Urban Park

Green spaces provide various amenities ranging from ecological services to recreational benefits. They are strategic for municipalities both for households and business attractiveness. While the social demand for urban parks is increasing, information about their provision and guidance regarding the efficiency of local public policies remain scarce. In this paper we investigate the existence and the nature of spatial spillovers for the provision of urban parks in 93 municipalities in the urban area of Angers (France). We use geographic information systems to obtain land use data. Then we apply spatial econometrics techniques using various weight matrices. We find positive autocorrelation among municipalities. A 10% rise of the level of parks in neighboring municipalities leads to a 3.6% increase ceteris paribus. Our results provide strong evidence of mimetic behavior. We also find that municipalities belonging to the agglomeration of Angers provide more urban parks. Finally we find no evidence for vertical externalities. From the empirical perspective we cannot reject the hypothesis of strategic interactions among municipalities. We also suspect some inefficiency regarding the allocation of resources. Two theoretical justifications may be put forward. First, the provision of urban parks yields to mimetic behavior because incumbent elected representatives aim at being attractive compared to neighboring municipalities. Second, they imitate neighbors in order to be re-elected.

Urban dwellers experience conflicting thoughts and feelings about urban woodlands; valued for their natural qualities, the relief they provide from the stress of modern urban living and the opportunities they afford for children's play and exploration. At the same time the seclusion inherent in this type of urban greenspace seems fraught with risk from crime, vandalism and abuse. Whilst many of these characteristics are well-researched, less is known about the differing perceptions of particular social groups. This study aimed to explore the ways in which age affects urban dwellers' aspirations, values and fears concerning the woods, and woodland accessibility, focusing on the views of elderly people (aged over 65). This pilot study was based in Norfolk Heritage Park, an urban park containing a variety of woodland settings located in Sheffield, UK. The questionnaire survey (participants n ¼ 97) revealed that although walking is the most popular leisure activity, most respondents did not visit urban parks as often as they would like, regardless of age. Whilst many of the meanings associated with urban woodland (were shared amongst age groups, it seemed that the elderly respondents particularly valued the woods for their links with the past, and opportunities for immersion in the natural world. Some respondents from all age groups had fears about their personal security in the woodland, and the concerns of the elderly were heightened by their perceived frailty, reduced mobility and sense of vulnerability; this age group had a corresponding need for particular measures to alleviate these problems. The study provides preliminary evidence for the idea that adults of different ages have differing perceptions and requirements in relation to urban woodlands. Due to the small sample size and other methodological issues, further research is needed to confirm and develop the findings.

This paper asks what should be demanded from urban open space in the 21st century. It explores the social and spatial implications of new lifestyles, values, attitudes to nature and sustainability, and the models for future city life and the patterns of urban open space that might accommodate these. One vital role that urban parks play is providing space for the expression of diversity, both personal and cultural; this raises issues of democratic provision for and access to public open space. It suggests, inter alia, that the role of the urban street as public space may need to be re-thought. The social and cultural values of open space include attitudes towards nature and the desire for contact with it; contemporary understandings of ecology offer new insights into ways to serve both human needs and the broader ecological framework of urban open space structures. It has been suggested that the urbanity of public open space is threatened by the increase in 'virtual' transactions, obviating the need for real, social interaction, but there is also evidence that use of new communications technology can increase and enhance use of public open space; this may include engagement in the productive aspect of our landscape. A more flexible approach to open space definition and usage is proposed, recognising 'loose-fit' landscapes which allow opportunities for the socially marginalised and the ecologically shifting within a dynamic framework of urban structures and networks.

The interaction between spatial arrangement and vegetation structure was systematically examined in the context of an urban park in an impoverished area of Sheffield, UK. Local residents rated digitally manipulated photographs depicting different spatial arrangements of mature trees and edge treatments for safety and preference. Spatial arrangement was the most important factor in determining sense of safety but not preference. Perception of edge treatment varied significantly according to variation in spatial arrangement in ratings for both safety and preference. The results of this study suggest that more naturalistic vegetation can be introduced into parks and green spaces without necessarily making the parks appear unsafe.

The responses of ground beetles to an urbanisation gradient (forest-suburban area-urban park) were studied in and near Sorø, South Zealand, Denmark, during April-October 2004. The average number of species per trap did not differ significantly among the three urbanisation stages. The average number of forest species was significantly higher in the forest area (6.2 species/trap) than in either the suburban (4.12 spp/trap) or the urban (3.7 spp/trap) areas. Both the number of open-habitat species (1.8 spp/trap), and the generalist species (2.3 spp/trap) were highest in the urban area. The number of predaceous species was highest in the forest area (8.1 spp/trap), while the number of omnivorous species was highest in the urban area (0.9 spp/trap). Multivariate statistical procedures (NMDS, Sorensen similarity index) also confirmed that species composition changed remarkably along the forest-suburban-urban gradient. The highest number of species (S ¼ 37) was found at the urban area, deviating from trends at other northern hemisphere sites (Canada, Finland) where the overall species richness was highest at the forest habitats. Urban green areas, including forest patches contribute to the quality of urban life and thus should be conserved. Apart from their recreational value, which is widely appreciated and enjoyed by human inhabitants, such green urban spaces provide seemingly adequate habitat for numerous species of ground beetles found in less developed forest areas some distance from the city core. (Z. Elek). a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / a c t o e c 1146-609X/$ -see front matter ª a c t a o e c o l o g i c a 3 2 ( 2 0 0 7 ) 1 0 4 -1 1 1

Universally, trees have been recognized as an important component of urban landscapes for millennia because they provide a wide range of benefits to society. Although the planting of trees has been an integral and important part of human settlements in Nepal, the concept of urban forestry is poorly understood and often neglected. This paper investigates urban peoples' perceptions towards urban forests as well as the perceived benefits related to the use and existence of urban forests in Lalitpur, Nepal. A survey was conducted among residents and visitors to an urban park. Most respondents held positive attitudes towards urban forests and were aware of the benefits provided. Despite involvement of various agents from both government and non-governmental organizations in promoting urban forests, greenery was declining in the city. The loss and degradation of urban forests adversely affected the ecosystems because the city is suffering from water, air and soil pollution. In recent years, the local government has promoted urban greenery; however, there are no accompanying legislation or regulations governing urban forestry. Therefore, concrete scientific and professional knowledge is required in order to manage the forestry in the city.

International efforts to preserve the natural environment are mainly concerned with large, bio-diverse and relatively untouched ecosystems or with individual animal or vegetal species, either endangered or threatened with extinction. Much less attention is being paid to that type of nature close to where people live and work, to small-scale green areas in cities and to their benefits to people. Increasing empirical evidence, however, indicates that the presence of natural areas contributes to the quality of life in many ways. Besides many environmental and ecological services, urban nature provides important social and psychological benefits to human societies, which enrich human life with meanings and emotions. The main concern of this paper is to address the importance of urban nature for citizens' well being and for the sustainability of the city they inhabit. Some results of a survey conducted among visitors of an urban park in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) are presented and discussed. The issues investigated concern people's motives for urban nature, the emotional dimension involved in the experience of nature and its importance for people's general well being. Results confirm that the experience of nature in urban environment is source of positive feelings and beneficial services, which fulfill important immaterial and non-consumptive human needs. Implications for the sustainability of the city will be analyzed and discussed. (A. Chiesura). regeneration strategies mainly focus on man-made and built components of the urban environment. In comparison, attention to the natural components and the green spaces of the urban structure is still poor. Low appreciation of green spaces is also reflected in the recent cuts in the maintenance of budget of many towns .

The city and urban environment will become extremely important in the daily lives of the increasing number of people. Parks and open spaces are one aspect of urban environment that is of great importance in daily life as well as social life for people who live in urban areas. Often their importance is forgotten in the debate about architecture and built form. Parks and open spaces might be considered as non-essential in the less developed countries – but their importance lies in many different benefits and opportunities that they can provide. Urban parks if properly accessible and well connected with its surrounding area can improve urban environment by enhancing community development and social bondage. This paper focused on the accessibility of urban parks many ways as we know that without adequate accessibility the provision of good quality or quantity of open spaces would be of very limited value. Therefore It investigates the current situation of accessibility of urban parks at planned and unplanned neighborhood of the city. This study examines different variables affecting the accessibility of the urban parks. The paper also suggested some recommendation to enhance further quality of accessibility. From the detail discussion of this paper it is concluded that parks of Dhaka city should be immediately restored maintained and preserves to enhance the image of the capital.

Due to rapid urbanisation and scarcity of land, most of the urban parks and recreational areas in Hong Kong are built close to major roads or industrial areas, where they are subject to many potential pollution sources, including vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. An extensive soil survey was conducted in urban parks of Hong Kong to study the current conditions of heavy metals contamination in soils. Soil samples and associated street dusts were collected from more than 60 parks and public amenity areas in old urban districts, industrial areas and New Towns of the territory. Soils were also sampled in the remote country parks to establish the baseline conditions. The total concentrations of heavy metals and major elements in the samples were determined. The results indicate that urban soils in Hong Kong have elevated concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The parks with high metal concentrations are located in old urban commercial districts and industrial areas, indicating that the major contamination sources in these soils are traffic emissions and industrial activities. In addition, the application of Cd containing phosphate fertilizers may be an important source of Cd in urban park soils. The street dusts have highly elevated Zn concentration, particularly along the main trunk roads. The high Zn content in the street dusts may come from traffic sources, especially vehicle tyres. Selective soil and road dust samples were also analysed for potential chemical speciation by a sequential chemical extraction method. The chemical partitioning results show that Pb and Zn are mainly in the carbonate/adsorbed and Fe–Mn oxide phases, while Cu is largely associated with the organic and sulphide fractions. The high exchangeable Cd in urban soils and high concentration of Zn in street dusts need further investigation for their ecological and health implications.

The health of any city is measured by the number of parks and green spaces in it. In any metropolitan city, urban parks are a great source of recreation and public activities. With the passage of time, many urban parks have evolved with the rich landscape and design principles that make them even more useable and attractive for people. However, this case is normally observed in the newly established urban or city parks but is very rare in the historical parks that are of great significance. This causes an alarming situation for the authorities and stakeholders to look into the parameters of historical urban parks to check for their management and resolve any obsolete system that is causing the progressive management.
This is the main theme of this study to check for the management systems of urban parks from different angles of landscape, design, and planning. For this, various international case studies were discussed briefly and the model study area i.e., Lawrence Garden in Lahore was studied in detail to know the maintenance and management system of these urban parks. Some surveys were made to gather information from various authoritative bodies and from the users of the park.
According to the findings, users of the park are very much concerned about the bulging security issues and their chances of occurrence in the park. The authority does not have any advanced system of management and they do not comply with the indigenous landscape planning which is causing acute water usage and increased heat problems. The design of the park does not correspond to the people with mobility issues and lacks proper crowd management. The study is purely qualitative in nature and various landscape design interventions and planning policies were suggested to cater to the problems of poor management of Lawrence Garden.

Using data collected from residents surrounding a large urban park setting, we examined the relationship between their motivation to visit the park and their attachment to the setting. Based on the literature suggesting that natural environments provide humans with a variety of desired psychological, social, and physiological outcomes, we hypothesized that these outcomes would motivate respondents to interact with the park environment and facilitate the development of their attachment to the setting. Our data were analysed using covariance structure analysis. The results of this analysis offered partial support for our hypothesized model. Using multidimensional conceptualizations of motivation and place attachment, we observed that not all dimensions of motivation had a significant effect on the dimensions of place attachment. The valence of the significant predictors, however, was consistent with our hypotheses and prior literature. r

The aim of the present paper is to recommend a methodology for the thermal comfort investigations of resting places (parks and squares) in urban environments. During three periods (three times 14 weekdays in transient seasons) 6775 visitors were mapped in half-hour intervals between 12 and 3 p.m. on a park in the inner city of Szeged (South-East Hungary). Besides marking the subjects' exact locations, some of their personal features were also noticed in table format. Physiologically equivalent temperature ( • C) was calculated from the meteorological data measured by the site, to describe the thermal conditions of the measurement intervals. To reveal patterns of area usage according to thermal conditions, the observations data were digitized and processed within GIS application ArcView. The created area usage maps clearly illustrate the temporarily differences of attendance (on seasonally and daily basis too). These maps facilitate detection of preferred and ignored sub-areas in the function of thermal conditions (or any of the recorded subjective or measured objective parameters). The usefulness of these maps in practice, as well as the extension-possibilities of the presented methodology are also discussed.

Urban parks San Francisco Matrix Nest sites A B S T R A C T Declines in bee populations have been documented in several parts of the world. Bees are dependent upon flowering plants for resources, and flowering plants often depend upon bees for pollination services. Bees can therefore serve as indicator species of habitat degradation due to these relationships with flowering plants. This study investigates how the bumble bee community in San Francisco has responded to urbanization and which urban park characteristics are important for the current communityÕs structure. To answer these questions we sampled bumble bees, in 18 urban parks and two nearby wild parks. We estimated park characteristics and used multiple regression analysis to determine which characteristics predicted bumble bee abundance and species richness. Bumble bee abundance was positively associated with resource availability or proxies of resource availability; ''natural area'' (areas that contain remnant fragments that have been largely unchanged by human activity) in 2003 and nest site abundance and openness of the surrounding matrix in both 2003 and 2004. Bumble bee species richness was negatively associated with abundance of a dominant species, Bombus vosnesenskii, in 2004. The importance of the surround-

The purpose of this research is to identify and understand vandalism issues that occur in the selected case study site as well as to determine characteristics of the surrounding landscape associated with vandalism hotspots, and to justify safe environments in park areas. Questionnaire survey was conducted and specifically studies an urban park in the city of Shah Alam in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The research indicated that people perceived vandalism to occur because of the opportunities provided by the surroundings, user behaviour, lack of security and enforcement, lack of maintenance and inspection, location and design of the facilities, and the materials used for such facilities. This research is very important because there is no other known research about perceptions of vandalism from Malaysian local park visitors' point of view, it should help planners, park designers and park managers in local or city councils in Malaysia, as well as the general public, to understand and expand their knowledge of vandalism in urban parks.

This paper asks what should be demanded from urban open space in the 21st century. It explores the social and spatial implications of new lifestyles, values, attitudes to nature and sustainability, and the models for future city life and the patterns of urban open space that might accommodate these. One vital role that urban parks play is providing space for the expression of diversity, both personal and cultural; this raises issues of democratic provision for and access to public open space. It suggests, inter alia, that the role of the urban street as public space may need to be re-thought. The social and cultural values of open space include attitudes towards nature and the desire for contact with it; contemporary understandings of ecology offer new insights into ways to serve both human needs and the broader ecological framework of urban open space structures. It has been suggested that the urbanity of public open space is threatened by the increase in 'virtual' transactions, obviating the need for real, social interaction, but there is also evidence that use of new communications technology can increase and enhance use of public open space; this may include engagement in the productive aspect of our landscape. A more flexible approach to open space definition and usage is proposed, recognising 'loose-fit' landscapes which allow opportunities for the socially marginalised and the ecologically shifting within a dynamic framework of urban structures and networks.

This paper asks what should be demanded from urban open space in the 21st century. It explores the social and spatial implications of new lifestyles, values, attitudes to nature and sustainability, and the models for future city life and the patterns of urban open space that might accommodate these. One vital role that urban parks play is providing space for the expression of diversity, both personal and cultural; this raises issues of democratic provision for and access to public open space. It suggests, inter alia, that the role of the urban street as public space may need to be re-thought. The social and cultural values of open space include attitudes towards nature and the desire for contact with it; contemporary understandings of ecology offer new insights into ways to serve both human needs and the broader ecological framework of urban open space structures. It has been suggested that the urbanity of public open space is threatened by the increase in 'virtual' transactions, obviating the need for real, social interaction, but there is also evidence that use of new communications technology can increase and enhance use of public open space; this may include engagement in the productive aspect of our landscape. A more flexible approach to open space definition and usage is proposed, recognising 'loose-fit' landscapes which allow opportunities for the socially marginalised and the ecologically shifting within a dynamic framework of urban structures and networks.

Uno de los últimos parque urbanos de la metrópoli más poblada de Hispanoamérica y que ha albergado uno de los cultos más importantes en la historia de la Iglesia Católica: el Santuario de la Virgen de Los Remedios, de donde el parque toma su nombre. Parque Nacional decretado en 1938 que en menos de 100 años ha perdido mas del 50% de su área, aunque sigue resistiéndose a la creciente urbanización, perdurando como un remanente natural.

Following the industrial revolution with its massive urbanisation in the 19th century and the continued explosive growth of urban areas and the decline of nature throughout the 20th century, the alienation between people and the nature was increased. The urban park movement had objective to increase life quality in the modern city. The last years we have seen an increasing interest across Europe in the development of nature in cities. The case study of the City Park of Portimão will be presented and examined with emblematic similar projects that marked the urban park movement in the last decades. The Cental Park of New York, the Amsterdamse Bos, Parc, the André-Citröen and the City Park of Porto are discussed with objective to study how the Urban green space contributes to ecological, social and economic sustainability.

This paper traces evidence of the influence of the landscape on people's health, from ancient times to the present day, noting how access to nature and attractive green spaces has been a recurring theme in descriptions of therapeutic environments and associated healthy lifestyles. It describes how the theme of health in the picturesque debates of eighteenth century England (including such concepts as 'active curiosity') was taken up and developed in arguments for the nineteenth century urban park movement in England and North America. Recent theories on the mechanisms behind health benefits of nature and access to landscape are compared with claims made in the nineteenth century and earlier. The importance of access to the landscape appears to be as relevant as ever in the context of modern urban lifestyles but the need for better evidence and understanding remains.

Urban open space provides a number of valuable services to urban populations, including recreational opportunities, aesthetic enjoyment, environmental functions, and may also be associated with existence values. In separate meta-analyses of the contingent valuation (CV) and hedonic pricing (HP) literature we examine which physical, socio-economic, and study characteristics determine the value of open space. The dependent variable in the CV meta-regression is defined as the value of open space per hectare per year in 2003 US$, and in the HP model as the percentage change in house price for a 10 m decrease in distance to open space. Using a multi-level modelling approach we find in both the CV and HP analyses that there is a positive and significant relationship between the value of urban open space and population density, indicating that scarcity and crowdedness matter, and that the value of open space does not vary significantly with income. Further, urban parks are more highly valued than other types of urban open space (forests, agricultural and undeveloped land) and methodological differences in study design have a large influence on estimated values from both CV and HP. We also find important regional differences in preferences for urban open space, which suggests that the potential for transferring estimated values between regions is likely to be limited. (L.M. Brander). 1 The concept of urban open space can also include urban wetlands. We decided to exclude urban wetlands from the present analysis because they potentially provide a much wider set of ecosystem services than other forms of open space, and therefore introduce a greater degree of heterogeneity into the data; and because the values of wetlands have already been thoroughly examined in previous meta-analyses (see Brouwer et al.

Increasing population and urbanization in U.S. cities is not only contributing to the congestion in urban recreation parks but also is likely to exceed the capacity of these parks' recreational and amenity benefits. In order to estimate the demand for and benefit of parks, we employed a typical hedonic model, which confirmed that the urban recreation park acres increase nearby property values. Two Step Clustering, which is capable of defining the optimum number of submarkets based on the data, was employed to define the submarkets within Roanoke, Virginia and to obtain enough implicit price points to further estimate the demand for urban park acres in the second stage. Results from the second stage hedonic estimation revealed that demand for urban park acres was inelastic in price and income; and the size of the park was a substitute for living space and proximity to park. In addition, increasing the average size of parks by 20% from the current level increased the per household consumer surplus by $160. The estimated amenity benefits of urban recreation parks will be useful in urban landuse planning and open space preservation.

There is increasing and widespread public support for public park provision in urban areas given that they provide an array of different recreational activities enhancing the citizen's quality of life. A contingent valuation survey of 900 randomly chosen inhabitants was undertaken in Valencia (Spain) to estimate the non-market benefits derived from the provision of a new urban park where there is currently an old train station. In conducting our study we distinguished between the districts of the city more and less affected by the project according to the proximity to the future park. Our main finding is that the mean willingness to pay (WTP) is considerably higher for people who live closer to the planned park as it is more accessible to them. The fact that this finding may be rather obvious does not in any case reduce its importance in light of the policy implications that could be derived from it. To give further credence to this result we used both parametric and non-parametric approaches, which yielded similar results. Finally, an equation was estimated in order to validate the results obtained from a theoretical point of view.

Urban environment quality is worsening every year. It is a fact that the urban air temperature is gradually rising in all cities and some effective measures are needed to mitigate it. Planting of vegetation is one of the main strategies to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Large urban parks can extend positive effects to the surrounding built environment. National University of Singapore (NUS) complex can be considered as a ''city'' on a smaller scale. The greenery along Kent Ridge Road seems like a ''rural'' area, with a cooler ambient temperature. Some methodologies were employed in this study, such as satellite image, field measurement and computer simulations. The satellite image was used to identify the ''hot'' and ''cool'' spots in NUS environment. Field measurement was used to get the real temperature distribution across the campus and finally, computer simulation was used to predict some scenarios of different conditions. The result shows that buildings near or surrounded by greenery have lower ambient temperature than the ones away from the greenery and it is an effective way to lower the ambient temperature. The TAS simulation results also show that a rooftop garden has the potential of cooling energy savings for NUS buildings. r

Parks as an urban landscape feature serve many functions as providers of passive and active recreation, environmental benefits, and wildlife habitat. The research presented herein explores the concept that urban parks may also function as a boundary landscape separating neighborhoods of distinct socioeconomic characteristics. When an urban park functions as a boundary, it impoverishes neighborhoods because it often leads to less use of the open space resource, which then can become a derelict landscape. Therefore, park condition, in the paper, was used as an indication that a park is functioning as a boundary park. Four parks in Boston's neighborhoods of Roxbury and North Dorchester served as study sites to evaluate the hypothesis that parks located between socioeconomically distinct neighborhoods function as boundary landscapes.

Greenspace is an important part of complex urban ecosystems and provides significant ecosystem services. It benefits urban communities environmentally, esthetically, recreationally and economically. Beijing Province is in north of China, and has a total area of 16,807.8 km 2 and a population of about 13.8 million. This paper aims to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for urban greening of Beijing Province based on landscape ecological principles. It attempts to answer how to establish an urban greening plan at the regional, city and neighborhood levels to achieve long-term sustainability. At the regional level, a big natural and semi-natural forest area in the northwest and an ecological buffer belt in the southeast are planned to protect the environmental quality of Beijing and provide habitats for wildlife. At the city level, a green network system of green wedges, parks and green corridors has been proposed. This green network helps to limit future urban expansion, improve urban environmental quality and serve as habitats and migration routes for wildlife. At the neighborhood level, green extensions and connections of riverside greenway, road greenway, parks and vertical greening permeate into the built-up areas. They provide open space close to residential areas and offer places for recreation. This three-level green system constitutes an integrated ecological network for urban sustainable development of Beijing. For future development of Beijing, urban parks, forestry, agriculture, water and infrastructure should be planned and designed in an integrated way. After this greenspace plan is legislated and completely realized, Beijing will develop an interconnected and integrated network of urban greenspaces. It has the prospect of achieving the aim of "Green Olympic City 2008" and the long-term goal of developing Beijing towards an "Eco-City".

The leaves of Nerium oleander L. (oleander) were tested as a possible biomonitor of heavy metal pollution studied in Antalya along the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey. Fifty-three sites (urban roadside, urban, urban park, suburban andrural) in and around Antalya city were investigated. The concentration of Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu were determined in unwashed and washed leaves and soils. Differences between the unwashed and washed samples varied according to the metal pollutant. Significant correlations were obtained between the heavy metal concentrations in surface soil and washed leaf samples. Nerium oleander was found to be a useful biomonitor of the determined heavy metals.

Urban parks can help mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effects and decrease cooling energy consumption in summer. However, it is unclear how park characteristics affect the formation of a park cool island (PCI). In this study, PCI intensity values for 92 parks in Nagoya, Japan were obtained from ASTER land surface temperature (LST) products and then correlated to detailed and use information derived from high-spatial-resolution IKONOS satellite data. The results indicate that (1) the cooling effect depends on the park size and seasonal radiation condition, and park size is non-linearly correlated to PCI intensity; (2) PCI intensity is mainly determined by the area of tree and shrub inside the park as well as the park shape, and grass has negative impact on PCI formation. The park vegetation and shape index (PVSI) proposed here well predicted PCI intensity of selected parks. These findings can help urban planners to understand PCI formation and design cool parks to counteract UHI effects.

Urban park area is a potential resource for urban populations to experience nature in cities, including tropical cities. Differences in interests among people of different ethnicities have been debated in tropical multi-ethnic countries during the early stages of outdoor recreation research. However, the extent to which ethnicity is related to satisfaction with components of urban park environments
remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the satisfaction of different ethnic groups with natural components of tropical urban parks. A total of 2110 respondents from three main ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) were surveyed based on non-probability convenience sampling at six major urban parks in Peninsular
Malaysia. Our results showed that park features and several environmental factors affected their satisfaction with the urban parks. All ethnic groups in the urban parks shared a common pattern of park use. However, there were significant differences in the effects of natural landscapes on visitor satisfaction. The necessity of having upgraded facilities in natural landscapes indirectly suggests the importance of balancing nature conservation with green spaces in urban landscape design. This study contributes to the theoretical discussion on green spaces in urban cities and balancing nature conservation with green spaces in urban landscape design.

Large urban parks can support a diverse bird community. However, the effects of variability among habitats and of park management on bird assemblages are poorly understood. We studied bird communities within the Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv, the largest urban park in Israel. We examined species richness, abundance and community composition across 20 locations that differ in levels of park management to identify habitat variables responsible for variation in bird richness and composition. Of 91 recorded bird species, 13 were aliens (14%), 4 were urban exploiters (4%), 54 were urban adapters (60%) and 20 were migrants (22%). Management had a significant effect on native bird richness and bird community structure varied among areas with different management regimes. Species richness of all the above species' groups was lowest in intensively managed areas. Areas with intermediate levels of management had higher or equal richness compared to unmanaged areas. The majority of urban exploiters were found at all locations within the park reaching their highest abundances in intensively managed areas. Species richness of alien birds did not vary across levels of management. Bird species richness was negatively associated with lawn cover and with distance from nearest water source and was positively associated with the number of woody plant species. We suggest that urban parks should be designed such that the heterogeneity of native vegetation is preserved, if we aim to maintain native bird species diversity and minimize urban exploiter and alien species. When lightly managed or unmanaged, urban parks can retain large remnants of sub-natural habitats and can serve as important contributors to the conservation of native biodiversity within a large urban metropolis.

The purpose of this research is to identify and understand vandalism issues that occur in the selected case study site as well as to determine characteristics of the surrounding landscape associated with vandalism hotspots, and to justify safe ...

Although the fields of leisure studies and recreation and parks were founded on addressing health and wellness needs of people, only recently have these needs been addressed by major, systematic research efforts. This paper examines the origins of leisure studies and the study of recreation behavior and park use and their potential contribution to active living research. Over the past 2 decades, leisure studies research has generated a body of literature pertinent to understanding and increasing active living, including studies on time use, motivation for initiating and maintaining activity, influence of user fees, and urban park use. Environmental, transportation, and public recreation policy and management practices also are important considerations in recreation and parks research. This article concludes with a list of recommendations to integrate these and other considerations into transdisciplinary research on active living. Opportunities for leisure studies/recreation and park research on active living include studies of environmental, life span, and motivational influences; greater use of objective measures of physical activity; and forming partnerships with allied industries to study physical activity. Among suggestions for facilitating such studies are training seminars for leisure studies and recreation researchers in active living research methods, changes in point allocation on grant proposals, providing incentives for transdisciplinary collaboration, and special journal issues. (Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2S2):150 -158)

Given that recent literature reviews on physical activity in urban parks deliberately excluded qualitative findings, we reviewed qualitative research on this topic informed by a published classification scheme based on quantitative research. Twenty-one studies met our inclusion criteria. These studies relied mainly on semi-structured interviews with individuals or in focus groups; only five studies involved in situ observation. Our synthesis aligns with previous quantitative research showing that attributes including safety, aesthetics, amenities, maintenance, and proximity are important for encouraging park use. Furthermore, our synthesis of qualitative research suggests that perceptions of the social environment entwine inextricably with perceptions of the physical environment. If so, physical attributes of parks as well as perceptions of these attributes (formed in relation to broader social contexts) may influence physical activity patterns. Both qualitative and quantitative methods provide useful information for interpreting such patterns, and in particular, when designing and assessing interventions intended to improve the amount and intensity of physical activity.

Urban and suburban parks can play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity, especially in a strongly urbanised region like Flanders (Belgium). A previously developed method for monitoring biodiversity was applied to 15 parks in Flanders. This method took both habitat and ...

Objective. A physical activity disparity exists between rural and urban residents. Community parks are resources for physical activity because they are publicly provided, available at a low cost, and accessible to most residents. We examine the use of and physical activity outcomes associated with rural and urban parks.