Indicators for green spaces in contrasting urban settings

Abstract Urban green spaces (GS) are essential for the well-being of the population. Several works have shown a positive correlation between the amount of GS and the household incomes in both developed and developing countries. Thus, the higher the incomes, the larger the total area covered by GS, the better the quality of these spaces, the higher the amount of private GS. Public policies seek to correct this inequality, but existing indicators, especially the amount of GS per inhabitant, do not provide enough information for effective decision-making. Our aim was to provide tools to evaluate and plan better the location and quality of GS in complex urban areas. For this we applied a set of indicators for GS at two spatial scales city-level and local-level, in order to disclose existing inequalities. The indicators considered (i) the total area of GS in relation to population and urban context, (ii) the quality of GS based on its size, shape and vegetation cover, and (iii) the spatial distribution and accessibility of GS. The proposed indicators were tested in three municipalities, belonging to the Metropolitan Area of Santiago (Chile), with different household incomes. The indicators showed large differences in terms of quantity of GS per inhabitant, vegetation cover and accessibility. The GS proved to be an effective strategy to reduce areas that lack vegetation cover. The sustainability assessments must consider how the diversity of structural attributes of GS has an impact on the well-being of urban inhabitants.

[1]  J. Mihelcic,et al.  Accessibility and usability: Green space preferences, perceptions, and barriers in a rapidly urbanizing city in Latin America , 2012 .

[2]  Jayajit Chakraborty,et al.  Street Trees and Equity: Evaluating the Spatial Distribution of an Urban Amenity , 2009 .

[3]  Annegret Kindler,et al.  Do demographic and land-use changes contrast urban and suburban dynamics? A sophisticated reflection on Santiago de Chile , 2013 .

[4]  Bronwen T. Taylor,et al.  Measuring the quality of public open space using Google Earth. , 2011, American journal of preventive medicine.

[5]  R. Young.  Managing municipal green space for ecosystem services , 2010 .

[6]  A. Chiesura.  The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. , 2004 .

[7]  A. Herzele,et al.  A monitoring tool for the provision of accessible and attractive urban green spaces , 2003 .

[8]  A. S. Olafsson,et al.  Green space planning and land use: An assessment of urban regional and green structure planning in Greater Copenhagen , 2006 .

[9]  A. Kaźmierczak,et al.  Promoting ecosystem and human health in urban areas using Green Infrastructure: A literature review , 2007 .

[10]  P. Groenewegen,et al.  Social contacts as a possible mechanism behind the relation between green space and health. , 2009, Health & place.

[11]  K. Irvine,et al.  Moving beyond Green: Exploring the Relationship of Environment Type and Indicators of Perceived Environmental Quality on Emotional Well-Being following Group Walks , 2014, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[12]  Nadja Kabisch,et al.  Green spaces of European cities revisited for 1990–2006 , 2013 .

[13]  Anne-Marie Séguin,et al.  Spatial distribution of vegetation in Montreal: An uneven distribution or environmental inequity? , 2012 .

[14]  Shixiao Yu,et al.  Biotic homogenization and differentiation of the flora in artificial and near-natural habitats across urban green spaces. , 2013 .

[15]  S. Philpott,et al.  Diversity, abundance, and species composition of ants in urban green spaces , 2010, Urban Ecosystems.

[16]  Cecil C. Konijnendijk,et al.  Green Infrastructure as a tool to support spatial planning in European urban regions , 2013 .

[17]  Sonia Reyes Päcke,et al.  Distribución, superficie y accesibilidad de las áreas verdes en Santiago de Chile , 2010 .

[18]  G. D. Jenerette,et al.  Regional relationships between surface temperature, vegetation, and human settlement in a rapidly urbanizing ecosystem , 2007, Landscape Ecology.

[19]  S. Siebert,et al.  Ecosystem services of urban green spaces in African countries—perspectives and challenges , 2012, Urban Ecosystems.

[20]  F. Escobedo,et al.  The socioeconomics and management of Santiago de Chile's public urban forests , 2006 .

[21]  Juan Pablo Celemín,et al.  Proposal and application of an environmental quality index for the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina , 2012 .

[22]  Carl Folke,et al.  The Role of Golf Courses in Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management , 2009, Ecosystems.

[23]  Ellen Banzhaf,et al.  Assessing urban environmental segregation (UES). The case of Santiago de Chile , 2012 .

[24]  Peter Steen Mikkelsen,et al.  SUDS, LID, BMPs, WSUD and more – The evolution and application of terminology surrounding urban drainage , 2015 .

[25]  Bo Chen,et al.  Assessment of aesthetic quality and multiple functions of urban green space from the users’ perspective: The case of Hangzhou Flower Garden, China , 2009 .

[26]  D. Haase,et al.  Mapping the diversity of regulating ecosystem services in European cities , 2014 .

[27]  M. Scopelliti,et al.  Go greener, feel better? The positive effects of biodiversity on the well-being of individuals visiting urban and peri-urban green areas , 2015 .

[28]  Baolong Han,et al.  Effective green equivalent-A measure of public green spaces for cities , 2014 .

[29]  B. Thaiutsa,et al.  Urban green space, street tree and heritage large tree assessment in Bangkok, Thailand , 2008 .

[30]  Juliane Welz,et al.  Urban green areas and their potential for social interaction – A case study of a socio-economically mixed neighbourhood in Santiago de Chile , 2014 .

[31]  Jari Niemelä,et al.  Ecology of urban green spaces: The way forward in answering major research questions , 2014 .

[32]  Sonia Reyes-Paecke,et al.  Jardines residenciales en Santiago de Chile: Extensión, distribución y cobertura vegetal , 2011 .

[33]  Xabier Gainza,et al.  Understanding Density in an Uneven City, Santiago de Chile: Implications for Social and Environmental Sustainability , 2014 .

[34]  Kulbhushan Balooni,et al.  Governance for private green spaces in a growing Indian city , 2014 .

[35]  D. L. Rosa.  Accessibility to greenspaces: GIS based indicators for sustainable planning in a dense urban context , 2014 .

[36]  S. Yool,et al.  Correlating Vegetation, Water Use, and Surface Temperature in a Semiarid City: A Multiscale Analysis of the Impacts of Irrigation by Single-Family Residences , 2012 .

[37]  E. Banzhaf,et al.  Indicators for sustainable land use management in Santiago de Chile , 2011 .

[38]  S. Charlesworth.  A review of the adaptation and mitigation of global climate change using sustainable drainage in cities , 2010 .

[39]  R. Maheswaran,et al.  The health benefits of urban green spaces: a review of the evidence. , 2011, Journal of public health.

[40]  Takemi Sugiyama,et al.  Associations between characteristics of neighbourhood open space and older people's walking , 2008 .

[41]  C.Y. Jim,et al.  Species diversity and performance assessment of trees in domestic gardens. , 2014 .

[42]  C.Y. Jim,et al.  Assessing the landscape and ecological quality of urban green spaces in a compact city , 2014 .

[43]  Ellen Banzhaf,et al.  Monitoring Urban Structure Types as Spatial Indicators With CIR Aerial Photographs for a More Effective Urban Environmental Management , 2008, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[44]  Fatemeh Jalayer,et al.  Urban morphological determinants of temperature regulating ecosystem services in two African cities , 2014 .

[45]  Dave Kendal,et al.  Multiple ecosystem services and disservices of the urban forest establishing their connections with landscape structure and sociodemographics , 2014 .

[46]  Jasper Schipperijn,et al.  Influences on the use of urban green space – A case study in Odense, Denmark , 2010 .

[47]  Xiaolu Zhou,et al.  Social disparities in tree canopy and park accessibility: A case study of six cities in Illinois using GIS and remote sensing , 2013 .