Rethinking urban parks Low, Setha M; Taplin, Dana; Scheld, Suzanne
2005, 20050101
eBook, Book
Urban parks such as New York City's Central Park provide vital public spaces where city dwellers of all races and classes can mingle safely while enjoying a variety of recreations. By coming together ...in these relaxed settings, different groups become comfortable with each other, thereby strengthening their communities and the democratic fabric of society. But just the opposite happens when, by design or in ignorance, parks are made inhospitable to certain groups of people. This pathfinding book argues that cultural diversity should be a key goal in designing and maintaining urban parks. Using case studies of New York City's Prospect Park, Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park, and Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area, as well as New York's Ellis Island Bridge Proposal and Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, the authors identify specific ways to promote, maintain, and manage cultural diversity in urban parks. They also uncover the factors that can limit park use, including historical interpretive materials that ignore the contributions of different ethnic groups, high entrance or access fees, park usage rules that restrict ethnic activities, and park “restorations” that focus only on historical or aesthetic values. With the wealth of data in this book, urban planners, park professionals, and all concerned citizens will have the tools to create and maintain public parks that serve the needs and interests of all the public.
As of today, according to the classifications of ecosystem services, there were developed numerous methods of their assessment. At the same time, there are no studies on institutional support for ...ecosystems depending on their functional groups. If we want to achieve economic effects in our economic activity in the process of support and improvement of ecosystem functions, we need to know exactly what effects are desirable and which ecosystem functions are responsible for them. Therefore, the subject of research of the article is groups of ecosystem services of city parks and the possibility of their institutional support. The purpose of the article is to present a comprehensive approach to support for ecosystem services of city parks by diversifying directions of support by ecosystem functions. The article uses methods of theoretical cognition, namely: induction, deduction and systems analysis. The use of systems analysis is aimed at systematizing data on ecosystem functioning, and known ways of their institutional control and support. Conceptual data passes through the border of economics and ecology, and consist of known developments for the assessment of ecosystem services, their functional classification. The study and analysis of these sources allowed to develop a comprehensive approach to institutional support of park ecosystems, in order to obtain certain economic, ecological and social effects. The paper presents the specifics of institutional support of parks according to the landscape and geographical approach. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of parks of different categories, it was found that city parks in their organizational and economic support should embody the functions of public space, while maintaining its ecological significance for the city. Therefore, the results of the research indicate that due to its versatility, high-quality organization of the city park requires clear and responsible institutional support. A quality city park meets the social and ecological needs of the city, and ideally, contributes to the economic well-being of nearby facilities and areas. The popularity and economic importance of the park depends on the ability to meet all these needs and the quality of ecosystem services of the park. The practical significance of the study is that the diversification of institutional support of city parks by groups of ecosystem services will increase the efficiency of management and organizational apparatus in the field of park management and will improve the quality of services received by park visitors. Improvement of the quality of services will contribute towards the increase of the popularity of parks and, consequently, economic benefits. The originality of the article lies in the fact that the author proposed for the first time the support for park facilities by groups of ecosystem services. It is determined that city parks are characterized by the following functional groups of ecosystem services: regulatory, cultural and supportive. The qualitative component with regard to the city park provides not only its support as an ecosystem, but also the possibility of convenient consumption of these services by park visitors. Therefore, it is important for city parks to note the availability of infrastructure, which should be considered separately from the support of ecosystem services.
Large trees are considered keystone structures in agricultural and forestry production landscapes, but research demonstrating this in urban landscapes is urgently needed. If large trees are keystone ...structures in urban parks, it is imperative that this is recognized in policy to ensure their ongoing existence. We studied the role of large native trees for birds in urban parks in Canberra, Australia. We found that (1) large trees had a consistent, strong, and positive relationship with five measures of bird diversity, and (2) as trees became larger in size, their positive effect on bird diversity increased. Large urban trees are therefore keystone structures that provide crucial habitat resources for wildlife. Hence, it is vital that they are managed appropriately. With evidence‐based tree preservation policies that recognize biodiversity values, and proactive planning for future large trees, the protection and perpetuation of these important keystone structures can be achieved.
The article uses an interdisciplinary approach to study the links between urbanization and the state of the green infrastructure of the metropolis, which indicates the possibility of providing ...ecosystem services. This is important for the formation of a better management policy of green urban space for the sustainable development of the metropolis. In order to allow creation of forecast in time, spatial and statistical analysis of the relationship between the criteria of urbanization and ecosystem services were done, which resulted in spatial analysis – showing the distribution of the study area by condition and viability of green plantations depending on the level of urbanization to visualize their complex structure and condition. Indicators of urbanization were researched: 1) urbanization Index (UI); 2) Anthropogenic load index (Jal); 3) water erosion of the soil; 4) adventization index of grass cover (Inn); 5) nitrophils in grass tirer; and environmental indicators. Three most important groups of ecosystem services (ES) were identified quantitatively: 1) habitat quality, regulating ES – park area, mortality of trees, canopy density, stand condition index (Is), integral indicator of the impact significance (W), natural value index (Inv); 2) biodiversity conservation – Hstr, Biodiversity Indices; 3) provision of recreational ES – t, R. It was found that urbanization has a direct negative impact on ES, which contributes to the reduction of biodiversity, area, structure and condition of park ecosystems (PE). According to the proposed indices, the studied Kyiv park ecosystems form two large groups – 1) with a significant anthropogenic load and 2) with the best preservation of the forest environment, complex biotic structure. We made recommendations on the policy of management and preservation of green infrastructure in the context of rapid urbanization, especially on park ecosystems of the second group.
•Interdisciplinary approach to study the links between urbanization and the state of the green infrastructure of metropolis.•Five indicators of urbanization were researched.•Three most important groups of ecosystem services (ES) were identified quantitatively.•Further studies are needed on the level of urbanization and the adaptation responses of GI in time and space.
This study investigated the effects of the proximity to city parks and the influence of residential greenness on children's emotional and behavioral problems. This cross-sectional study included ...1,468 mothers of children (ages 4 to 6) who were residents of the city of Kaunas, Lithuania. The mothers and their children were enrolled in the FP7 PHENOTYPE project study. The mothers reported on their parenting stress and their children's mental health. Residential greenness was characterized as an average of the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in a 300 m buffer around each home address, and the proximity to city parks was defined as the distance from the subject's residence to the nearest park. Linear regression models were used to investigate the association among the residence distances from city parks, greenness and children's mental health problems. Farther residential distance from city parks was associated with worse mental health (except for the emotional problems subscale) in children whose mothers had a lower education level. More residential greenness was associated with worse mental health (more conditional problems and less prosocial behavior) in children whose mothers had a higher education level. These relationships have important implications for the prevention of emotional and behavioral problems in children.
Summary
Ixodes ricinus
is the most relevant vector for tick-borne diseases in Austria and responsible for the transmission of
Borrelia burgdorferi
sensu lato (s. l.), which causes Lyme borreliosis in ...humans; however, also other bacteria and protozoa can be found in ticks and have the potential of infecting people and animals. In this study we collected ticks in popular recreational areas in the city of Vienna in the years 2019 and 2020 and analyzed them for the presence of such putative pathogenic microorganisms. By using reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization we detected DNA of
B. burgdorferi
s. l.,
Rickettsia
spp.,
Babesia
spp.,
Candidatus
Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) and
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
. Moreover, we also screened them for the relapsing fever spirochete
Borrelia miyamotoi
employing real-time PCR. The most frequently detected pathogens were
B. burgdorferi
s. l. in 28.6% of the ticks in 2019 and 21.3% of the ticks in 2020. The genus
Rickettsia
was detected in 13.8% of the ticks from 2019 and only in 4.6% from 2020.
Babesia
spp. were detected in 5.7% in 2019 and 4.2% in 2020. Furthermore, we detected CNM in 4.0% (2019) and 5.6% (2020),
A. phagocytophilum
in 0.5% (2019) and 1.3% (2020) and finally
B. miyamotoi
in 3.3% (2019) and 1.7% (2020). Collectively, we show that various microorganisms are prevalent in ticks collected in Vienna and identify hotspots for
B. miyamotoi,
which we have detected for the first time in the city.
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