Versatile green: an alternative perspective on urban green space in late nineteenth-century Antwerp

Urban History ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
BART TRITSMANS

ABSTRACTThis article argues that a one-sided focus on official sources has dominated historical research on urban green space. The absence of the users’ perspective obscures a substantial part of its significance. This article, which aims at complementing rather than contradicting existing research, will show that the different perspectives and practices of city dwellers widen our understanding of the history of urban green spaces. The article will also consider the value of often marginalized, unofficial green spaces like ramparts and wastelands at the urban fringe.

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5780-5791
Author(s):  
Omid Samani ◽  
Verena Zapf ◽  
M. Ercan Altinsoy

Urban green spaces are intended to provide citizens with calm environments free of annoying city noises. This requires a thorough understanding of noise emission and related exposure to sounds in green spaces. This research investigates noise perception in various spots in an urban green space. For this purpose, the study has been conducted in the grand garden of the city of Dresden. The garden covers 1.8 square kilometers of various landscapes, including water streams, park railways, fountains, bridges, roads for bicycles and pedestrians etc. Noise perception was investigated at eleven spots with emphasis on four noise types: nature noise, human noise, traffic noise, and technical noise. In parallel, audio-visual recordings were conducted for each spot to identify the connection between the perceptual measures and the psychoacoustic parameters. These spots are categorized based on the resulting perception and psychoacoustic parameters. In addition, the visual effect of each spot on final perception is investigated. Eventually, annoyance for each spot is identified based on the corresponding participants' perception and is associated with the relevant psychoacoustic parameters.


Author(s):  
Yashaswini S* ◽  
Shankar B

Improving the Accessibility of Urban Green Space (UGS) is an integral part of city planning system. People with better access to green space enjoy a wide range of health benefits. Therefore, it is a crucial element to be taken care and nourished in a land use framework. Mysore City is one of the planned large cities in India. The City had a population of about 0.9 million in 2011 and it is estimated to cross the million mark by 2021. There is a growing consciousness on health and wellbeing among the people resulting an increasing demand for urban green spaces both at neighbourhood and city levels. The accessibility helps in promoting usage of UGS and maintaining the balance in environment within the city areas. The main aim of this paper is to study the existing scenario of the UGS within the planning district-12 and to analyse the green space accessibility. The land use of Mysuru city is analysed to understand the city and the micro level land use analysis of Planning district-12 is made. The existing scenario of the UGS within the study area and its accessibility is analysed using different accessibility indicators. Considering the key findings, issues and challenges are identified. Later the suggestions and recommendations for the identified issues is proposed to enhance the green spaces quality and accessibility at neighbourhood levels. The Accessible Natural Green space Standard (ANGst) type of accessibility analysis has been carried to know UGS functionality. Henceforth urban green space network at Planning District levels (local levels) in the City of Mysuru is prepared as a model which can be implemented to the city as whole at the later stages


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1614
Author(s):  
Yilei Hou ◽  
Yibing Qu ◽  
Zheng Zhao ◽  
Jinyu Shen ◽  
Yali Wen

The fundamental purpose of future urban development is to meet residents’ yearning for a better city life with the rapid development of urbanization. This study uses a multinomial logit model and cognitive map to evaluate residents’ spatial image perception of urban green space. A field study and data collection were conducted from July to August 2019, using the typical urban green space area in Beijing as the research object. Based on 375 valid questionnaires and 139 cognitive maps, the study analyzed and evaluated the image characteristics and differences of residents to the urban green space under different conditions. The results show the following. First, there is a close relationship between residents’ preference and the characteristics of urban green spaces, especially the working and living environment and characteristics will have a great influence on it. Second, the cognitive map drawn by Beijing residents can be divided into sequential and spatial cognitive maps, and the image perception shows diversified characteristics. However, the perception is relatively superficial overall, and most are simple line maps. Besides, according to the analysis of the elements of the cognitive map, the advantages and disadvantages of each type of urban green space are closely related to their geographical location and internal structure. This study has two key findings. First, the construction of urban green spaces in various cities should be carried out according to local conditions, considering the scientific basis and reasonableness of urban green space in terms of structural setting. Second, the multinomial logit model and cognitive map can effectively quantify the subjective evaluation of respondents’ spatial perceptions in a relatively simple manner, which can be further expanded in the application system design of the method.


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 5972-5979
Author(s):  
Qing Chang ◽  
Yao Qiu ◽  
Xue Li ◽  
Jian Sheng Wu

Urban green spaces are considered as the life support system in a city, if systematically planned, developed, and maintained, they may provide various ecosystem services in a sustainable way. By integrating the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and the green infrastructure (GI) network based on GIS, this study provided an urban green space planning method to guide urban sustainable spatial development and land use decisions in the Longgang District of Shenzhen in China. The approach has a robust performance in identifying the vital hubs and linkages in the urban green space system. It is hoped that this plan model based on MSPA, the function connectivity of urban green spaces could be farther strengthened so that some key zones in landscape pattern could be protected in the future development.


Author(s):  
Viniece Jennings ◽  
Omoshalewa Bamkole

Social cohesion involves the interpersonal dynamics and sense of connection among people. Increased social cohesion can be associated with various physical and psychological health benefits. The presence of urban green spaces can encourage positive social interactions that cultivate social cohesion in ways that enhance health and well-being. Urban green spaces have also been linked to positive health behaviors and outcomes including increased physical activity and social engagement. Understanding the relationship between social cohesion and urban green space is important for informing holistic approaches to health. In this article, we discuss how positive interactions in urban green space can catalyze social cohesion, social capital and critical health-promoting behaviors that may enhance psychological health and well-being. We also summarize the strengths and limitations of previous studies and suggest directions for future research.


Author(s):  
D. Singh ◽  
S. Mondal ◽  
R. S. Hooda

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Urban Green Space (UGS) enhances the structure of the landscape of a city. It provides economic, social and health benefits to the inhabitants. Rapid urbanization and increase in population has put extreme pressure on urban green spaces. Therefore, mapping of urban green spaces is important to facilitate the urban planning sustainably. This study has been taken up to map the UGS in the Hisar Municipal Corporation (HMC) area of Haryana State constituting an area of 4197.32<span class="thinspace"></span>ha using high resolution LISS-IV data of November, 2017. Three different methods namely (a) Onscreen Digitization (b) Support Vector Machine-based classification (SVM) and (c) Multi Resolution Segmentation (MRS) have been tested to extract the green spaces. The onscreen digitization method has been considered as best method as compared to SVM and MRS because of the intervention of human mind and full control on manual editing. The SVM under estimated the green space for HMC with average relative deviation of 15%. However, it extracted the green area precisely without mixing of open spaces. MRS have given good results in terms of total area (relative deviation was 5%), however, spatial distribution of green spaces have been mixed with open spaces. The study identified the green index of HMC and suggested the suitability and sustainability of the city based on World Health Organization (WHO) defined standards. Green space for Hisar Municipal Corporation was 1690.96<span class="thinspace"></span>ha with average urban green space index of 0.40. Per capita green cover for HMC was 9.69<span class="thinspace"></span>m<sup>2</sup>/inhabitant, which is as per the standard reported by WHO i.e. 9<span class="thinspace"></span>m<sup>2</sup>/inhabitant. Further study may suggest some other algorithm for better results and automatic green space extraction.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-262
Author(s):  
Mathias Tesfaye Abebe ◽  
Tebarek Lika Megento

The unprecedented rate of urban growth in developing countries causes various problems such as deficiency in public infrastructure services, lack of green spaces and inadequate service provisions. This study applies GIS tools and remote sensing techniques to assess the effects of urban development on urban green space in Ethiopia’s capital. Spatial and non-spatial datasets were collected from different organizations and processed using GIS tools and remote sensing techniques for land use/ land cover classification and analysis. The analysis demonstrated shrinking of urban green spaces- plantations, forestland, grassland and cultivated land (at annual rates of 5.9%, 3.3%, 5.4% and 3.7 % respectively) by 82.1%, 62.1%, 78.8 and 65.8 % respectively during the past three decades (1986-2015) whereas built-up and transport areas increased at annual rate of 5.7% and 1.3% and consumed 419% and 47% of the city’s total area respectively.


Geoadria ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-89
Author(s):  
Darija Perković ◽  
Vuk Tvrtko Opačić

Urban green spaces, especially those in the coastal areas, are of great and multiple importance for sustainable urban and tourism development. At the same time, they are endangered by excessive construction caused by the urbanisation process. Increased urbanisation occurs as the consequence of spatial expansion of the built-up land of coastal towns due to strong littoralisation processes, but also as a consequence of an increasing coastal tourism development. Scientific research on the connection between urbanisation and tourism is conducted in various scientific areas and disciplines, representing urban green spaces mainly in a wider context, rarely as immediate objects of research. Understanding and comparison of research results are made difficult due to non-standardised methodology and terminology applied in research. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of methods applied in research of urban green spaces and, on its grounds, to select methodological approaches applicable for geographic research on urban green spaces within the context of coastal tourism development. The meaning of “urban green space” and its relationship with tourism were defined. The subject of research, terminology and classification of urban green spaces, spatial and temporal context of research, applied methodology and interpretation of results were analysed. Two most frequent methodological approaches in urban green spaces research in the context of coastal tourism development were identified: a) Comparative spatio-temporal research of transformation of urban green space due to tourism development and b) Research on attitudes and perception of urban green space users within the context of tourism development. The identified approaches are applicable in geographic research of urban green spaces, and they are based on methodological background of the positivist and humanistic- behavioural approach in contemporary geography.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Carthy ◽  
Sean Lyons ◽  
Anne Nolan

Abstract Background : While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We suggest that dimensions of urban green space accessibility, which are generally unobserved in the existing literature, may be a source of this volatility in results. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on the association between urban green space and BMI by considering alternative measures of urban green space that incorporate measures of footpath availability. Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to urban green spaces at their residential addresses in network buffers, which are adjusted to account for the density of local footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to accessible urban green space and BMI. Results: Relative to the third quintile, exposure to the lowest quintile of urban green space, as measured within a 1600m accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.16-1.44). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between urban green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model. Conclusion : The relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. Our results suggest that there are some other unobserved factors, other than footpath availability, that mediate the relationship between urban green spaces and weight status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1330-1337
Author(s):  
V.R. Bhatta ◽  
◽  
A.N. Kumar ◽  

Aim: To study bee friendly plant species, nutritional sources, flowering season, and the dynamic relationship between urban flora and native bee species in a centrally located urban green space in Bengaluru, India. Methodology: Flowers of different plant species visited by bees were observed and recorded from September 2018 to August 2019. Based on the foraging pattern of visiting bees, the plants were classified into nectar or pollen or both nectar and pollen species. The monthly abundance of nutritional resources was estimated based on the floral phenology. Results: A total of 51 plant species, from 25 families, were visited by bees for foraging. Polylectic social bees namely Apis florea and Tetragonula iridipennis, visited 45 and 39 plant species, and two species of solitary bees, namely Amigella cingulate and Xylocopa violacea, visited 26 and 23 plant species, respectively. The urban green landscape was dominated by a variety of ornamental plants (49%) and also included vegetables (17.6%), fruit trees (13.7%), and weeds (19.6%). Plants that served as a source of both nectar and pollen (60.8%) were predominant over those that supplied either nectar alone (24.5%) or pollen alone (13.7%). Moreover, 72% of the species bloomed all the year round, which meant that floral resources were available to bees throughout the year. Interpretation: The study underscores the role of bee friendly floral diversity in the urban green spaces in protection and conservation of bee diversity. Efficient management of urban green spaces can provide dynamic habitat for bee conservation and can prevent the loss of biodiversity.


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