology with three objectives: to create a series of routes to be followed; routes which allowed me to both scan and closely observe distant, and proximate, surroundings; and to construct a diurnal, weekly “sampling” frame, which allowed me to “immerse” myself within the park’s life through repeatedly walking these routes, building up a picture of everyday life, whilst (hopefully) capturing unscheduled events.

Social and environmental determinants of physical activity in urban parks: Testing a neighborhood disorder model

The current study examined the nexus of neighborhood disorder—in the form of physical disorder (e.g., broken glass and vandalism) and social disorder (e.g., public drinking and lewd conduct)—and physical activity (PA) in urban public parks to inform public policy addressing chronic disease in at-risk populations. Five hundred and twenty-two unique observations were conducted in 22 public parks from March to September 2016. The study utilized the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to document age, gender, ethnicity, and PA level of park users. The Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) was used to document observed physical and social disorder incivilities in public parks included in the current study. Males, adults, and Latina/os accounted for the largest number of park users, respectively. Significant PA differences were observed across gender, age, and ethnicity. Multiple linear regression controlling for gender, age, and ethnicity found physical disorder, but not social disorder, generally predicted PA reductions. While it has been demonstrated that physical disorder predicts PA reductions in low-income communities of color, this is the first study to reveal that physical disorder may lead to decreased PA in urban public parks. Thus, remediation of public park incivilities characterized by physical disorder, paired with community outreach, may lead to increased PA in at-risk communities.

Relationship between Nighttime Leisure Behaviour and Urban Park Setting in Shah Alam

Public parks play a vital role in the social life of urban communities. The purpose of this paper is to show the social behaviour and activities of a community during nighttime in outdoor spaces exclusively in public urban park in Shah Alam. However, literature reviews regarding nighttime social behaviour and activities of urban community are limited. Improved understanding of relation between community activity and urban park setting could be used to influence the development of public park design, to create nighttime urban outdoor environments more conducive to community leisure activity.Keywords: Human behaviour; leisure; nighttime activities; public parkeISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Influences of 19th century urban parks in the design of the arboretum Ruiz Hidalgo in southeast of Spain

Urban parks became an increasingly common feature of many European and American cities in the late 19th century as a way to increase health and social well-being in the industrial cities. In the city of Murcia (Southeast of Spain) Ricardo Codorniu, a Spanish forest engineer, gathered the ideas of that moment, combining them with his own ecological principles to create in 1908 the first modern city park integrated in the urban grid, right on the riverside of Segura River which crosses the city. The park design, gathered new ideas for nature integration in the city, creating also a new bourgeois space, while would serve as an experimental plot (Arboretum) to study the introduction of new tree species for forest purposes that would be later of economic importance. The Park decadence, due to repeated river floods in the last decades of the middle of the twentieth-century, concluded in a reform project that would finally be the end of the Park in 1955. This paper discusses the introduction of the concept of the urban public park in Southeast of Spain, through a handbook published by Codorniu in 1914. The handbook highlights the abundance and utility of tree species that would probably serve to overcome the economic crisis and shortage of wood in Spain. At the same time, the park played an important role as a new and modern recreational and educational area.