Outdoor Space Quality Mapping by Combining Accessibility, Openness, and Microclimate: A Case Study in a Neighborhood Park in Shanghai, China

Abstract

The vitality of outdoor space is largely determined by its quality, which encompasses many factors such as traffic accessibility, openness, microclimate, etc. Creating space with high quality can attract more visitors and contribute to urban vitality and sustainability. Visualization of quality distribution can aid the design and management of high-quality outdoor spaces. In this study, we developed a method for generating an integrated outdoor space quality map by normalizing, weighting, and summing up the traffic accessibility, openness, and microclimate distributions in the space. Field surveys were conducted on a neighborhood park in Shanghai, China, to obtain data to determine the relative importance of the studied factors. Integrated mapping was then performed on the park as a case study. As for accessibility, since the park only has one entrance, the metric step distance (MSD) increased with the distance from that entrance, indicating poor accessibility. The high openness found in the central areas of the park indicate that people may easily notice the central spaces and conduct activities there. The microclimate map denoted by physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) shows that in winter in Shanghai, the distribution of heat stress is mainly dominated by solar radiation. By integrating the distributions of accessibility, openness, and microclimate, we found that some spaces had better space quality than others. Based on the comprehensive map, we proposed a series of design strategies. The method developed in this study provides a quantitative tool to design outdoor spaces with high quality.

The Perceived Restorativeness of Outdoor Spatial Characteristics for High School Adolescents: A Case Study from China

“…Devising spatial prototypes is also essential because they can play a determining role in the perceived comfort of microclimates [ 31 ], which our general investigation of break spaces revealed to be an important influence upon the willingness of students to go outside. Accessibility, openness, and the microclimate have been combined to describe the quality of outdoor spaces in other studies [ 24 ]. All these factors are related to spatial characteristics.…”

“…To explore the relationship between the spatial prototypes and their restorative quality, it was essential to be able to quantify their spatial features. A detailed literature survey revealed that scale, location, and spatial patterns were the most accessible measures for describing outdoor spaces [ 12 , 23 , 24 ].…”

A Quantitative Analysis Towards Interim-Reuse of Urban Voids: An Ecological Treatment Guideline with Regenerative Approaches

“…Enclosure refers to the degree to which buildings or other physical barriers surround a UV. The enclosure can affect the microclimate of an urban void, as well as its accessibility and visibility (Tao et al, 2022).…”