Urban Green Spaces: how geospatial information can help identify diversity. A case study from eastern Lesser Poland

Abstract

Progressing globalisation and suburbanisation are driving dynamic changes in land management, particularly in suburban zones. Green infrastructure and its impact on human quality of life are playing an increasingly important role in appropriate spatial management, because of human activities that are changing the natural environment. Therefore, monitoring and assessing the proportion of green spaces is essential for environmental, urban and social balance. The purpose of the study is to develop a method for measuring and monitoring the diversity of land cover classes, including green spaces as representatives of natural land cover classes. The proposed method describes the current state of land in quantitative and qualitative terms based on spatial data on land cover. The study employs Shannon’s Diversity Index (SHDI) to empirically investigate land cover homogeneity. The intensity of the phenomenon was visualised in space using statistical hot spot analysis. The case study involves two cities in eastern Lesser Poland and districts adjacent to them. The results have demonstrated that the investigated areas have a highly heterogenic land cover. Basic assessment fields have exhibited homogeneity only towards large, green, agricultural, environmentally valuable and, often, protected areas. The results concerning urban green spaces comprise a set of data that constitute a valuable source of information to aid the development of informed urban-planning solutions under the sustainable development paradigm.

A multimetric approach to anthropogenic pressure analyses: A tool for measuring and mapping the human impact on the landscape

“…The only exceptions were the BAFs adjacent to the cadastral boundary of the city of Kraków. There are many profits of employing a hexagon grid, which is consistent with the literature (Wang & Ai, 2018) and this size of BAF was chosen because publications on the measurement of LC changes in suburban areas employed it (Ellis et al, 2006, Cegielska et al, 2022). The area was divided into 1150 BAFs.…”

“…It is a daunting task to identify the directions and spatiotemporal dynamics of landscape transformations due to the high level of their complexity. Land cover (LC) and use data are valuable research material in this regard (Jat et al, 2008; Cegielska et al, 2022). They can be used to analyse both the microstructure of objects (level of individual objects) and landscape macrostructures.…”

Spatial Diversity Changes in Land Use and Land Cover Mix in Central European Capitals and Their Commuting Zones from 2006 to 2018

“…When q → 1 , it is Shannon entropy. Shannon entropy is employed in spatial analyses of LULC and landscape structure, similarly to the Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI) [19,53,54]. In fact, Shannon entropy can be normalised as a ratio of Shannon entropy to ln n, which yields ENT entropy, formalised as Equation (2) [24]:…”

Preferences of public space users towards trees and other forms of greenery in Lublin's old town

“…Despite their importance, their role has tended to be underestimated in urban planning and management (Baycan-Levent & Nijkamp, 2009). In order to maximise the beneficial effects, residents must be involved in the process of urban greenery planning (Tempesta & Vecchiato, 2015;Gerstenberg & Hofmann, 2016;Dondina et al, 2018;Madureira et al, 2018;Cegielska et al, 2022). In the rich literature on the role of trees and greenery in cities, very little research has focused on the oldest parts of cities.…”