Use Of Urban Parks Research Articles

Quantifying urban park use in the USA at scale: empirical estimates of realised park usage using smartphone location data

A large body of evidence connects access to greenspace with substantial benefits to physical and mental health. In urban settings where access to greenspace can be limited, park access and use have been associated with higher levels of physical activity, improved physical health, and lower levels of markers of mental distress. Despite the potential health benefits of urban parks, little is known about how park usage varies across locations (between or within cities) or over time. We estimated park usage among urban residents (identified as residents of urban census tracts) in 498 US cities from 2019 to 2021 from aggregated and anonymised opted-in smartphone location history data. We used descriptive statistics to quantify differences in park usage over time, between cities, and across census tracts within cities, and used generalised linear models to estimate the associations between park usage and census tract level descriptors. In spring (March 1 to May 31) 2019, 18·9% of urban residents visited a park at least once per week, with average use higher in northwest and southwest USA, and lowest in the southeast. Park usage varied substantially both within and between cities; was unequally distributed across census tract-level markers of race, ethnicity, income, and social vulnerability; and was only moderately correlated with established markers of census tract greenspace. In spring 2019, a doubling of walking time to parks was associated with a 10·1% (95% CI 5·6-14·3) lower average weekly park usage, adjusting for city and social vulnerability index. The median decline in park usage from spring 2019 to spring 2020 was 38·0% (IQR 28·4-46·5), coincident with the onset of physical distancing policies across much of the country. We estimated that the COVID-19-related decline in park usage was more pronounced for those living further from a park and those living in areas of higher social vulnerability. These estimates provide novel insights into the patterns and correlates of park use and could enable new studies of the health benefits of urban greenspace. In addition, the availability of an empirical park usage metric that varies over time could be a useful tool for assessing the effectiveness of policies intended to increase such activities. Google.

The Role and Functions of City Parks in the Adaptation Process of Refugees to the City: The Case of Ulubey Şehit Ömer Karaosmanoğlu Park

Today, migration mobility is experienced intensely all over the world. As refugees seek asylum in their countries of origin, the process of integration begins spontaneously, and urban parks, which are the most important part of the public space and provide the unity of the city dwellers, play an active role in this process. "How does the use of urban parks change with the unpredictable number of refugees all over the world and especially in Turkey and how does this situation find expression in Ankara?" is the starting point of the study, while "the fact that refugees are under difficult socio-cultural and economic conditions has led to the use of urban parks and negatively affected the use of parks by local people" is the hypothesis of the study. Within the scope of the study, Ulubey Şehit Ömer Karaosmanoğlu Park, located in Altındağ district of Ankara, which is one of the countries hosting the highest number of refugees in the world and has the highest Syrian population in Ankara, was selected as the sample area and the park usage tendencies of both refugees and local people, how they feel about using the park together and whether the park contributes to the adaptation process were examined through a face-to-face survey. According to the survey data; it has been determined that there is not a full harmonization between the refugees using Ulubey Şehit Ömer Karaosmanoğlu Park and the local people and refugee women have more difficulties in harmonization than refugee men. With this study, solution suggestions are presented to local governments at the point of planning and design of urban parks in countries hosting refugees.

Big data insights into urban park use in the pandemic: Changes in visitation patterns and exacerbated social inequalities in the U.S.

Urban parks are essential to maintaining healthy, livable, and sustainable cities. It is vital to ensure urban parks serve the communities equally, particularly during the pandemic and for traditionally disadvantaged groups. This study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic changed urban dwellers' visitation patterns to urban parks and assessed whether the pandemic exacerbated the inequalities of urban park access among different sociodemographic groups in the U.S. We investigated urban dwellers' visitation patterns from two aspects (origin and destination) and used a big data approach by integrating mobility data from mobile devices, remote sensing/geospatial data, socioeconomic data, etc. This study found urban dwellers preferred visiting urban parks that were remoter, larger, greener, less crowded, less noisy, and with less human activities during the pandemic (i.e., 2020 and 2021) vs. pre-pandemic (i.e., 2019). Our results also highlighted that the pandemic exacerbated social inequalities in urban park access. The urban dwellers from block groups with higher percentages of racial/ethnic minorities, higher unemployment and poverty rates, and lower income were more negatively influenced by the pandemic and became less likely to visit urban parks. More importantly, such social inequalities further increased in 2021 compared with the early pandemic period of 2020.

Rethinking urban park accessibility in the context of demographic change: A population structure perspective

Rapid demographic change has reshaped the demand for and use of urban parks, profoundly affecting park accessibility inequities. In response to the need for park equity planning under demographic change, we have rethought the gaps in existing park accessibility research. In this study, we revisited and modified the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, re-naming this method as the floatable supply and demand improved 2SFCA (FSD-2SFCA) method. The FSD-2SFCA method considers gaps in environmental preferences and travel abilities among population subgroups to better meet the needs of urban park planning based on demographic changes. Overall, the FSD-2SFCA method is robust, sensitive, flexible, and scalable. The method measured park accessibility in Higashiosaka City under existing and projected population dynamics (2020–2060). The results showed that spatial differences and inequalities in park accessibility exist in Higashiosaka City and that park accessibility inequities among age groups showed different trends as the population changed. In addition, park accessibility is generally the lowest and most inequitable for older adults. Our study highlights that in addressing demographic change, policymakers must consider present equitable distribution of parks and future park accessibility based on population projections to ensure equity-oriented, sustainable urban park planning.

Preferences and Constraints: A Study on Urban Outdoor Sportive Recreation Areas

It is increasingly important to identify the determinants and barriers to the use of urban parks. To this aim; the sample group in the study, which was carried out to determine the participation preferences and constraints of individuals using open space urban recreation areas, consists of 629 people using 11 urban open recreation areas in Turkey’s Ankara province. In addition to the demographic questionnaire, “Preference Factors of Recreation Areas” (PFRA) and “Sportive Recreation Barriers Scale” (SRBS) scales were used to collect the data. Frequency, arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. Independent sample t test and one-way analysis of variance ANOVA test were applied to determine the difference since homogeneity and normal distribution conditions were fulfilled. Correlation coefficients were given by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and regression analysis was used. The findings obtained can be stated that individuals who use open space recreation areas in Ankara province have a high preference for recreation area participation and perceive sportive recreation barriers at average values. It was determined that the variables such as gender, education level, marital status and reasons for going to recreational areas significantly differentiated recreation area preference factors and sportive recreation barriers. It was found that there was a statistically significant relationship between PFRA and SRBS, and it was also found to be a factor in explaining the barriers to sportive recreation. Within the scope of the findings obtained, the findings were discussed with the support of the literature in terms of evaluating the preference factors of open space urban recreation area users for using parks and the barriers that they may encounter.

Using anonymized mobility data to reduce inequality in the availability and use of urban parks

Abstract Parks are an integral component of cities. Ensuring city residents have equitable and easy access to parks is crucial for human well‐being. In temperate climates, park accessibility is particularly important in the summer months when these green spaces provide an area to recreate, exercise and escape indoor temperatures and heat emanating from paved and built surfaces. However, there are well‐known disparities in park accessibility in cities globally that may threaten the health of city residents, especially with global warming. We examined some of the largest city parks (>50 ha) in Toronto, Canada, by comparing park activity, housing demographics and daily weather patterns. We found that parks that provided more green space area per resident were situated in neighbourhoods that had higher proportions of single‐detached housing, higher automobile use and fewer multistorey apartments. We also found a strong correlation between park activity with population density and the number of amenities in the park. Surprisingly, we found no relationship between park activity and daily weather patterns, although park use was higher on weekends and holidays. These results suggest denser communities are at a disadvantage because they have proportionately less park area within walking distance in addition to having no private green spaces (e.g. backyards). We recommend revising municipal zoning around certain parks and the creation of new green spaces as methods to balance park provisioning in the city. Our findings suggest that designing and maintaining accessible, amenity‐rich parks is an important strategy for promoting health and well‐being in urban populations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Mapping cultural ecosystem services of the urban riverscapes: the case of the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland

Urban green and blue spaces play a key role in strengthening human-nature bonds as they offer a variety of opportunities to directly contact nature. They are robust providers of cultural ecosystem services (CES), non-material benefits arising from the interaction between people and nature. Recreation in green and blue spaces beneficially contributes to the well-being of urban dwellers in multiple ways, and the character of these contributions depends both on spaces’ features and visitors’ characteristics. The flow of CES related to the recreational use of urban parks and forests have been widely studied; however, much less attention has been paid to urban riverscapes. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing benefits associated with the recreational use of urban rivers, and determining drivers that affect these experiences. Using the case of Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland, a citywide PPGIS survey was conducted to map several types of recreation-related benefits. Binomial logistic regression models were built to explain positive contributions to well-being as a function of attributes of visitors, spatiotemporal preferences of visits, and preferred activities. Survey participants highly assessed urban riverscape benefits, with the general tendency of highest scores to be clustered in the city core. Benefits vary in terms of drivers they are affected, with three main insights: (1) intellectual and emotional attachment to the riverscape is built through the long-term process of repetitive visits; (2) the devotion to nature is based on direct experiences, and strongly associated with sports; (3) on-water recreation underpins both emotional attachment to the river and social interactions. The results bring spatially explicit information on people’s attitudes towards the urban river, and underscore the complexity of links between people and the riverscape. The knowledge on spatiotemporal patterns and drivers affecting riverscape-related benefits may support the sustainable planning and management of nature-based recreation in cities.

User-generated content affects urban park use: Analysis of direct and moderating effects

Urban parks contribute to sustainable urban development by bringing various social and environmental benefits; understanding the factors influencing park use is important for informing evidence-based park design and intervention. Although there are increasing number of studies using user-generated content (UGC) as a proxy of park use, few studies have examined how UGC influences park use. Therefore, we selected 221 urban parks in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China, with multisource geographic data and collected 153,479 UGC from influential social media platforms. We discovered that UGC sentiment and park use were positively correlated, which was moderated by UGC exposure. In addition, park shape, vegetation and water coverage, land cover mix, parking lot density, and surrounding socioeconomic status, had indirect effects on park use via UGC sentiment. Solid evidence supports that UGC may affect park use because the spurious relationship arising from unmeasured confounders may not be moderated by UGC exposure. We recommend that UGC should be more carefully used as a proxy; its effect should be considered in future studies. In addition, we propose a tentative theoretical framework associating park use, UGC, and other key factors. This research provides a reference for future research and optimizing park use in the modern digital society.

Migrants’ Everyday Life and Migration Regimes: A Study of Migrants’ Leisurely Use of Urban Parks

The article’s aim is to demonstrate how migration regimes tacitly operate at the level of everyday practices. We propose to see migrants’ leisure, recreational use of parks in particular, as a venue for the internalization and embodiment of migration regimes. We seek to explore if migrants negotiate and resist these regimes through their everyday practices. Our study is based on 70 interviews with Ukrainian and Vietnamese migrants in Poland, Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands, Turkish migrants in Germany, and Latino and Chinese migrants in the U.S. We present migrants’ perceptions of urban parks’ rules and their interactions with other park users. Particular attention is paid to migrants’ ability to negotiate the existing regulations and to adjust these environments to their needs. We discuss the mechanisms that limit migrants’ ability to negotiate the frameworks of migration regimes through their leisurely use of urban parks.

How Much Did Urban Park Use Change under the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Comparative Study of Summertime Park Use in 2019 and 2020 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The importance of urban parks was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a number of restrictions on social gatherings were in place and people's movements were often restricted to their local neighbourhood. This study examined the changes in patterns of park use before and during COVID-19 to understand how the pandemic influenced such use. The methods involved behaviour observation and mapping, to offer a comparison of the use of parks in Edinburgh, Scotland, before and in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show an overall increase in use of urban parks during COVID-19, as expected, with significantly higher use in social areas, sports and fitness areas, and playground areas. However, while there was an overall increase in people visiting parks with others during COVID, in woodland areas there was an increase in lone visitors. This study shows the importance of parks for socialisation, exercise and children's play, but also for spending time alone in natural areas during COVID-19. The value of urban parks at a time of social disruption, such as the pandemic, is highlighted, and their role in supporting a variety of urban dwellers' needs points to priorities for future park planning, design and management.

User-generated content may increase urban park use: Evidence from multisource social media data

Given the numerous health benefits that urban parks and greenspaces provide, it is critical to grasp the key factors that improve park use. Despite the pervasive impact of user-generated content (UGC) in modern society, little is known about the influence of UGC on park use. Therefore, this study examined the effect of UGC on park use based on 613,858 pieces of UGC related to the 251 urban parks in two metropolitans in China, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. After controlling for the confounders, the hierarchical linear regression revealed that the quantity, rating, sentiment, and exposure were significantly associated with park use. Then, we distinguished three distinct relationships between UGC variables and park use. We proposed that the effects of UGC rating, sentiment, and exposure were more reliable predictors of park use because bidirectional associations may not affect them. Furthermore, we found the heterogeneity in the UGC-park use link by UGC and urban park types. The geotagged UGC had a larger effect size on park use than the keyword UGC. Visits to comprehensive parks were significantly affected by UGC, while visits to community parks were not. This study sheds new light on increasing park use from the perspective of digital information, which benefits future research and policy development in modern society.

Gender justice in green space use in relation to different socio-economic conditions in Tabriz, Iran

The importance of urban green areas in the quality of life for inhabitants has become more evident than ever due to reduced human contact with nature. Urban green areas must be accessible and usable for all groups of people, including different gender and socio-economic groups. However, there are tensions between equal use and access to urban green areas. The present study evaluates gender justice in the use of urban parks in different socio-economic areas of Tabriz city (Iran). The information required for this study has been collected by using 384 questionnaires based on Cochran's formula. Questionnaires were distributed randomly in different areas of Tabriz. The questions were categorized according to four factors which have a direct bearing on green space usage: accessibility, physical infrastructure, security, and culture. Data have been analysed based on hot spot analysis and the Moran index in ArcGIS software. The results show no significant differences between men and women in the use of urban parks in Tabriz. Significant differences were observed in the use of green spaces when upper and lower socio-economic areas are compared in that high-income areas enjoy better equipped and usable green spaces.

Social inequality of urban park use during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although many studies have examined social inequalities related to urban parks, there is limited knowledge about the social inequalities of urban park use during crises. By integrating a large amount of mobile phone data and e-commerce user data, this study tracked 81,350 anonymized individuals’ urban park use behavior in Shenzhen, China, from 2019 to 2021, covering a period before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results reveal that while most of the parks saw a reduction of over 50% in the number of visitors, some parks, especially relatively small and remote parks, had more visitors after the pandemic began than before. In addition, COVID-19 has caused residents’ urban parks use time to decrease and such impacts are more severe in vulnerable groups (e.g., females, the elderly, juveniles, and low-income groups). Moreover, there are significant inequalities in urban park use between rich and poor communities, and COVID-19 has slightly exacerbated these inequalities. The study highlighted that integrating mobile phone data with e-commerce data is an effective way to unveil the complex social inequalities behind human behavior. Findings could help to improve social equality in urban park use as well as providing insights for evidence-informed decision-making in post-pandemic recovery and future crises.

Investigating factors influencing park visit flows and duration using mobile phone signaling data

Quantifying residents' utilization of parks and understanding the driving factors behind it are essential for optimizing parks and promoting human well-being. However, previous literature has generally neglected the systematic investigation of visit flows, duration, and their spatiotemporal disparities along with the differential influence of park environmental factors on such measures. We addressed the gaps by combining visit flows and duration analysis based on mobile phone signaling data from 152 urban parks in Chengdu, China. We classified the parks into four categories based on the disparity between visit flows and duration. Through the Spearman rank correlation and spatial regression models, we identified the critical factors influencing park visit flows and duration. The findings reveal that: (1) There is a significant spatiotemporal disparity between visit flows and duration. (2) The main factors affecting park visit behavior included park area, types of facilities, distance to the city center, and the number of surrounding residents. (3) The regression models better explained visit flows than visit duration. (4) Environmental factors had a greater impact on park visit behaviors during weekends and peak hours. Selecting multi-dimensional indicators to quantify the use of urban parks provides valuable references for urban planners to optimize the urban park system.

Exploring Factors Affecting Urban Park Use from a Geospatial Perspective: A Big Data Study in Fuzhou, China.

Promoting research on urban park use is important for developing the ecological and environmental health benefits of parks. This study proposes uniquely integrated methods combined with big data to measure urban park use. It combines comprehensive geographic detectors and multiscale geographically weighted regression from a geospatial perspective to quantify the individual and interactive effects of the parks' characteristics, accessibility, and surrounding environment features on weekday and weekend park use. The study also explores the degree of influence of spatial changes. The results indicate that the park-surrounding facilities and services factor contributed most to use, while its interaction effect with park service capacity had the greatest impact on park use. The interaction effects showed binary or nonlinear enhancement. This suggests that park use should be promoted within multiple dimensions. Many influencing factors had significant changes in the geographic space, suggesting that city-level park zoning construction should be adopted. Finally, park use was found to be affected by users' subjective preference on weekends and convenience factors on weekdays. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the influencing mechanisms of urban park use, which can help urban planners and policymakers formulate more specific policies to successfully manage and plan urban parks.

Uneven impacts of COVID-19 on residents' utilization of urban parks: A case study of Guangzhou, China

As COVID-19 increased people's dependency on urban parks for physical and psychological well-being, it also has uncertain impacts on park utilization. Understanding these impacts and how the pandemic has contributed to them is an issue that warrants urgent attention. We used multi-source spatio-temporal data to examine urban park use before and during COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China, and constructed a set of regression models to evaluate the associated factors. We found that COVID-19 has significantly reduced the overall utilization of urban parks while also exacerbating spatial unevenness. This was due to residents' limited movement distance, and the diminished role of urban transportation affecting the efficient citywide use of parks. Meanwhile, residents' increased demand for nearby parks amplified the importance of community parks, which exacerbated the consequences caused by the uneven distribution of park resources. We propose that city administrators improve the efficiency of existing parks and prioritize the adequate placement of community parks at urban fringes to improve access. Furthermore, cities with similar layouts as Guangzhou should plan for urban parks from a multi-perspective and consider the sub-city level differences to address unevenness during the current pandemic and in the future.

Urban agriculture in walkable neighborhoods bore fruit for health and food system resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Urban agriculture is the key to creating healthy cities and developing resilient urban food systems in uncertain times. However, relevant empirical evidence is limited. This study quantitatively verified the association of access to local food through urban agriculture with subjective well-being, physical activity, and food security concerns of neighborhood communities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The target was Tokyo, Japan, where small-scale local food systems are widespread in walkable neighborhoods. We found that diversity in local food access, ranging from self-cultivation to direct-to-consumer sales, was significantly associated with health and food security variables. In particular, the use of allotment farms was more strongly associated with subjective well-being than the use of urban parks, and it was more strongly associated with the mitigation of food security concerns than the use of food retailers. These findings provide robust evidence for the effectiveness of integrating urban agriculture into walkable neighborhoods.

Study on the influence of residents' well-being on the use of urban parks and emotional recovery under air pollution environment

Study on the influence of residents' well-being on the use of urban parks and emotional recovery under air pollution environment

Study on the influence of residents well-being on the use of urban parks and emotional recovery under air pollution environment

Study on the influence of residents well-being on the use of urban parks and emotional recovery under air pollution environment

Parks, Green Space, and Happiness: A Spatially Specific Sentiment Analysis Using Microblogs in Shanghai, China

Green spaces, particularly urban parks, provide essential environmental, aesthetic, and recreational benefits to human health, well-being, and happiness. However, traditional forms of investigating people’s perceptions of urban parks, such as questionnaires and interviews, are often time- and resource-intensive and do not always yield results that are transferable across sites. In this study, spatially explicit geolocational information (Sina Weibo check-in data) was utilized to analyze expressions of happiness and well-being in urban parks in Shanghai, China. The results showed significant differences in reported happiness inside and outside urban parks in Shanghai over a 6-month period. Accessibility, naturalness factors, and the frequency of park visits were positively associated with happiness. There existed both commonalities and disparities in the results between residents and non-residents. These findings can provide decision makers and urban planners with a comprehensive and timely overview of urban park use so they can accurately identify park needs and improvements.