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"Open spaces"
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Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway
The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it significant changes to human mobility patterns and working environments. We aimed to explore how social distancing measures affected recreational use of urban green space during the partial lockdown in Oslo, Norway. Mobile tracking data from thousands of recreationists were used to analyze high resolution spatio-temporal changes in activity. We estimated that outdoor recreational activity increased by 291% during lockdown relative to a 3 yr average for the same days. This increase was significantly greater than expected after adjusting for the prevailing weather and time of year and equates to approx. 86 000 extra activities per day over the municipality (population of 690 000). Both pedestrians (walking, running, hiking) and cyclists appeared to intensify activity on trails with higher greenviews and tree canopy cover, but with differences in response modulated by trail accessibility and social distancing preferences. The magnitude of increase was positively associated with trail remoteness, suggesting that green spaces facilitated social distancing and indirectly mitigated the spread of COVID-19. Finally, pedestrian activity increased in city parks, peri-urban forest, as well as protected areas, highlighting the importance of access to green open spaces that are interwoven within the built-up matrix. These findings shed new light on the value of urban nature as resilience infrastructure during a time of crisis. The current pandemic also reveals some important dilemmas we might face regarding green justice on the path towards urban planning for future sustainable cities.
Journal Article
Informal green space contribution to city’s recreational green open space need of a densely populated old city: A case of Patna, India
India’s population increase has affected the Urban Green open space (UGOS). This population explosion has resulted in insufficient outdoor recreational spaces in many cities, especially in the old cities with higher population densities. The study focuses on identifying the potential recreational open spaces or Informal Green Open Spaces (IGOS) and analyzing their contribution to the city’s recreational needs in Patna city. The study used the quantitative comparison of urban green open spaces with and without informal or potential urban green open spaces at ward and city levels. Also, the prediction model, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), using the Arc Map tool, is used to compare the observed value of total urban green open spaces and the predicted value of formal urban green open spaces. The analysis is done based on quantity and accessibility as parameters. The result shows improvement in cities per capita and serving population of open space within the city. With the inclusion of Informal Green open spaces, a 3.1 m2 per capita URDPFI standard for recreational open spaces at the community and district level is achieved for the 2030 population. Also, the catchment area as per 400m range from open space has increased to 82%, and the serving population of open space has increased to 87%, from 63.7% and 69%, respectively. The IGOS has an overall contribution of 29% in the total UGOS, including IGOS. The contribution of IGOS to the Total Open space of the city is significant and helps in filling the lacuna and achieving the quantitative standard of the open space in the city. And helps in contributing to the SDG goal 11 and helps in contributing to the smart city initiative.
Journal Article
Keep our world green : why humans need gardens, parks and public green spaces
\"Part of the nonfiction Orca Timeline series for middle-grade readers, this illustrated book examines parks, gardens and public green spaces throughout history and shares why it's important to protect them for future generations\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Spatial Analysis of Surface Urban Heat Islands in Four Rapidly Growing African Cities
Africa’s unprecedented, uncontrolled and unplanned urbanization has put many African cities under constant ecological and environmental threat. One of the critical ecological impacts of urbanization likely to adversely affect Africa’s urban dwellers is the urban heat island (UHI) effect. However, UHI studies in African cities remain uncommon. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the spatial patterns, composition and configuration of impervious surfaces/green spaces in four African cities, Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Lusaka (Zambia). Landsat OLI/TIRS data and various geospatial approaches, including urban–rural gradient, urban heat island intensity, statistics and urban landscape metrics-based techniques, were used to facilitate the analysis. The results show significantly strong correlation between mean LST and the density of impervious surface (positive) and green space (negative) along the urban–rural gradients of the four African cities. The study also found high urban heat island intensities in the urban zones close (0 to 10 km) to the city center for all cities. Generally, cities with a higher percentage of the impervious surface were warmer by 3–4 °C and vice visa. This highlights the crucial mitigating effect of green spaces. We also found significant correlations between the mean LST and urban landscape metrics (patch density, size, shape, complexity and aggregation) of impervious surfaces (positive) and green spaces (negative). The study revealed that, although most African cities have relatively larger green space to impervious surface ratio with most green spaces located beyond the urban footprint, the UHI effect is still evident. We recommend that urban planners and policy makers should consider mitigating the UHI effect by restoring the urban ecosystems in the remaining open spaces in the urban area and further incorporate strategic combinations of impervious surfaces and green spaces in future urban and landscape planning.
Journal Article
Mapping Urban Green Spaces at the Metropolitan Level Using Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery and Deep Learning Techniques for Semantic Segmentation
Urban green spaces (UGSs) provide essential environmental services for the well-being of ecosystems and society. Due to the constant environmental, social, and economic transformations of cities, UGSs pose new challenges for management, particularly in fast-growing metropolitan areas. With technological advancement and the evolution of deep learning, it is possible to optimize the acquisition of UGS inventories through the detection of geometric patterns present in satellite imagery. This research evaluates two deep learning model techniques for semantic segmentation of UGS polygons with the use of different convolutional neural network encoders on the U-Net architecture and very high resolution (VHR) imagery to obtain updated information on UGS polygons at the metropolitan area level. The best model yielded a Dice coefficient of 0.57, IoU of 0.75, recall of 0.80, and kappa coefficient of 0.94 with an overall accuracy of 0.97, which reflects a reliable performance of the network in detecting patterns that make up the varied geometry of UGSs. A complete database of UGS polygons was quantified and categorized by types with location and delimited by municipality, allowing for the standardization of the information at the metropolitan level, which will be useful for comparative analysis with a homogenized and updated database. This is of particular interest to urban planners and UGS decision-makers.
Journal Article
The study of outdoor thermal comfort in open spaces of cold climate campus
In the urbanization process, phenomena such as the urban heat island effect exacerbate climatic deteriorations, leading to environmental issues in cities. Campus areas, as significant ecological components within the urban environment, play a crucial role in environmental regulation. This paper investigates the impact of outdoor physical environments in campuses on users’ thermal comfort from the perspective of thermal comfort. Using surveys, meteorological measurements, and behavioral analysis, this study examines four distinctive spaces within a campus in Xi’an, establishing a thermal comfort baseline for the population in Xi’an’s campus spaces. The research results indicate: (1) Globe temperature (T
g
), air velocity (V
a
), air temperature (T
a
), and ground temperature (G) are the primary factors affecting students’ thermal sensations in campus open spaces. Respondents tended to improve their thermal sensations through changes in humidity and solar radiation. (2) In the campus open spaces of Xi’an, the overall NPET of the subjects was 13.9 °C, with the NPETR ranging from 9.4 to 18.4 °C. (3) The preferred warmth temperature for university students in Xi’an is 15.15 °C, which is 1.25 °C higher than the NPET (13.9 °C).
Journal Article
Outdoor thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors in the residential public open spaces of winter cities during the marginal season
In winter cities, outdoor seasons are highly valued due to the long cold winter. By improving the outdoor thermal environment during marginal seasons, outdoor seasons may be extended. Therefore, outdoor thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors during marginal seasons should be considered. Three representative residential public open spaces in Harbin, a typical winter city, were selected to conduct an empirical study. Meteorological measurements and rudimentary questionnaires were administered and observations were conducted to explore outdoor thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors. Three important conclusions were obtained from the survey. The result from the questionnaire surveys showed that users of public spaces generally believed that “warm” was comfortable during the spring marginal season of the winter cities. The 90% thermal acceptable physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) range, which was calculated using meteorological measurements and questionnaire results, was more than 10.2 °C for this time period in the winter cities. This threshold value was much lower than that of temperate and subtropical zones, indicating that the outdoor thermal comfort of users in the winter cities had regional characteristics. Moreover, users engaged in static vs. dynamic activities showed different sensitivities to thermal environments. The users’ location selection showed a strong dependence on microclimate rather than on the activity-supported facilities; when microclimate conditions changed, users made accommodations by moving to sunny areas or performing other adaptive behaviors, and thus, space utilization changed. These findings can inform thermal comfort-oriented planning and design from the perspectives of microclimate regulations, site planning, and activities in the residential public open spaces of winter cities.
Journal Article
Public Space Quality Analysis of Putroe Phang Park in Banda Aceh City
Green open space in the form of a city park is one of the important urban infrastructures because it not only functions in terms of ecology, aesthetics, and urban identity but also plays a role in increasing people’s happiness. Putroe Phang Park is a public open space located in the center of the city and adjacent to several other tourist attractions that are often visited by the public. Putroe Phang Park is also a city park with historical value in the glory era of the Aceh Sultanate. However, the public rarely visits Putroe Phang Park to enjoy recreation in the park. Therefore, further studies are needed to analyze the quality and usage of Putroe Phang Park as a public open space in accommodating community activities. The research method used is descriptive quantitative, with democratic, responsive, and meaningful variables, which are used to analyze the quality and usage of parks as public open spaces. The results of the study show that the conditions and factors that affect the low intensity of visitors are the unsuitability of facilities, lack of security level, and lack of education about the Pinto Khop Monument as a historical site. These results show the low value of meaningful impressions felt by visitors to Putroe Phang Park. For this reason, this study recommends increasing the quality and usage of Putroe Phang Park as a public open space by periodically updating and maintaining the existing facilities and complementing other park-supporting facilities.
Journal Article