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Capturing the value of green space in urban parks in a sustainable urban planning and design context
Sixty percent of the land that will be urban in 2030 has yet to be built. Contemporary urban development is unsustainable and focus is on building dense, often at the expense of urban green space (UGS), at the same time as our understanding of links between green spaces and human well-being, especially health, is increasing. There is a need to better understand and analyze human well-being qualities of UGS in a planning context. Our aim is to increase this understanding by analyzing the pros and cons of hedonic pricing in this context. Hedonic pricing is commonly used for analyzing benefits associated with UGS to make them more visible and to provide support for urban planning. However, the validity of this approach has been questioned. To increase the accuracy of a hedonic pricing method we incorporate state-of-the-art methods to assess the value of public parks in a case study. Although our results suggest that urban parks indeed have a positive effect on property value and that this effect tends to increase with reduced distance to the parks, the hedonic pricing information is not enough to make well-advised decisions in a sustainable planning context. We thus suggest (1) including and quantifying additional health benefit dimensions and (2) replacing straight-line measures with an axial line step distance measure, to better capture accessibility. To better capture the range of benefits generated by urban parks, irrespective of whether these benefits are enjoyed in direct relation to the park or not, we suggest complementing hedonic pricing via (3) applying an ecosystem service lens, thus also improving the accuracy of trade-off and synergy analysis Also, a sustainable planning approach will benefit from (4) taking the surrounding land use configuration into account for optimizing the different values of urban parks.
Journal Article
Urban Parks as Green Buffers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In many parts of the world, concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and city quarantine policy have led to a general decline in the physical and mental health of residents due to insufficient social interaction. These adverse effects can cause potential public health risks. Ways to alleviate the adverse impact of the pandemic and meet social interaction needs must be widely addressed. This survey was conducted from 1–5 April 2020; it collected 386 responses from residents of Chengdu, China, during the pandemic based on an online survey questionnaire. The results indicate that most of the residents believe their health status is poor, and that they do not experience adequate social contact with others. Most of the respondents indicated no difference in mental health, while a few reported differences in their physical health and social interaction levels. Visiting urban parks can significantly improve overall health and assist in meeting individuals’ social interaction needs. Although residents have reduced the frequency of visits during the pandemic, even once a week can be beneficial. This paper emphasizes the critical role of urban parks during the pandemic period from the perspective of the urban building environment. The conclusion affirms that urban parks and large outdoor, open spaces can provide residents with a place for safe outdoor activities and social interaction in a green environment during a pandemic, as well as serve as a buffer area to maintain favorable health and quality of life.
Journal Article
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 hm
2
; 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.
Journal Article
Great city parks
\"Great City Parks is a celebration of some of the finest achievements of landscape architecture in the public realm. It is a comparative study of thirty significant public parks in major cities across Western Europe and North America. Collectively, they give a clear picture of why parks have been created, how they have been designed, how they are managed, and what plans are being made for them at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Based on unique research including extensive site visits and interviews with the managing organisations, this book is illustrated throughout with clear plans and photographs- with this new edition featuring full colour throughout. Tate updates his seminal 2001 work with 10 additional parks, including: The High Line in NYC, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam. All the previous city parks have also been updated and revised to reflect current usage and management. This book reflects a belief that well planned, well designed and well managed parks and park systems will continue to make major contributions to the quality of life in an increasingly urbanized world\"-- Back cover.
Book
Urban heat resilience at the time of global warming: evaluating the impact of the urban parks on outdoor thermal comfort
BackgroundIn densely populated urban centers, increased air temperature due to urban heat island (UHI) effect can undermine the thermal comfort and health of citizens. Research has shown that large urban parks can mitigate the effect of UHIs and improve thermal comfort, especially in the warmer months of the year when temperature changes are more noticeable. This study investigated the cooling effect intensity (CEI) of the Retiro Park in the center of Madrid at three different distances from its southern edge and the impact of this cooling effect on thermal comfort from physiological and psychological perspectives. This investigation was performed by measuring microclimate data and conducting a survey simultaneously during the summer days.ResultsThe results showed that the CEI of the park varies with distance from its edge. Because of this effect, air temperature within the 130 m and 280 m distance of the park was, respectively, 1.6 °C and 0.9 °C lower than the temperature at the 520 m distance (the nearest heat island). After examining the effect of the park in terms of physiological equivalent temperature (PET), it was found that the PET at the 130 m and 280 m distance of the park was 9.3% and 5.4% less than the PET in the heat island domain. More than 81% of the respondents (in all three areas) had a mental image of the park as the place where they would experience the highest level of outdoor thermal comfort, and this rate was higher in the areas closer to the park. The analysis of citizens’ responses about perceived thermal comfort (PTC) showed that citizens in areas with higher CEI had perceived a higher degree of thermal comfort from the psychological perspective.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the significant role of large urban parks located in the core of the populated cities in providing thermal comfort for citizens from both physiological and psychological perspectives. Additionally, the results of this study demonstrated that among the environmental (natural and artificial) factors around the park (topography, urban structure, etc.), the aspect ratio has the greatest impact on thermal comfort.
Journal Article
Green escapes : the guide to secret urban gardens
Cities everywhere are graced with charming but little-known, off-the-beaten-track gardens and green spaces, offering urbanites in the know a chance to immerse themselves in nature. These often small, well-kept secrets are not as grand as those on the tourist trail but are equally delightful and rewarding to visit, if you know where to find them.
Book
Assessing cross cultural urban park emotional wellbeing impact in Shanghai and London
Urban parks serve as restorative environments that can alleviate stress and improve mood. However, quantifying the emotional benefits of parks and uncovering geographic differences across regions presents challenges. This study aims to compare the cross-cultural impact of urban parks on visitors’ positive emotions between Shanghai and London. We collected text data from Weibo and Twitter, applying natural language processing techniques to quantify emotion scores. A LightGBM regression model was used to explore the nonlinear relationships between park environments and positive emotions, while a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model was constructed to reveal spatial heterogeneity and its underlying causes. The results indicate that all environmental variables have nonlinear effects on visitors’ positive emotions, with cross-cultural differences reflected in emotional responses: (1) Cross-cultural factors play an important role in influencing positive emotions of visitors in different regional urban parks, mainly reflected in different emotional well-being. (2) In Shanghai, higher economic vitality and greater walkability enhanced visitors’ positive emotions in urban parks. (3) In London, high accessibility does not promote visitors’ positive emotions, showing a contrast to the effect observed in Shanghai. However, higher education density and lower parking lot density contributed to positive emotions for park visitors in London. (4) Visitors in Shanghai are more likely to experience positive emotions in medium-sized parks, while in London, visitors tend to feel more pleasant in small parks. The findings of this study indicate that the park environment plays a significant role in fostering positive emotions in visitors. Additionally, future research could explore the impact of socio-cultural factors on emotional responses, expanding beyond the focus on the park’s physical attributes.
Journal Article