Urban Parks Research Articles

How soundscape perception enhances the well-being of elderly recreational visitors in urban parks: a case study of Zhengzhou People’s Park

As the pace of urban life accelerates, an increasing number of people fall into a sub-healthy state. In response, there is a growing desire among individuals to enhance life satisfaction and well-being by reconnecting with natural environments. Against this backdrop, urban parks have become popular destinations for recreational activities, providing opportunities for relaxation. Natural soundscapes, as critical ecosystem services, exert positive effects on physical and mental health. This study analyzed 446 survey responses using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 8.0 to explore how soundscape perception related to the well-being of elderly recreational visitors in urban parks. The results were as follows: Firstly, there was a positive correlation between the soundscape perception of elderly recreational visitors and their well-being. Secondly, place attachment acted as a mediator in the relationship between soundscape perception and well-being for these elderly visitors. Thirdly, restorative perception also played a mediating role in this relationship. Fourthly, place attachment and restorative perception jointly played a serial mediating role in the association between the soundscape perception and well-being of elderly recreational visitors. Finally, leisure involvement moderated the relationship between soundscape perception and the well-being of elderly recreational visitors. These findings contribute to ecosystem services and public health theories, while providing practical guidance for enhancing elderly visitors’ health and well-being.

Environmental Assessment of a Heritage Forest Urban Park on the Densely Populated Coast of Versilia, Italy

Environmental Assessment of a Heritage Forest Urban Park on the Densely Populated Coast of Versilia, Italy

Экологическое состояние почвенного и растительного покрова лесопарка им. Ю.А. Гагарина г. Тюмени

Urban forest parks fulfill several pivotal protective and recreational functions. Nevertheless, the intense anthropogenic impact of the urban environment can result in the degradation of forest park biogeocenoses and reduce their capacity to establish a favorable ecological situation within the territory they occupy. This study aims to determine the key fac-tors influencing the environmental state of the soil and vegetation in the Yu.A. Gagarin forest park, thereby facilitating the development of recommendations for their conservation. The study represents an inaugural agrochemical analysis of forest park soils within the urban environment of the south of Tyumen Region, complemented by the assessment of the content of mobile forms of some microelements. The content of mobile forms of a number of microelements (Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni) was also determined by atomic emission spectrophotometry. The study of vegetation cover was carried out using the sample plot method. The study revealed that the forest park soils exhibit a pH level that exceeds the back-ground values by 1.6 to 1.8 times, with a range of 5.5 to 7.2. Additionally, a notable finding was the high content of organic matter, which was observed to be 1.5 to 4.6 times higher compared to the levels found in natural analogs. The content of mobile forms of all studied microelements in the soils of the forest park exceeded the background values. Still, it was below the MAC, which is due to the absence of large sources of atmospheric emissions of the studied metals in Tyumen. The vital state of the studied trees can mainly be characterized as "healthy" or "weakened". The findings indicate that the recreational load has the most noticeable effect on the living soil cover and natural reforestation. In one of the areas of the park under study, a transformation of the storeyed structure of the phytocenosis was observed, resulting from the spread of the invasive Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. The results of the study can be used to formulate recommendations for reducing the recreational load, thereby preserving the natural structure of phytocenoses and the ecological integrity of the park.

Supply–Demand Spatial Patterns of Cultural Services in Urban Green Spaces: A Case Study of Nanjing, China

Amid rapid urbanization, cities are becoming increasingly compact, leading to intensified land resource constraints and environmental pressures. As a result, urban parks and green spaces have emerged as critical areas for providing cultural ecosystem services (CESs). However, the spatial distribution of CES supply and demand within urban green spaces remains significantly unbalanced, necessitating precise identification and quantification of CES supply–demand patterns to enhance ecosystem service efficiency. This study uses Nanjing, China, as a case study to develop an indicator framework for urban green space CES supply and demand, leveraging multi-source data. By employing spatial autocorrelation analysis (Bivariate Moran’s I) and a coupling coordination model, this research systematically assesses the spatial patterns of CESs in urban parks and green spaces. The results indicate that the overall CES supply–demand coordination in Nanjing exhibits a “high in the city center, low at the edges, and mismatched in the suburbs” pattern. Specifically, while 9.71% of the areas demonstrate well-matched CES supply and demand, 4.14% of the areas experience insufficient CES demand, and 3.66% face CES supply shortages, primarily in the urban outskirts, leading to a mismatch in green space distribution. This study further reveals the spatial heterogeneity of CES supply–demand matching across different urban districts. Based on these findings, this research proposes optimization strategies to improve CES allocation, providing a scientific basis for urban green space ecosystem service management and promoting the sustainable development of cities.

Analysis of Diversity and Distribution of Tree Species in Urban Landscape: A Case Study of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, India

Urbanization significantly alters ecological dynamics, often compromising biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. Urban green spaces, particularly tree cover, play a pivotal role in mitigating the negative impacts of urban expansion by improving air quality, regulating temperature and supporting local biodiversity. This study investigates the diversity, richness and spatial distribution of tree species in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly known Aurangabad), across 20 sites with total area of 10.84 sq. km surveyed using the line transect method between September and December 2024. Results indicate that urban parks exhibit the highest species richness 36.8 species average, while dumping sites had the lowest 9 species average. Nehru udyan recorded the highest tree diversity H' = 3.29, followed by Himayat bagh and Siddharth garden. Whereas, Naregaon dumpsite showed the lowest tree diversity H' = 0.81. High species evenness was observed in Sawangi lake 0.9316, while Walmi lake recorded the lowest. Azadirachta indica and Cassia fistula were the most dominant species across all locations. The study highlights the need for habitat specific conservation efforts, particularly in ecologically degraded sites aimed at enhancing green cover and promoting sustainable urban ecosystem in the city.

A knowledge graph-based approach for recognizing older adults’ behavior in urban parks

The behavior of the older adults in urban parks could greatly reflect the behavioral traits of the older adults and their interactions with the environment. Therefore, effective and efficient identification of older adults’ behaviors in urban parks is important for exploring their outdoor behavioral patterns and assessing the quality of age-friendliness urban parks. In this research, a knowledge graph (KG)-based method for recognizing older adults’ behavior was innovatively proposed. The proposed approach was based on the KG of older adults’ behavior (OBKG) established from the image datasets collected via Baidu street view and social media platforms. Additionally, it was also coupled with the link prediction to complete the inference prediction of the older adults’ behavior based on the entities and relationships within the images, which can help improve the accuracy of the recognition of older adults’ behavior. The results of the research showed that based on the YOLOv5 model, our proposed method could improve the behavior recognition accuracy by 13.9%, and the improvement of group behavior recognition accuracy could reached nearly 53.9%. Lastly, the potential applications, implications of this proposed approach were also discussed, alongside the limitations and the future direction of our research.

Pursuing Ecological and Social Co-Benefits: Public Hierarchical Willingness for Biodiversity Conservation in Urban Parks

Urban green spaces play a critical role in sustaining the urban park biodiversity. The relationship between biodiversity and city residents is complex. Understanding the cognitive preferences of residents toward biodiversity is vital for effective conservation. This study investigated the public willingness to protect the biodiversity in urban parks using questionnaire-based assessments and explored the underlying drivers. The study focused on the residents of Hangzhou, China, and analyzed the effects of respondent and visit characteristics as well as their interactions using ANOVA, PERMANOVA, GLM, and NMDS. The visitor age, education level, satisfaction with plant landscapes, and visit frequency significantly influenced their willingness to conserve. Based on a “cognitive-experience-investment” framework, we uncovered (1) positive synergistic effects between urban park biodiversity and the abundance of urban green space fauna; (2) threshold constraints linking volunteer time for biodiversity conservation and economic expenditures on biodiversity-friendly products; and (3) the complex interactions among these factors. The findings not only elucidate the driving mechanisms and model optimization pathways associated with public willingness for conserving urban biodiversity but also provide actionable strategies to promote both ecological conservation and societal wellbeing.

Intercomparison of biogenic CO2 flux models in four urban parks in the city of Zurich

Abstract. Quantifying the capacity and dynamics of urban carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and carbon sequestration is becoming increasingly relevant in the development of integrated monitoring systems for urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There are multiple challenges in achieving these goals, such as the partitioning of atmospheric measurements of CO2 fluxes to anthropogenic and biospheric processes, the insufficient understanding of urban biospheric processes, and the applicability of existing biosphere models to urban systems. In this study, we applied four biosphere models of varying complexity – diFUME, JSBACH, SUEWS, VPRM – in four urban parks in the city of Zurich and evaluated their performance against in situ measurements collected over almost 2 years on park trees and lawns. In addition, we performed an uncertainty analysis of gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 based on the differences between the estimates of the four models and compared the estimated uncertainties and biospheric fluxes with the monthly anthropogenic CO2 emissions of a wide urban area surrounding the four parks. The results showed that, despite the large differences in model architecture, there was considerable agreement in the seasonal and diurnal GPP, Reco, and NEE estimates. Larger discrepancies between the four models were found for lawn GPP compared to tree GPP, while, for Reco, the differences between lawns and tree areas were similar. On an annual scale, all models agreed, on average, that lawns acted as CO2 sources and tree-covered areas as CO2 sinks during the simulation period, with the exception of diFUME, which simulated both tree and lawn areas as CO2 sources. diFUME and VPRM were more accurate in capturing the onset of the tree leaf growth in spring compared to JSBACH and SUEWS. On the other hand, JSBACH and SUEWS simulated soil water availability more accurately than the satellite-derived water index used by VPRM. The in situ observations revealed a very high spatial variability in lawn Reco across the park areas. All models underestimated the lawn Reco during spring in mowed, sunny locations, whereas the model simulations were closer to the observed Reco in un-mowed, partially shaded locations. The mean monthly uncertainties in biogenic NEE reached 0.8 µmolm-2s-1, which is 10.2 % of the magnitude of the total CO2 balance over the studied area during the month of June. This balance was composed of a mean anthropogenic flux of 8.7 µmolm-2s-1 and a mean biospheric flux of −0.5 µmolm-2s-1. Overall, this study highlights the importance of properly accounting for the biogenic CO2 fluxes and their uncertainties in urban CO2 balance studies, especially during the vegetation growing season, and shows that even simple models, such as VPRM, can adequately simulate the urban biospheric fluxes when appropriately parameterized.

Assessment of Potentially Toxic Metals (PTMs) Pollution, Ecological Risks, and Source Apportionment in Urban Soils from University Campuses: Insights from Multivariate and Positive Matrix Factorisation Analyses

Understanding pollution levels, ecological health risks, and sources of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the soil from university campuses is critical for assessing environmental safety. Soil samples were collected from 12 locations across urban parks and green areas at Sohag University in Egypt. The samples were processed and analysed for heavy metals, including iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and cadmium (Cd). Pollution levels were evaluated using indices such as the pollution index (PI), pollution load index (PLI), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), and enrichment factors (EFs). Among the pollution indices, the EFs showed the highest sensitivity in detecting anthropogenic contributions, particularly for Cd, Pb, and Cr. Spatial distribution maps and multivariate statistical analyses, including correlation matrix (CM), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA), were applied to identify the relationships between PTMs and soil properties, and source apportionment was performed using positive matrix factorisation (PMF). The results indicated that Mn, Ni, and Co were primarily geogenic, whereas Pb, Zn, Cr, and Cd showed higher concentrations, suggesting moderate-to-significant anthropogenic pollution. Pb and Cd pose considerable ecological risks, whereas other metals such as Cr and Cu exhibit moderate ecological threats. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to the students were within safe limits, as defined by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) threshold values. Source apportionment using PMF identified five main sources of PTMs: industrial and anthropogenic activities (30.0%), traffic emissions (25.0%), natural soil processes (20.0%), agricultural practices (15.0%), and mixed industrial traffic sources (10.0%). These findings emphasise the importance of controlling anthropogenic activities to ensure a safer campus environment.

Optimizing urban park cooling effects requires balancing morphological design and landscape structure

Urbanization and global warming have led to more frequent extreme heat events, highlighting the importance of Park Cooling Islands. This study analyzes the cooling effect (PCE) of 50 urban parks in Fuzhou to explore the relationship between park area and cooling effect. The results indicate that there is no simple positive correlation between park area and cooling effect. Specifically, while larger parks may have greater cooling potential, a larger area does not necessarily lead to better cooling effects. The optimal park area for cooling effect ranges from 0.594 to 56 hm2; beyond this range, an increase in park area does not significantly enhance the cooling effect. A low proportion of impervious surfaces, a high proportion of water bodies and vegetation, as well as complex patch patterns can enhance PCE, while excessive edge density and landscape fragmentation can weaken PCE. Based on importance analysis, the external morphological characteristics and internal patch characteristics of parks significantly influence cooling effects. Furthermore, the cooling effect of parks is jointly determined by internal and external conditions, with internal conditions having a more significant impact. Therefore, merely pursuing a “large” park area does not guarantee a “good” cooling effect; instead, greater emphasis should be placed on optimizing park design and layout, simplifying boundary shapes, reducing impervious surface ratios, and increasing vegetation diversity to maximize cooling effects.

Park cool island modifications to assess radiative cooling of a tropical urban park

Many cities experience urban overheating from climate change and the urban heat island phenomenon. Previous studies demonstrate that parks are a potential nature-based solution to mitigate urban overheating through the ‘Park Cool Island’ (PCI) effect. PCI intensity can be measured through field measurements (FM) or remote sensing. This FM study used a network of meteorological sensors within a park and in its surrounding urban area to ascertain its PCI intensity in Singapore from January to December 2022. Consistently cooler air temperatures were found throughout a 24-h period in the park area, with mean daytime (nighttime) PCI intensity measured ~ 2.21 °C (~ 1.69 °C). A modified version of PCI (PCImodified) was developed to highlight the radiative cooling differences between the urban and park areas. PCImodified leverages on the network of sensors to preserve the spatial granularity of data, allowing for the interpolation of point data across the study area. By employing Geographical Information Science concepts, the model visualises the diurnal changes in PCImodified intensities with respect to tree height, tree density, and building height; significant cooling is positively (negatively) correlated with tree height and density (building height). This study demonstrates a comprehensive analysis of PCI and cooling intensities of parks using FM in understudied tropical urban environments.

Urbanization leads to asynchronous homogenization of soil microbial communities across biomes.

Soil bacterial and fungal communities play fundamental roles in biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem stability. Urbanization alters soil properties and microbial habitats, driving shifts in community composition, yet the divergent responses of bacteria and fungi and their ecological consequences remain inadequately understood. To elucidate these differential responses, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal communities along an urbanization gradient, ranging from undisturbed reference forests to urban parks, across three distinct climatic regions. To capture different disturbance intensities, urban parks were classified by tree age into old parks (>60-year-old trees) and young parks (10-20-year-old trees). Climate had a strong influence on soil microbiota, yet urbanization still significantly altered both bacterial and fungal communities in all regions. Urban disturbances homogenized soil microbial communities: average similarity among bacterial communities increased from ∼79% in forests to ∼85% in young urban parks, indicating substantial homogenization, whereas fungal communities showed little homogenization. Urbanization also homogenized microbial functional traits, with a greater reduction in trait dissimilarity for bacteria than for fungi. Bacterial communities exhibited high adjustability to urban conditions, dominated by generalist taxa (∼90%), whereas fungal communities consisted mostly of specialists (∼83%). Despite these asynchronous responses-bacteria adjusting and homogenizing more than fungi-overlapping functional traits between bacteria and fungi help maintain functional resilience in urban ecosystems.

The Long Shadow of the Pines: Vegetation in the Birth, Destruction and Reconstruction of Madrid’s University City (1927–1956)

At the intersection of environmental histories of war, fascism and urban parks, this article analyses the transformation of the political meaning attached to the green spaces of Madrid’s University City. Conceived in the late 1920s as a ‘university park’ inspired by North American academic campuses, the ‘Ciudad Universitaria’ was heavily damaged during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The subsequent campus’ reconstruction and reforestation project aimed to transform the battlefield into a war memorial made of trees. By the 1950s, this discourse had shifted to a more technocratic vision of trees and their role in monumentalising physical access to the Spanish capital. The project of the ‘university park’ was abandoned when the campus’ vacant areas began to be developed during the 1960s. By using trees and other vegetation to articulate a narration of the campus’ transformation over forty years, we emphasise the potential of environmental history to contribute to political histories of war and fascism. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ .

Exploring the integrating factors and size thresholds affecting cooling effects in urban parks: A diurnal balance perspective

Exploring the integrating factors and size thresholds affecting cooling effects in urban parks: A diurnal balance perspective

Local and Landscape Drivers of Ground Bird Flocking Behavior in Urban Parks of Buenos Aires City, Argentina

The flock formation of bird species is a crucial behavioral process that enables them to colonize urban areas. However, the factors influencing the structure and composition of ground-feeding bird flocks have not yet been analyzed. This study aimed to relate flock characteristics, including size, number, species richness, and composition, to local and landscape factors in the urban parks of Buenos Aires City, Argentina. Surveys of flocks were conducted in 16 parks during the breeding season, covering both mono-specific and mixed-species flocks. Flock numbers were positively correlated with tree, lawn, and bare ground cover but negatively associated with raptor presence in the parks. Flock species richness declined with increased noise and pedestrian traffic but rose in parks where raptors were present. The composition of species in flocks was linked to tree cover, noise, and the presence of raptors. While the Rock Dove (Columba livia) and the Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris) were more abundant in parks with greater tree cover, the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) and the Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) showed increased abundance in more open parks. Zenaida auriculata and Columba livia experienced a decline in abundance in parks where raptors were present. Our findings indicate that resource availability and predation risk are crucial factors shaping flock formation in urban parks.

The post-effects of landscape practices on spontaneous plants in urban parks

The post-effects of landscape practices on spontaneous plants in urban parks

Landscape Scene Sequences of Park View Elements Facilitate Walking, Jogging, and Running: Evidence from 3 Parks in Shanghai

With the growing awareness of public health, urban parks have increasingly become popular venues for physical activities due to their accessibility and pleasant landscapes, among which walking, jogging, and running dominate. This study innovatively integrates exercise trajectory data from the Strava platform and semantic segmentation technology to analyze the interaction mechanisms among park view elements, physical activities, and physiological responses, based on empirical data from three representative parks in Shanghai. This study includes the following: (1) acquiring hotspot exercise paths and physiological data (heart rate and speed) of walking, jogging, and running users through the open Strava platform; (2) conducting semantic segmentation on real-word photos of three case parks to extract 17 types of park elements; (3) applying Spearman’s correlation analysis to reveal the differential impacts of park elements on physiological responses under walking, jogging, and running behaviors, demonstrating that combinations of elements such as trees, water bodies, fences, and sky influence exercise performance; and (4) constructing scene modules for site attraction, training improvement, and restorative relaxation for walking, jogging, and running, and proposing phased landscape scene sequence strategies to provide quantitative guidance for health-oriented park planning and design. This study breaks through the limitations of traditional subjective evaluations by coupling objective physiological data with spatial elements, offering novel insights for optimizing the exercise functionality of urban green spaces.

Climatic, topographic, and local-scale variables differently shape bird communities in urban streets and parks

Climatic, topographic, and local-scale variables differently shape bird communities in urban streets and parks

Evidence of canine intestinal parasites and associated fecal bacteria among urban and rural dog parks in central Appalachia U.S.

Evidence of canine intestinal parasites and associated fecal bacteria among urban and rural dog parks in central Appalachia U.S.

Day-night visitor usage of urban parks: Exploring temporal dynamics and driving factors through mobile phone big data

Day-night visitor usage of urban parks: Exploring temporal dynamics and driving factors through mobile phone big data