Characteristics of urban parks and their relation to user well-being

Ayala-Azcárraga, Cristina; Díaz, Daniel; Zambrano, Luis

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.04.005

Cited by 165 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Increasingly, quality of green landscape is seen as a factor determining health and well-being outcomes (Jorgensen and Gobster 2010;Nieuwenhuijsen et al 2017;Brindley et al 2019;Ayala-Azcárraga et al 2019), but this aspect is still under-researched. Previous studies often fail to define or quantify the green space being studied, yet 'urban green space' can comprise anything from flat expanses of turfgrass to highly heterogeneous land forms full of wildlife (Botzat et al 2016).…”

Section: Typology and Quality Of Urban Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?

et al. 2020

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Urban green space can help mitigate the negative impacts of urban living and provide positive effects on citizens' mood, health and well-being. Questions remain, however, as to whether all types of green space are equally beneficial, and if not, what landscape forms or key features optimise the desired benefits. For example, it has been cited that urban landscapes rich in wildlife (high biodiversity) may promote more positive emotions and enhance well-being. This research utilised a mobile phone App, employed to assess people's emotions when they entered any one of 945 green spaces within the city of Sheffield, UK. Emotional responses were correlated to key traits of the individual green spaces, including levels of biodiversity the participant perceived around them. For a subsample of these green spaces, actual levels of biodiversity were assessed through avian and habitat surveys. Results demonstrated strong correlations between levels of avian biodiversity within a green space and human emotional response to that space. Respondents reported being happier in sites with greater avian biodiversity (p < 0.01, r = 0.78) and a greater variety of habitats (p < 0.02, r = 0.72). Relationships were strengthened when emotions were linked to perceptions of overall biodiversity (p < 0.001, r = 0.89). So, when participants thought the site was wildlife rich, they reported more positive emotions, even when actual avian biodiversity levels were not necessarily enhanced. The data strengthens the arguments that nature enhances well-being through positive affect, and that increased 'engagement with nature' may help support human health within urban environments. The results have strong implications for city planning with respect to the design, management and use of city green spaces.

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Section: Typology and Quality Of Urban Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?

et al. 2020

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“…In cities across climates and cultures, one finds novel vegetation arrangements within recreational parks (Threlfall et al, 2016;Weems, 2016;Talal and Santelmann, 2019). Recreational parks are a public form of green infrastructure that provides services to individuals through access to recreation, cooler temperatures, and improvement to overall health (Bolund and Hunhammar, 1999;Ayala-Azcárraga et al, 2019). These urban greenspaces contain multiple species of trees planted to provide esthetic benefits and shade as well as large expanses of green turf for recreation and gathering (Tinsley et al, 2002;Pataki et al, 2013;Talal and Santelmann, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Climate and Management on Patterns of Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Recreational Park Vegetation

et al. 2020

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Recreational urban parks support diverse assemblages of plants that through their functions, contribute beneficial services to billions of individuals throughout the world. Drivers of vegetation-derived services in parks are complex, as climate and park management interact with the functioning of multiple species of vegetation types. Yet, informal observations suggest that recreational parks are constructed consistently to specific principles of landscape design. Here we ask: what are the patterns of functional traits and vegetation diversity in cities of varying climate in the United States, and how do these patterns result in a consistent typology of recreational park? We hypothesized that increased aridity would exclude species not adapted to warm, dry climates, thereby reducing local, or alpha, taxonomic diversity and shifting community composition. However, a similar preference of park managers in the United States for suites of servicebased functional traits leads to similarity of mean values of services traits in recreational parks among cities, regardless of climate differences. We tested this hypothesis by surveying lawn species, comprised of herbaceous turf and spontaneous plants, and woody species in fifteen recreational parks across Baltimore MD, Riverside CA, and Palm Springs CA, three cities that contain multiple parks but differ in regional climate. With increasing aridity, taxonomic alpha diversity decreased and plant physiology shifted, yet no differences were observed among most service-based functional traits. Among the cities surveyed, no significant differences were observed in functional dispersion of woody and spontaneous species or most service-based traits. Taxonomic composition differed in each city for all vegetation types, while suites of service-based traits differed between Baltimore and the two more arid cities of Riverside and Palm Springs. Our results suggest that across the United States, service-based functional traits are consistent, even when arising from unique compositions and abundances of species in recreational parks. We interpret these results as an interaction between climate and the preferences of recreation park managers for services, creating a pattern of vegetation diversity where taxonomic alpha and beta diversity vary among regions while specific suites of services remain available.

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“…Urban development processes, particularly landscape fragmentation, threaten human well-being by reducing the amount of green space in cities as well as the provision of ecosystem services. The importance of urban greenspaces for human physical and mental health has been well-established (Di Giulio et al, 2009) and city planners are utilizing these human health connections to justify increases in parks and other green spaces in cities (Ayala-Azcárraga et al, 2019). However, human well-being may also be threatened by fragmentation in ways unrelated to nature access and ecosystem services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Consequences of Landscape Fragmentation on Socio-Ecological Patterns in a Rapidly Developing Urban Area: A Case Study of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

Zambrano

Aronson

Fernández

2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Fragmentation of natural landscapes during urbanization processes has been well-linked to biodiversity loss and changes in ecological and ecosystem function. Fragmentation can also have profound effects on provision of ecosystem services and on human social dynamics and well-being within cities. The ways in which ecological, ecosystem service, and social factors and the interactions among these are affected by fragmentation is not well-studied. Understanding these relationships is particularly important in cities where high densities of human population create intense and dynamic interactions within green spaces. Using the rapidly developing campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City as a case study, we examine the effects of natural area fragmentation over time on ecosystem services, human well-being, and biodiversity. We compare fragmentation of the campus natural areas between 1954 and 2015 to non-native plant species distribution maps, models of water infiltration, and mobility and citizen-science data. We found that the loss and fragmentation of the campus's natural areas has had varied effects on ecosystem services, and negative effects on human well-being and biodiversity. The relationships between fragmentation and ecosystem services depends on the ecosystem service being measured; water infiltration was negatively impacted by fragmentation but engagement with biodiversity was greatest in areas with a mix of natural and urban land covers. Our human well-being variable, mobility (the average travel time within the campus of walkers, bicyclists, and cars), was negatively affected by fragmentation. Walkers and cyclists spent significantly more time traveling across campus in 2015 compared to 1954. Finally, the most fragmented areas of the campus's natural areas support large populations of invasive exotic species, indicating negative effects of fragmentation on biodiversity. Although campus urban development is necessary for supporting the academic community at this growing university, we suggest a renewed focus on sustainable campus development Zambrano et al. Managing Protected Urban Green Spaces in which land sparing in emphasized; connecting instructional, research, administrative, and other campus facilities within urban clusters and providing sustainable transport systems. Thus, eliminating further loss and fragmentation of the natural areas on campus, supporting both human well-being and the unique biodiversity of the region.

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Characteristics of urban parks and their relation to user well-being

Cited by 165 publications

References 42 publications

Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?

Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?

Influence of Climate and Management on Patterns of Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Recreational Park Vegetation

The Consequences of Landscape Fragmentation on Socio-Ecological Patterns in a Rapidly Developing Urban Area: A Case Study of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

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