Characteristics Of Urban Green Spaces Research Articles

Refined Land Use Classification for Urban Core Area from Remote Sensing Imagery by the EfficientNetV2 Model

In the context of accelerated urbanization, assessing the quality of the existing built environment plays a crucial role in urban renewal. In the existing research and use of deep learning models, most categories are urban construction areas, forest land, farmland, and other categories. These categories are not conducive to a more accurate analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of urban green space, parking space, blue space, and square. A small sample of refined land use classification data for urban built-up areas was produced using remote sensing images. The large-scale remote sensing images were classified using deep learning models, with the objective of inferring the fine land category of each tile image. In this study, satellite remote sensing images of four cities, Handan, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, and Tangshan, were acquired by Google Class 19 RGB three-channel satellite remote sensing images to establish a data set containing fourteen urban land use classifications. The convolutional neural network model EfficientNetV2 is used to train and validate the network framework that performs well on computer vision tasks and enables intelligent image classification of urban remote sensing images. The model classification effect is compared and analyzed through accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The results show that the EfficientNetV2 model has a classification recognition accuracy of 84.56% on the constructed data set. The testing set accuracy increases sequentially after transfer learning. This paper verifies that the proposed research framework has good practicality and that the results of the land use classification are conducive to the fine-grained quantitative analysis of built-up environmental quality.

Urban green space preferences for various health-related psychological benefits of adolescent pupils, university students and adults

Previous research has shown that biophysical and social characteristics of urban green spaces (UGS) and individual factors may play a role in preferences for restorative environments. However, little is known about the trade-offs between (bio)physical and social characteristics of UGS on different health-related psychological benefits between different population groups. This exploratory study used an image-based discrete choice experiment, in which 298 adolescent pupils, 159 university students, and 142 adults were asked which urban green spaces they would prefer for general recovery, stress reduction, and concentration improvement. Each of the 128 green space scenarios depicted different attributes of varying levels of recreational infrastructure, numbers of trail users, distances between forest vegetation and trail, traffic noise, background scenery, both in winter and in summer. The results indicate that visitor numbers and traffic noise strongly influenced green space preferences for all study groups, but groups differed in terms of their preferences and trade-offs for the psychological benefits. The biophysical environment was less important for adolescent pupils, while recreational infrastructure was less important for the adults. There were group differences in stated preferences for general recovery, stress reduction, and concentration enhancement. Implications for urban green space planning are presented.

GreenR: An open-source framework for quantifying urban greenness

How do we quantify the levels of greenness within urban street networks? Numerous attempts to quantify this factor have been made through survey methodologies, remote sensing data, and street view imagery. The results are promising, but are often limited by scalability constraints, including limited data availability, high requirements of computational power, and validation challenges. This study introduces a comprehensive framework for urban greenness assessment, leveraging open-source data to overcome these limitations. Central to this framework is the development of the greenR R package and an accompanying Shiny app, designed to compute, visualize, and analyze a novel proximity-based green index for individual street segments. Beyond this, the framework innovatively extends its analytical capability by integrating accessibility analysis, Green View Index quantification as well as introducing the Green Space Similarity Index, a novel metric that evaluates and compares the characteristics of urban green spaces across different regions. This extension enriches the proposed framework, providing not just a measure of proximity to green spaces, but also insights into their spatial connectivity and distribution. The efficacy of greenR is demonstrated by studying urban greenness patterns across several cities, highlighting the potential impact of such an open-source framework for citizens, urban planners, and policy-makers. This study not only advances our methodological approach to quantifying urban greenness but also provides practical tools and metrics that can inform sustainable urban planning and policy decisions.

Urban greenspace for social integration: Which types of greenspace do new-Swedes prefer and why?

Urban greenspace (UGS) is a key public resource offering a broad range of nature-based solutions and is increasingly looked to as a potential arena to promote social integration in Europe’s increasingly multicultural urban and peri-urban areas. However, relatively little research has explored the preferences and perceptions of immigrants in relation to UGS, especially in European contexts. Without such knowledge, planners risk entrenching planning structures that inadvertently result in segregation and environmental injustice. Using survey and participatory mapping methods with 261 immigrants in eight sampled settlements across Sweden, this study explores which types of UGS foreign-born immigrants in Sweden (i.e., new-Swedes) prefer and why. We found that new-Swedes are frequent users of a wide spectrum of UGS types, with the most preferred types including forests, large parks and lakes. The majority of respondents were satisfied with the quality (73%), availability (68%) and accessibility (76%) of UGS in their hometowns. Our regression analysis identified 51 key factors that had a meaningful effect on preferences for different types of UGS. Key factors were distributed relatively evenly across blocks of predictor variables concerning characteristics of UGS, socio-demographic factors, activity preferences, and perceptions. Our results indicate that new-Swedes’ UGS preferences are broadly comparable with those of the general population in Sweden. We found little evidence to suggest that ethnocultural factors played a major role in the preferences of our respondents. Furthermore, our results suggest that nature-connectedness might be an important determinant of new-Swedes’ UGS preferences. Based on these findings, we highlight several opportunities to further develop UGS strategies to support different dimensions of social integration, e.g., using popular UGS as interactive spaces for cultural learning, as a platform for intercultural contacts and for maintaining cultural traditions, and to contribute towards a greater sense of social membership in their new country. A crucial implication of our study is that the use of UGS to support social integration may further contribute to the increasing complexity of the UGS planning and management challenge. This implies the need for a systems perspective in UGS research, policy-making, planning and management to consider UGS as part of an integrated urban social-ecological system and to coordinate measures across sectors.

Green space settlement landscape optimization strategy under the concept of ecological environment restoration

This article focuses on the urban development strategy and urban overall planning under the concept of ecological environment restoration, and determines planning guidance, planning principles, and planning goals. First of all, the urban green space settlement landscape design based on the ecological concept is jointly carried out from the three aspects of natural landscape, artificial landscape and human landscape. Secondly, in the research on the structural characteristics of urban green space and its temporal and spatial evolution, based on the four phases of remote sensing images, the application of remote sensing and GIS and other spatial information technologies, with the assistance of basic data and sample plot surveys, has achieved a survey. Comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the evolution of the quantity structure of urban green space, the evolution of vegetation coverage, and the evolution of vegetation structure are given. The results of the experiment found that the total area of urban green space has shrunk during the study period. Through summarizing and summarizing, the basic design process and elements are derived: the natural landscape emphasizes its ecological diversity from the green space settlement landscape form, slope protection, topography and planting design. In summary, the green space settlement landscape design of natural landscape, artificial landscape, and human landscape is more scientific and complete. Based on the analysis and evaluation of the natural conditions, social economy, urban nature and development planning, the current situation of the urban water system and other background data in the planned area, with the theoretical guidance of landscape ecology and environmental behavior, the case study combines the landscape ecology. The restoration design is used to test the application methods of ecological landscape restoration.

Negative Associations between Quality of Urban Green Spaces and Health Expenditures in Downtown Shanghai

The health–beneficial value of urban green spaces (UGS) is increasingly accepted by scholars. However, compared to the large number of studies focused on UGS–health associations, whether UGS in high-density cities could reduce public health expenditures remains less investigated. In particular, few studies have examined the association of UGS quality with health expenditures. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study in downtown Shanghai to examine such associations. A population-based household survey (n = 1000) was conducted to collect relevant information about different aspects of health expenditure and the characteristics of UGS. Specifically, a new method was proposed to measure UGS quality based on the supply–demand of 20 types of UGS activities. We also measured the perceived quality of different types of UGS and quantified the amount of UGS using GIS based on remote sensing data. Regression models were applied for statistical analysis. The results showed that both UGS quality based on user needs and perceived UGS quality have a significant negative association with total health expenditures. This study provides insights for UGS quality measurement, contributes to the understanding of the health-related economic benefits of UGS, and also highlights the importance of UGS optimization in high-density urban areas.

Modeling the relationship between the geometric characteristics of urban green spaces and thermal comfort: The case of Adana city

In recent years, developing heat stress mitigation strategies in urban areas with the help of climate software has become a top priority in climatic studies to eliminate standardisation deficiency. This paper aimed to statistically determine the climatically suitable and least suitable UGS geometric characteristics in different urban morphologies for the hot–humid city of Adana. It combined the climate-based classification of urban morphology with the local climate zone (LCZ), thermal condition analysis of UGS with ENVI-met microclimate software for three different canopy cover scenarios, and statistical analysis results obtained by the one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey-HSD test. Firstly, UGS geometric characteristics (area size, aspect ratio, orientation) and urban morphology were classified. Secondly, mean PET for each UGS and LCZ classes were obtained from ENVI-met. Finally, suitable and least suitable UGS characteristics were determined according to the statistical significance of PET differences (p > 0.05) using the ANOVA Tukey-HSD test analyzes of pairwise comparisons. The statistical analysis results demonstrated that although the suitable and least suitable UGS characteristics differed in the scenarios, the common characteristics were as follows: The suitable UGS were characterised by larger area sizes, rectangular-shaped, N–S or NW–SE-orientated UGS adjacent to low-rise LCZs (LCZ 3, 6, 7, 8, 10), or small area sizes, all shaped and all orientations UGS adjacent and located to the east of high-rise LCZ classes (LCZ 1 and 4). Shading was an important factor positively affecting thermal conditions. Moreover, the wind circulation and wind speed, which also positively affected thermal comfort, were higher for low-rise buildings than high-rise buildings, open settlements than compact settlements, and 100% grass cover than 100% canopy cover. This study's results can serve as a guide for future researchers and decision makers to standardise UGS characteristics in different urban morphologies and to develop climatically comfortable UGS designs and plan strategies that can be implemented in future cities.

Urban green space characteristics, visitation patterns and influence of visitors’ socio-economic attributes on visitation in Kisumu City and Eldoret Municipality, Kenya

Urban green spaces are known to generate environmental, social and health benefits that accrue to urban residents mainly through direct and indirect use. However, information on how such green spaces are used, reasons behind their use and individual factors influencing such use is not readily available especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study sought to fill this gap by examining green spaces’ characteristics, visitation patterns and reasons for their visitation in Kisumu City and Eldoret Municipality of Kenya. The study further examined the association between visitors’ socio-economic attributes and frequency of green space use. Data collected from seven public green spaces purposively selected was used. An observation checklist was employed to assess the characteristics of sampled green spaces while a questionnaire survey was used to obtain information on reasons for green space visitation and users’ socio-economic attributes. Data was analyzed descriptively to elicit green spaces’ characteristics, visitation patterns and visitors’ socio-economic attributes. Adjusted logistic regression model was employed to determine the association between visitors’ socio-economic attributes and visitation frequency. Findings reveal lack of uniformity in characteristics exhibited across green spaces. Green spaces that exhibited most attributes were also highly visited and the main reason for visitation was relaxation and ‘waiting for someone’. Being male, having been divorced, separated or widowed and having secondary or tertiary education were found to be significant socio-economic predictors of green space use. The paper recommends the need to increase density of green spaces in urban areas as well as provision of requisite facilities and amenities to enhance access and utility of green spaces for different needs by majority of urban residents.

Physical Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces in Relation to Perceived Safety

Safety is an indispensable condition of livable cities. Increasing fine-scaled understanding of the relationship between physical characteristics and perceived safety can provide reliable evidence to guide safety design, which in turn contributes to the livability of cities. To reach this goal, 30 sample sites were selected to represent the diversity of urban green spaces in Xuzhou, eastern China. The environment-related and crime-related perceived safety of these sites during the daytime and evening were evaluated by 717 participants who were invited through a snowballing method. The value of overall perceived safety was decided by the mean score of the two types of perceived safety. The main results include: (1) good maintenance of vegetation, open view, low locomotive accessibility of water, and more aquatic plants can predict a higher overall perceived safety during the daytime; (2) higher illumination and lighting sources in the distance of vision indicate a higher overall perceived safety during the evening; (3) females are more worried about the crime-related perceived safety than males during the daytime or evening.

Study on Spatial-Temporal Change of Urban Green Space in Yangtze River Economic Belt and Its Driving Mechanism.

Urban green space plays an important role in beautifying the environment, improving the quality of life of residents, and promoting sustainable urban development. Rapid urbanization has led to great changes in the spatial structure and layout of urban green space. It is urgent to put forward the sustainable development strategy of green space through the research on the change of urban green space. Based on the geographical spatial differences of urban green space and integrating the factors of economy, society, industry, land use, and the environment, we constructed a research framework of “space-supply-demand” integration of urban green space by GI and geodetector methods, and we conducted an empirical study on the spatial–temporal changes of urban green space and its driving mechanism in prefecture-level cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. First, the urban green space along the Yangtze River Economic Belt is concentrated in spatial distribution, while uneven development appears in urban greening among the zones. Second, the influence of different factors on urban green space change varies greatly and can be divided into three types: key factors, important factors, and auxiliary factors. The driving mechanism of the spatial distribution of urban green space supply and demand is quite different, but urban population and commercial service facilities land are their key influence factors, having a comprehensive influence on the spatial–temporal changes of urban green space. Third, the factors are classified into three categories of high, medium, and low levels according to the mean of interacting forces; in particular, the factors of per capita GDP, utility land, industrial smoke (dust) emissions, and other factors have a very strong interactive effect with other factors. Fourth, according to the spatial distribution characteristics of urban green space and its driving mechanism, this paper puts forward planning and policy suggestions, providing reference for other areas to deal with the green space change.

Residents’ Spatial Image Perception of Urban Green Space through Cognitive Mapping: The Case of Beijing, China

The fundamental purpose of future urban development is to meet residents’ yearning for a better city life with the rapid development of urbanization. This study uses a multinomial logit model and cognitive map to evaluate residents’ spatial image perception of urban green space. A field study and data collection were conducted from July to August 2019, using the typical urban green space area in Beijing as the research object. Based on 375 valid questionnaires and 139 cognitive maps, the study analyzed and evaluated the image characteristics and differences of residents to the urban green space under different conditions. The results show the following. First, there is a close relationship between residents’ preference and the characteristics of urban green spaces, especially the working and living environment and characteristics will have a great influence on it. Second, the cognitive map drawn by Beijing residents can be divided into sequential and spatial cognitive maps, and the image perception shows diversified characteristics. However, the perception is relatively superficial overall, and most are simple line maps. Besides, according to the analysis of the elements of the cognitive map, the advantages and disadvantages of each type of urban green space are closely related to their geographical location and internal structure. This study has two key findings. First, the construction of urban green spaces in various cities should be carried out according to local conditions, considering the scientific basis and reasonableness of urban green space in terms of structural setting. Second, the multinomial logit model and cognitive map can effectively quantify the subjective evaluation of respondents’ spatial perceptions in a relatively simple manner, which can be further expanded in the application system design of the method.

The integration of urban streetscapes provides the possibility to fully quantify the ecological landscape of urban green spaces: A case study of Xi’an city

Urban green space is the critical composition of urban ecosystem, which provides numerous ecosystem services for urban residents, and has great value. The optimization of urban green landscape aesthetics can improve the health level of the city and enhance the enjoyment of the people. In this research, we calculated two kinds of ecological indices based on deep learning semantic recognition and multispectral remote sensing, and proposed a set of integrated multi-dimensional urban green ecological indicators, which can be used to evaluate the value of urban green ecological landscape aesthetics. These two kinds of ecological indices represent the landscape characteristics of urban green space from the perspective of overlooking and the perspective of looking around respectively. And then the regionalization method based on dynamic constraint aggregation cluster and partition (RECDAP) is used to identify the ecological homogeneous area of urban block. The results indicated that first, there are spatial differences in pedestrian perception of urban vegetation, and high-perception areas are mainly distributed in schools, parks and internal roads in large communities. Second, the green cover based on overlooking view is also mainly distributed in schools, parks, large communities and other places. Finally, the integration of indicators proves that human perception of urban green space landscape aesthetics cannot be ignored. The homogeneous areas provide a new reference for urban managers and designers to create and maintain urban green space. The addition of streetscape provides a possibility for a more objective and comprehensive evaluation of the aesthetic value of urban green space landscape, so that people can better understand the dynamic role of green space in the urbanization and human health. Public managers and urban green designers can use the ecological indices system to optimize and maintain urban vegetation by taking ecologically homogeneous areas as units.

Gender differences in the perceptions of green spaces characteristics

AbstractObjectiveUrban green spaces provide a wide range of health benefits for the population and, therefore, their use should be promoted. However, men and women perceive and value the characteristics of urban green spaces differently, as both have different sensitivities and expectations. The present study aims to identify gender differences in the perceptions of urban green spaces characteristics.MethodsGender differences in the perceptions of eleven urban green spaces characteristics were assessed, including lighting, safety, cleanliness, walking routes, bike lanes, shaded areas, recreational areas, off‐leash dog areas, children's playgrounds, drinking fountains, and pleasant views.ResultsOur results showed that women attribute a higher value to all the characteristics of the urban green spaces analyzed, being the most appreciated the presence of off‐leash dog areas, lighting, children's playgrounds, pleasant views, drinking fountains, safety and recreational areas. In addition, older and more educated people, unemployed women, and single men consider green spaces to be highly important.ConclusionThe results of this study provide evidence for the adequate planning, design and development of urban green spaces that meet the needs of all users.

Restorative benefits of urban green space: Physiological, psychological restoration and eye movement analysis

Urban life is associated with a range of health risks. However, urban green spaces have been found to promote health recovery and reduce mental stress. This study sought to assess the influence of the spatial and environmental characteristics of urban green space on environmental restoration. We measured physiological and psychological changes among 60 participants to evaluate the restorative benefits of 12 green spaces in Shenyang. The Perceived Restorativeness Scale and two physiological measures (heart rate variation and skin conductance response) were used to analyze the effects of spatial characteristics on restorative benefits. In addition, eye-tracking was used to explore the influence of environmental components on restorative benefits. The results revealed that, although there were slight differences between physiological and psychological findings, both confirmed that urban green space had a restorative benefit. Partially-open green spaces with a high degree of naturalness had more positive effects than open green spaces with a high degree of hard paved spaces. Eye movement analysis results revealed that trees and shrubs, as well as water, had a positive effect on the environmental restoration benefits, whereas buildings and paving had a negative effect. Among environmental features, trees and shrubs, water, and buildings exerted the strongest effects on environment restoration. In the future, combining spatial characteristics and environmental components will aid improvement of the restorative qualities of urban green space.

Latin American cities with higher socioeconomic status are greening from a lower baseline: evidence from the SALURBAL project

The characteristics of urban green space have context-dependent associations with socioeconomic status (SES). Latin American cities provide a unique but understudied context to assess the green space-SES associations. We measured the quantity and quality of green space as greenness from satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and we modeled the relationship between greenness and SES in 371 major Latin American cities between 2000 and 2015. We found that SES was negatively associated with average greenness at city and sub-city scales, which could be explained by urbanization generally improving SES while reducing the provision of green space. About 82% of the cities and 64% of the sub-cities experienced greening or increases in greenness over time. Although with lower average greenness, cities with higher SES had greater greening; however, it was the opposite for sub-cities. We suggest that greening is more likely to take place in peripheral sub-cities where SES tends to be lower. The findings challenge the belief that places with higher SES have better access to environmental resources and amenities; instead, this relationship is context dependent.

Understanding recreation demands and visitor characteristics of urban green spaces: A use of the zero-inflated negative binomial model

This study aims to understand recreation demands and visitor characteristics of urban green spaces. The renovation of large urban green spaces has been scheduled due to the aging facilities in the Sapporo city area, northern Japan. Owing to budget limitations, however, a decision has been made to perform a specific type of extensive renovation depending on the existing environmental settings, facilities, and current recreation uses. To accomplish the renovation, it is essential to conduct an examination of a spatial layout of urban green spaces available for providing equitable recreation opportunities that meet recreation demands and visitor characteristics. This study focuses on 29 large urban green spaces in the Sapporo city area and aims to understand the above issues using an individual travel cost method. The web-based survey conducted in December 2017 targeted residents of the Sapporo city area, and 1068 respondents were used for analyzing. Recreation demands for a total of 21 large urban green spaces were estimated using a zero-inflated negative binomial model, which resolved the problem of excess zeros in the collected data. The mapped results showed that few large urban green spaces had high consumer surplus in the northwestern area. Further, visitor characteristics (gender, age, having small children, owning a car or having a driver’s license, walking and/or running, and observing animals and/or plants) were related to the number of visits to these urban green spaces.

How does urban green space feature influence physical activity diversity in high-density built environment? An on-site observational study

Urban green space (UGS) plays an important role in maintaining and promoting public health because it provides opportunities for outdoor physical activities (PA). Many studies have proved that different UGS characteristics, such as area, shape, distance, etc., have a certain impact on the intensity or frequency of PA. It is noteworthy that most studies are completed on a city scale, which explains how ensemble characteristics of a park affect PA. However, few researchers have explored the relations between UGS features and physical activities at the parcel level. To address this gap, this study has investigated the effect of multiple features of UGS on the diversity of PA, with downtown Shanghai as the study site.To identify types of PA and features of UGS based on on-site observation of a total of 101 sites in five urban parks located in a central district of Shanghai, China, we established an ordinal logistic regression with total types of PA (PA diversity hereafter) as the dependent variable and UGS characteristics as independent variables. The results show that green coverage ratio and diversity of shrubs are positively related to PA diversity, while diversity of trees has an inverse impact. Moreover, the paved area shape index and green view ratio are negatively correlated with PA diversity, which suggests that the irregular shape of paved areas with winding edges and excessive green view ratio are factors detrimental to PA diversity. These findings provide pertinent guidance in the design of UGS for the promotion of PA.

The Value of Urban Nature in Terms of Providing Ecosystem Services Related to Health and Well-Being: An Empirical Comparative Pilot Study of Cities in Germany and the Czech Republic

The quality of life in our cities critically depends on the intelligent planning and shaping of urban living space, in particular urban nature. By providing a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), urban nature essentially contributes to the well-being of city dwellers and plays a major role in avoiding common diseases through its positive impact on physical and mental health. Health is one of the most important factors underlying human welfare and is, thus, vital to sustainable development. The ES of urban green space provide other social-cultural functions alongside public health, for example by fostering environmental justice and citizenship participation. Thus, they should always be considered when searching for solutions to urban problems. The aim of this research was to determine the impact of green areas in three selected cities on the health and well-being of people by self-reporting of green areas’ visitors. To this end, we posed the research question: which types and characteristics of urban green space are most appreciated by city dwellers? Based on our findings, we have drawn up recommendations for practices to promote better living conditions. We have also pinpointed obstacles to and opportunities for leisure time activities as well as ways of supporting the public health of citizens.

Wooded areas promote species richness in urban parks

Urban green spaces can have an important role in biodiversity conservation. However, they are not often a focus of biodiversity studies, although their global area is raising. We investigated the impact of habitat characteristics of urban green spaces on an ecologically important group of insects—ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). We tested three questions: 1) does ant species richness positively correlate with park size and the extent of wooded areas? 2) Is ground temperature the best predictor of ant activity? 3) Will communities be dominated by thermophilic, dry-tolerant, generalist species? Using pitfall traps, hand collecting, and baiting we sampled 7595 ants belonging to 30 species, across eight localities in urban protected areas of the city of Zagreb, Croatia. Parks with larger wooded areas had high species richness, but park size was not a good predictor of species richness. Ant activity was largely influenced by temperature. Five out of eight localities had similar ant community composition. The remaining three localities each had unique ant communities with no overlap with any other locality. Overall, in addition to typical urban species, we recorded species of conservation interest. Thus, small urban green spaces have the capacity to support and conserve diverse ant communities, but their habitat characteristics need to be considered in urban planning.

What do people value in urban green? Linking characteristics of urban green spaces to users’ perceptions of nature benefits, disturbances, and disservices

Palliwoda, J., and J. A. Priess. 2021. What do people value in urban green? Linking characteristics of urban green spaces to users’ perceptions of nature benefits, disturbances, and disservices. Ecology and Society 26(1):28. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12204-260128