Use Of Urban Parks Research Articles

Research on the Spread of the COVID-19 and Urban Park Use

Research on the Spread of the COVID-19 and Urban Park Use

Green Infrastructure in the Time of Social Distancing: Urban Policy and the Tactical Pandemic Urbanism

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a number of changes in the functioning of urban areas all over the world and had a visible impact on the use of green infrastructure, including city parks. The study discusses and compares operation and use of two such parks located in Wellington, New Zealand and Warsaw, Poland by adopting “pandemic urban ethnography”, an approach that includes autoethnography, interviews with users, non-participant observation, and analysis of social media content. As indicated by the findings of the study, the importance of less rigidly designed, multifunctional spaces that give their users freedom of “tactical” adjustments, significantly grows during times of lockdown and “social distancing”. During such a crisis, the management and everyday use of urban parks are highly related to urban policies. The article provides insight into how those policies impact the functional values of green infrastructure confronting it with user-generated adaptations and the landscape design itself. The global health emergency showed how access to green areas becomes a crucial determinant on environmental justice while proving the significance of “tactical pandemic urbanism” as both a design and management method.

A geographical detector study on factors influencing urban park use in Nanjing, China

Even though urban parks are widely recognized to be of immense benefits for urban residents and environment alike, developing a direct and effective method to estimate urban park use and decipher its influencing mechanisms remain to be challenging. In this study, an urban park use index is proposed to quantitatively estimate urban park use based on the Baidu heat map data in Nanjing region. Besides, a geographical detector is applied to quantify individual and interactive influences of the internal and external factors on urban park use. The evidence shows that park-surrounding facilities have the greatest influence among all driving factors. Moreover, compared with the individual influences of driving factors on urban park use, the interactive effects between each pair of driving factors are manifested as bivariate enhanced or nonlinear enhanced. These findings provide an effective means to examine and reveal the influencing mechanisms of urban park use, which can assist urban planners and policy makers to frame more specific policies aimed at successful urban park management and planning.

Perceived benefits, aesthetic preferences and willingness to pay for visiting urban parks: A case study in Kolkata, India

Urban parks provide multi-purpose benefits, including environmental, social, recreational, and health benefits to the city dwellers. Recently much research has argued that a better understanding of citizen preferences should be effective in managing urban green space. The aim of this study to understand the purpose, motives as well as attitude towards urban parks in different socio-demographic assortments, variety of preferences, and their willingness to pay (WTP). A questionnaire-based survey has been conducted with 6 selected urban parks in Kolkata city, the second-largest city of India. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measures of preference of respondents. Cronbach's alpha is used to measure the internal consistency of variables and a non-parametric Spearman test was performed to identify potential correlations between the variables. The study has discovered an interesting public perception about the use of urban parks which depend on a mix of aesthetic preferences and environmental benefits. The result shows that various socio-demographic factors, particularly gender, age groups, education level, and economic status are influenced to visit parks. It also shows that the majority of the respondents were visits parks for acquiring ‘social benefits’ (39.9%) and ‘psychological and health benefits’ (71.7%). Furthermore, strong correlations were found between park suitability, accessibility, and aesthetic preferences with WTP. Overall, this study will be helpful in the assessment of park users' motives and their attitudes which is essentially required to manage urban green space in a multi-dimensional construct.

"Enticing" but Not Necessarily a "Space Designed for Me": Experiences of Urban Park Use by Older Adults with Disability.

Urban parks are spaces that can enhance older adults’ physical, social and psychological wellbeing. As the prevalence of older adults with disability increases, it is important that urban parks are accessible to this population so that they too might gain health benefits. There is limited literature investigating the experiences of urban parks by older adults with disability. This qualitative study, set in a region of New Zealand, explored the experiences, including accessibility, of urban parks by 17 older adults (55 years and older) with self-reported disabilities. Three focus groups (n = 4, 5 and 4 people) and four individual interviews were undertaken. Data were analyzed using the General Inductive Approach. Two primary themes of “Enticing” and “Park use considerations” are presented. Urban parks and green spaces are perceived to provide an environment for older adults with a disability to improve their physical, psychosocial and spiritual health, and social connectedness. Parks that are not age, ability or culture diverse are uninviting and exclusive. Meaningful collaboration between park designers, city councils and people with disability is required to maximize the public health benefits of parks and make parks inviting and accessible for users of all ages, cultures and abilities. Park co-design with people with disability may provide one means of improving accessibility and park usability and thus park participation by older adults with disability.

Exploring Urban Park Use Intention for a Sustainable Society from the Posts on the Social Network

Exploring Urban Park Use Intention for a Sustainable Society from the Posts on the Social Network

Identifying changing patterns of people’s use of urban parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Identifying changing patterns of people’s use of urban parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Park Proximity and Use for Physical Activity among Urban Residents: Associations with Mental Health.

Increasing global urbanization limits interaction between people and natural environments, which may negatively impact population health and wellbeing. Urban residents who live near parks report better mental health. Physical activity (PA) reduces depression and improves quality of life. Despite PA’s protective effects on mental health, the added benefit of urban park use for PA is unclear. Thus, we examined whether park-based PA mediated associations between park proximity and mental distress among 3652 New York City residents (61.4% 45 + years, 58.9% female, 56.3% non-white) who completed the 2010–2011 Physical Activity and Transit (PAT) random-digit-dial survey. Measures included number of poor mental health days in the previous month (outcome), self-reported time to walk to the nearest park from home (exposure), and frequency of park use for sports, exercise or PA (mediator). We used multiple regression with bootstrap-generated 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals (BC CIs) to test for mediation by park-based PA and moderation by gender, dog ownership, PA with others, and perceived park crime. Park proximity was indirectly associated with fewer days of poor mental health via park-based PA, but only among those not concerned about park crime (index of moderated mediation = 0.04; SE = 0.02; 95% BC CI = 0.01, 0.10). Investment in park safety and park-based PA promotion in urban neighborhoods may help to maximize the mental health benefits of nearby parks.

The effects of urban greenspace characteristics and socio-demographics vary among cultural ecosystem services

Urban parks provide numerous cultural ecosystem services that are essential to the wellbeing of residents. However, our understanding of the key variables that determine the provisioning each of these services remains limited, affecting our ability to design greenspaces that provide the unique combination of cultural services required by local residents. Here, we identify variation in the effects of key spatial, environmental, park facility, and socio-demographic variables on the use of urban parks for different cultural ecosystem services, using Brisbane, Australia, as a case study. We completed a participatory GIS survey in which urban residents provided empirical geographic data on urban park visits for different activities and socio-demographic characteristics. These social data were then combined with park vegetation, park facility, and park spatial characteristic data to identify the key variables affecting use for four different cultural services: exercise, nature interactions, social interactions, and relaxation. We show that park characteristics and socio-demographic variables have different effects on all four cultural services. In particular, tree cover decreased park use for social interactions, exercise and relaxation only, and socio-demographics only influenced park use for social interactions and exercise. Among park facilities, the presence of amenities increased only exercise and relaxation visits. Variability in the effects of park characteristics among ecosystem services complicates the ability for urban park management to provide multiple cultural ecosystem services. Identifying and targeting specific variables associated with each ecosystem service is likely to be critical. Our study provides key insights into how to achieve and provide the unique set of cultural services that urban residents require.

Patterns of Urban Park Use and Their Relationship to Factors of Quality: A Case Study of Tehran, Iran

Urban parks play an important role in increasing the quality of urban life. Thus, a variety of approaches to planning and decision-making regarding sustainable open spaces and urban parks is needed, especially when models from one location are borrowed to another with a very different culture. In many developing countries cities are expanding without proper planning of public green spaces which places pressure on the quality of life. In common with many Middle Eastern cities, Tehran, the capital of Iran is a large sprawling metropolis which has experienced fast growth since 1970 and with little in the way of comprehensive planning of green spaces as an organised system. To date there has been no comprehensive investigation of urban parks regarding their level of use, range of activities, quality of maintenance, evidence of anti-social activities or the demographic character of their catchment—important information for effective park planning. In this study a representative sample of 16 parks in Tehran was studied using a combination of site assessments and user observations. We found that a combination of factors concerning the quality of the parks such as presence of facilities, existence of water and other special attractions, as well as how well-lit they are, how well maintained and safe they are, has a lot to do with their level of use. Some pleasant parks with good facilities are less well used because of, e.g., evidence of anti-social behaviour, poor maintenance and accessibility. A key aspect we found is the difference between male and female users, with some parks being much less-well-used by women. Much more attention is needed for planning and management of parks in Tehran. The approach applied here has potential to help other cities in similar areas to learn more about their green space systems for planning purposes.

Too Old for Recreation? How Friendly Are Urban Parks for Elderly People?

Urbanization and ageing are the two main processes currently shaping the social environment worldwide. In this context, creating senior friendly cities should be an important target, especially in developed countries, which have the highest rates of population over 60 years old. Our study focuses on the use of urban parks and aims to analyze how friendly their planning, design, and use are for elderly people. We used field observation carried out in four case study parks in Bucharest (Romania) to assess the spatial planning and design of urban parks, and to identify the environmental problems. We applied a total of 5752 questionnaires (16% to elderly people) in the majority of Bucharest’s parks in order to analyze the behavior and perception of seniors in contrast with that of the general population. The analysis highlighted the lack of endowments especially planned or designed for seniors and the multiple problems deriving from their interaction with other visitor groups which make them feel disrespected or unsafe. Our study highlights the need for including the needs, demands, and desires of elderly people in decision making processes, with the aim of creating inclusive and senior friendly parks.

Deciphering the recreational use of urban parks: Experiments using multi-source big data for all Chinese cities

China’s rapid urbanization process has accentuated the disparity between the demand for and supply of its park recreational services. Estimations of park use and an understanding of the factors that influence it are critical for increasing these services. However, the data traditionally used to quantify park use are often subjective as well as costly and laborious to procure. This paper assessed the use of parks through an analysis of check-in data obtained from the Weibo social media platform for 13,759 parks located in all 287 cities at prefecture level and above across China. We investigated how park attributes, accessibility, and the socioeconomic environment affected the number and density of park check-ins. We used multiple linear regression models to analyze the factors influencing check-ins for park visits. The results showed that in all the cities, the influence of external factors on the number and density of check-in visits, notably the densities of points of interest (POIs) and bus stops around the parks was significantly positive, with the density of POIs being the most influential factor. Conversely, park attributes, which included the park service area and the landscape shape index (LSI), negatively influenced park use. The density of POIs and bus stops located around the park positively influenced the density of the recreational use of urban parks in cities within all administrative tiers, whereas the impact of park service areas was negative in all of them. Finally, the factors with the greatest influence varied according to the administrative tiers of the cities. These findings provide valuable inputs for increasing the efficiency of park use and improving recreational services according to the characteristics of different cities.

Demand for parks and perceived accessibility as key determinants of urban park use behavior

Even though urban parks are widely recognized to contribute to the well-being of urban dwellers, the extent to which the potential benefits are realized is not just about park provision alone, but is to a large extent determined by park use behavior of urban dwellers. Park use behavior is an area that has attracted a significant amount of studies but one particular determinant of park use that has received little attention is park use demand, which is defined as an individual’s intention and commitment to use parks for a range of reasons. In this study, we applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to identify the key determinants of park use demand and park use behavior. A park use demand and behavior model was thereafter developed based on TPB, and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) based on data collected from door-to-door household survey in four study sites in Singapore (n = 597). The results showed that residents’ attitude, subjective norm, and perceived accessibility have significant and positive effects on their park use demand and behavior. Among these variables, attitude had the strongest influence on park used demand, while demand and perceived accessibility showed the highest impact on park use behavior. Perceived accessibility significantly had a stronger explanatory and predictive power than physical accessibility in accounting for changes in park use demand and behavior. We also discussed the implications of our results on park planning and management.

Using multi-source big data to understand the factors affecting urban park use in Wuhan

Urban parks have been proved to have great benefits for people and urban environments. Estimating park use and understanding its influence factors are significant for urban park planning and designing. Currently, geospatial data are used to measure park use for convenience and low cost at the city and regional levels. In this study, two sets of geospatial data were used to describe the park use of 57 urban parks in Wuhan. Nine variables for three categories affecting park use were analyzed to find the relationship with park use. The results showed that the Baidu heat map data were better than Weibo check-in data for describing park use in Wuhan. Six variables showed significant correlation with park use. The results showed that park use was mostly affected by the surrounding environment features in this study, and it was easily impacted by park attributes. However, park use was slightly affected by accessibility.

Neighborhood Parks and Recreationists’ Exposure to Ozone: A Comparison of Disadvantaged and Affluent Communities in Los Angeles, California

Urban parks are valued for their benefits to ecological and human systems, likely to increase in importance as climate change effects continue to unfold. However, the ability of parks to provide those myriad benefits hinges on equitable provision of and access to green spaces and their environmental quality. A social-ecological approach was adopted in a study of urban park use by recreationists in the City of Los Angeles, contrasting two affluent and two disadvantaged communities situated in coastal and inland zones. Twenty-four days of observations distributed across morning and afternoon time blocks were gathered, with observations in each day drawn from a pair of affluent and disadvantaged community parks. Observers noted location, gender, age, ethnicity/race, and level of physical activity of each visitor encountered during four scheduled observation sweeps on each day of field work. In addition, ozone dose exposure was measured through passive monitoring. Ozone dose exposure was calculated using average hourly ozone in ppb multiplied by METS (metabolic expenditures). Dose exposure was significantly higher in the disadvantaged community parks (with majority Latino use). Findings suggest that additional monitoring in disadvantaged communities, especially inland, may be prudent to facilitate community-based information as well as to assess the degree of potential impact over time. Additionally, mitigative strategies placed in urban parks, such as increased tree canopy may help to reduce the degree of risk and improve community resilience. Future research examining the positive outcomes from physically active use of urban parks may benefit from adopting a nuanced approach in light of the present findings.

Emerging social media data on measuring urban park use

Green urban infrastructure, which serves the interests of both human and nature, are considered as essential assets of urban residents. However, measuring the use of green space has been problematic. Because, most previously used data on measuring green space use are self-reported or collected via social surveys, which not only include limited samples, but also are always subjective, costly, and laborious. This study integrates sensor and positioning technologies and measures the use of green space from an emerging big data perspective. The hourly real-time Tencent user density (RTUD) data from social media are used to analyze the time-spatial distribution of urban park users. RTUD data, park attributes, and surrounding landscape features are incorporated into ArcGIS for spatial analysis. A group of linear regression models is constructed to determine factors that may be associated with the user density of urban parks. The total accumulated number of observed users is 3.25 million in 686 urban parks of Shenzhen in two typical sunny days – a work day and a rest day. Without costly and laborious field investigation, based on RTUD data, we conduct a city wide analysis regarding all parks. The proposed method is proved to be suitable for measuring urban green space use at city-level or even large scale. Results show that park user density is relatively high in well-developed areas and community parks. Park attributes and surrounding landscape features are significantly associated to park use. The findings of this study can help policy makers optimize the construction and maintenance of urban parks.

Identification of the Use of Urban Parks in Ankara**

Identification of the Use of Urban Parks in Ankara**

Exploring the urban park use, preference and behaviours among the residents of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The understanding of cross-cultural upon park usage is vital to be enhanced among public since findings that been discovered in the Western context are not own any similarities with the Asian context. In fact, it has been in a long run for the Western nations to primarily contextualized and conceptualized much on the literature of park usage. This study aims to look at how the people use and perceive urban parks in their daily life in the Malaysian cultural context, and also highlights the constraints faced by Malaysians while using the urban parks in the city of Kuala Lumpur. A survey consisted of 669 urban park users as the sample of the study (365 men, 304 females) aged between 18 and 73 years (M=34.85, SD=11.46) were conducted in five urban parks in Kuala Lumpur. Respondents were recruited based on a random sampling method, which composed of three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. Malaysians wanted to use the urban parks for multiple purposes including active activities and others. Most of them would visit the parks and spend their time in a group consisting of family members or friends rather than alone. The percentage of respondent with 74.7% stated their reason of visiting the urban park in order “to get fresh air”, followed by the factor of reducing stress and relaxing with 69.7%; and the latter reason would be “to exercise, play games or keep in shape” with 61.4%. More than 80% of the respondents claimed the parks in Kuala Lumpur are safe to be visited. This is because, majority of the respondents tend to visit the parks in group of family or friends rather than alone. In addition, most of the respondents would run their activities in parks during the weekends, which simultaneously make them to enjoy their day in such comfortable and secure way. The findings of this survey would contribute to a better understanding of the present park usage of Kuala Lumpur residents. With a better understanding of current park-visiting habits, various constraints faced by the residents related to public security and safety, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall have been suggested to develop more comprehensive strategy in order to provide engagement and urban parks stimulation for its residents. In addition, this study is also fruitful for Kuala Lumpur future parks in terms of its development, design and management.

Exploring adolescents’ perception of accessibility and its influence on park use

The fundamentals of urban planning suggest that accessibility to public open spaces, particularly the parks, is supposed to contribute to the increased use of them. Accessibility is a difficult and complex concept to define and measure. Moreover, literature review shows few researches have defined the concept of accessibility from the perspectives of potential park users and its influence on individuals’ behavior. This study aims to define factors adolescents find important in perceiving whether a park is accessible and the influence of accessibility on the use of urban parks for adolescents aged 15-18. This qualitative study’s findings are based on interviews with a group of 17 male and female adolescents. The findings show that the perception of the accessibility concept among adolescents is an outcome of different parameters such as proximity, travel time, presence/non-presence of traffic, availability of transportation, etc. The results of this study contribute to enhancing the understanding of the accessibility concept as a multi-dimensional construct from adolescents’ point of view, and its influence on the use of parks. Keywords: Accessibility, Park use, Adolescents, Qualitative Study

Urban Park Use, Quality Evaluation, and Resident Satisfaction Indicators in the City of Zahedan, Iran

Urban parks have social, economic, and ecological roles, and play important role in improving the quality of life and community development. This study investigates the usage rate of urban parks by residents in the city of Zahedan, Iran, and evaluates the quality of them in terms of furniture and facilities, in this survey study participants are 520 of Zahedani residents divided into two ordinary (n=500) and expert groups (n=20) selected from the population using Cochran's formula. Number of evaluated urban parks was 101 distributed in five regions of the city. A survey questionnaire was designed for collecting data from participants. Results showed that Zahedani residents use urban parks once a week (70%). Also we found out that the quality of urban parks in Zahedan was poor. Our findings revealed that “public toilet facilities”, “green spaces”, “safety”, “accessibility”, “welfare facilities”, “trails”, and “equipments” are most important indicators for evaluating resident satisfaction with public urban parks. Finally, our results reported that there was a significant relationship between residents’ satisfaction level and standard quality of urban parks.