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Urban Green Space System Planning

Bayram Cemil Bilgili and Ercan Gökyer
1Çankırı Karatekin University, Çankırı
2Bartın University, Bartın
Turkey
1. Introduction
Today's changing world, values and standards of human were changed with urbanization. In this
change people was differentiated existing uses and created new areas. These changes are different
from country to country to the extent of economic, cultural and geographical
reasons. In addition, these areas were determined to same principles basis for human uses.
Life style was changed with urbanization. In this process rural areas were transformed to
urban areas. These areas are dominated by mass of concrete. In these areas there are small
green areas at a micro level. In the process of rapid urbanization was created an unnatural
environment. In the developed countries, urban areas were effected physical and mental
development of people. This effect was adversely. With this change in urban areas, people
entered into a yearning for natural areas. At beginning, green areas have been established to
resolve natural longing of people. Urban green spaces have become the indispensable
elements of ecological, aesthetic and recreational value. Establish of urban green space
systems has become a necessity in today.
Urban green areas were not established for recreational needs. At the same time urban green
spaces are ecological based requirement (Bilgili, 2009). Urban green space and green space
systems were reviewed in this section.
2. What is urban green space?
Urban green spaces are urban areas which were occurred that, natural or semi natural
ecosystems were converted urban spaces by human influence. Urban green spaces provide
the connection between urban and nature. In this context, green areas are reflection in the
urban spaces of natural or near natural areas surrounding the cities. The green fields are
continuation of mostly landscapes around the city. Besides, urban green areas provide lots
of ecological benefits which were established especially needs of urban people.
The increase of spare time of urban resident’s and pressure of work and study enhances
their demand of green space. Generally, the determining of necessary work time and to have
more time make the leisure activities, which help people engage in self-creation activity and
relaxation of body and soul, possible. This special time pay attention to two kinds of
activities: people deal with nature; the other that between people. People’s desire for fresh
air, natural views and natural attractions, which reflects people’s natural perception; the latter reflects their social behaviour.
During the long historical time period, human has used
a kind of ability to appreciate nature, to get the flavour of life and formed some
psychological processes dependency on nature. This kind of feeling and perception through
the realization of a better build and strengthen self-identification. In addition, these feelings
reinforce mutual understanding and trust, strengthen the relationship with each other and
may be responsible. All this really help to achieve self-worth. This is the most powerful
reason why the communication in green area can never replace that in open public area.
People begin to realize the crucial mechanism of urban green space system is to transform
the active mechanic space into ideal state, i. e. form the value of environment mechanism, in
relation to people’s life (Wuqiang et al., 2012).
This urges urban spatial pattern to develop a kind of diversity system to relate other spatial
shapes and itself can provide city with ecological safety value (Wuqiang et al., 2012). The
requirement of green space, one of the main drives of world city system: most of the
multinational corporations will choose the areas of headquarter and branches by comparing the
urban environment and landscape of many cities. And of course, the favourable urban system,
i. e. embodiment of the urban spatial pattern based on the integrate green space system, can
attract more attention of the investors (Baycan-Levent and Nijkamp, 2009; Wuqiang et al., 2012)
Regional green space is based on the protection and optimization of natural ecological
system and actually refers to continuous suburban green space of large size. It not only
improves the whole ecological environment of the city region and its neighbours, and
provides important support of urban environmental improvement. Furthermore,
introduction of suburban green space into city also acts as the base of ecological balance. In
practice, problems of urban woods and citied agriculture should be paid sufficient attention
(Wuqiang et al., 2012). Green space systems require improvement of the spatial pattern of
urban green space. To identify potential improvements, we compared the predicted
development of planned cultivated and natural green spaces (Kong et al., 2010). Urban
green space systems includes protection of existing green spaces, creation of new spatial
forms, and restoration and maintenance of connectivity among diverse green spaces. To
maintain or restore connectivity, planners must identify the best habitat and potential
corridors by considering distances and the barriers between habitats (impedance) posed by
the landscape and land use (Kong et al., 2010)
Urban green spaces provide many functions in urban context that benefits people’s quality
of life. There is therefore a wide consensus about the importance and value of urban green
spaces in cities towards planning and constructing sustainable or eco-cities of 21st century.
Steadily growing traffic and urban heat, especially in the developing countries is not only
damaging the environment but also incur social and economic costs. The ecological benefits
bestowed in green spaces which range from protecting and maintaining the biodiversity to
helping in the mitigation of change cannot be overlooked in today’s sustainable planning.
Inner-city green spaces are especially important for improving air quality though uptake of
pollutant gases and particulates which are responsible for respiratory infections. Green
spaces also help in reduction of the energy costs of cooling buildings effectively.
Furthermore, due to their amenity and aesthetic, green spaces increase property value.
However, the most sought benefits of green spaces in a city are the social and psychological
benefits. Urban green spaces, especially public parks and gardens provide resources for
relaxation and recreation. Ideally this helps in emotional healing (therapeutic) and physical spaces in the city should be easily
accessible and in adequately optimal in quality and
quantity. Green spaces need to be uniformly distributed throughout the city area, and the
total area occupied by green spaces in the city should be large enough to accommodate the
city population needs (Haq, 2011).
The provision, design, management and protection of urban green spaces are at the top of
the agenda of sustainability and liveability. Urban green spaces play a key role in improving
the liveability of our towns and cities. The quality and viability of cities largely depend on
the design, management and maintenance of green as well as open and public spaces in
order to provide their role as an important social and visual way. Urban green spaces are
not only an important component in housing areas, but also in business, leisure, retail and
other commercial developments (Baycan-Levent, 2002).
3. Urban green space systems
Urban Green spaces refer to those land uses and land cover that are covered with natural or
man-made vegetation in the city and planning areas. It has been long argued about the
definition of green space system. Different disciplines have used various definitions from
their own professional concept, such as Horticultural Greenland System, Urban Greenland
System, Ecological Greenland System, and Urban Green Space and Green Open Space
(Manlun, 2003).
Common is that they are primarily linear or networks of linear lands designated or
recognized for their special qualities Table 1. 1 (Hellmund and Smith, 2006)
processes supporting a range of services including pollination, soil fertility, flood defense,
air filtration and carbon capture and storage. Without the Green Belt designation it is likely
that a proportion of this land would have been lost to urban development and associated
infrastructure. Green Belt landscapes have been fragmented by development in a number of
locations over time, however, and there may be a correlation between this and the relative
lack of large and/or nationally important nature conservation areas. Green Belt land needs
to be recognized as an integral part of ecological networks, forming healthy, functioning
ecosystems to benefit wildlife and the people who live in adjacent towns and cities
(Anonymous, 2010).

Greenways are being designated as green network in cities and countryside throughout North
America and elsewhere. Sometimes these conservation areas are a response to environmental
problems, such as flooding or degrading water quality. Other times their creation is an act of
pure vision— people imagining a better community— one where people and natural processes coexist more closely. Often,
despite this recent popularity, people fail to recognize
the full range of contributions greenways can make to society and the environment. It is as if
open spaces, especially in metropolitan areas, have been thought of as just so much generic
greenery, mere backdrops for people’s activities. In this chapter we suggest why greenways
are deserving of their newfound popularity and how their functions can be enhanced, but also
consider their limitations. We discuss how the greenway concept came to be, how it has been
defined, and how its spatial form and content have varied. We also highlight the significant
social and ecological functions of greenways, in advance of a fuller discussion of greenway
ecology and design in subsequent chapters (Hellmund and Smith, 2006).
A network of green spaces which supply life support functions including food, fiber, air to
breathe, places for nature and places for recreation. The Green Infrastructure approach seeks
to use regulatory or planning policy mechanisms to safeguard natural areas. Multifunctional
green infrastructure refers to different functions or activities taking place on the same piece
of land and at the same time. For example, a flood plain providing a repository for flood
waters, grazing land, a nature reserve and a place for recreation (Anonymous, 2010).
4. Classification of urban green/open spaces types
There are different ways to classify urban open space and greenspace, such as its size, how
people use it, its intended function, its location etc. (Byrne and Sipe, 2010). Types of green
spaces that serve different uses over the city, green space systems can be created as a result
of efficient organization. In this context, urban green areas were classified different
categories, according to the spatial characteristics, service purposes and state of property.
Classification of green spaces is seen in the figure 1 according to the property.
4.1 Parks/public open space
Nowadays, in the cities, there are limited green areas. Parks or public open spaces are very
important in the life of urban people. People who lives in the cities want to go outside
(especially green areas) whenever they have spare time. They go parks or public open
spaces. Parks are designed different type, size, and functions. In the parks, people can do
lots of activities.
Typically classification types are based upon the size of the park, its deemed function, it
geographic location and the types of facilities present within the park and sometimes the
degree of naturalness of the park. Parks can be variously described as urban parks, nature
parks, pocket parks, district parks, community parks, neighbourhood parks, sporting fields,
urban forests and the like. But there are other ways of classifying parks too. These include
factors such as the activities that occur within the park (e. g. cricket oval, skateboard park,
bowling green), the agency responsible for managing the park (e. g. national park, state
park, city park), the history of the park (e. g. heritage rose garden), the condition of the park,
the land use history of the area (e. g. street-corner neighbourhood park), the types of people
who use the park, landscaping and embellishments (e. g. dog park, bike park or Chinese
garden) and the philosophy behind the park’s development (e. g. recreation reserve or civic
square). Combining these various factors can result in all sorts of combinations and
permutations, rendering a standardized method of classifying parks virtually impossible
and rather pointless. Parks are not the only type of urban greenspace though. In most cities while parks comprise a large portion
of green and open space, other types of urban
greenspace and open spaces are present too including plazas, urban trails and even wellvegetated
streets (Byrne and Sipe, 2010).
Times have changed, somewhat. Sitting in a municipal park, looking at the flowers and
listening to the occasional brass band do not feature prominently in surveys reviewing the
popularity of leisure-time activities. Rather, people desire access to rich and varied
landscapes with scope for many outdoor activities. Park planners responded to the new age
by tearing down park railings and planning webs of interconnected green space, originally
known as park systems. The diagnosis was correct. The treatment was pathetically
oversimplified. Public open space should be planned in conjunction with other land-uses for
multiple objectives. New parks and new links should be designed by planning recreational
and conservation uses in conjunction with other land-uses: urban reservoirs can make
splendid waterparks; ornithological habitats and hides should be designed in conjunction
with sewage farms; wildlife corridors should be planned beside roads, railways and
streams; flood prevention works can yield canoe courses; public gardens can sit on top of
office buildings. New uses and new layers of interest should be brought into public open
spaces. Some open spaces could supply firewood and wild food (nuts, berries, herbs); others
could infiltrate rainwater back into the ground, instead of allowing the water to accentuate
flood peaks; Sunday markets can fit well into parks. Every public open space can have a
specialist use, in addition to its general functions. One could be a centre for kite flying one
for tennis; one for lovers of herbaceous plants; one for reenacting military battles; one for
every special recreational type which has a magazine on your local newsstand (Turner,
1998).
5. Benefits of urban green spaces
Urban green spaces have many functions and benefits. These functions and benefits are
important for to improve life quality in the urban areas. Green spaces provide linkage
between people (who lives in the urban) and nature. So, these areas are very important for
the urban people.
Urban green spaces are important as functions and meanings for (Alm, 2007):
- Urban climate, noise moderation, air cleaning and handle of surface water
- As an indicator of environmental changes
- As a part of the circulation of nutritive substances
- Cultivation of energy plants
- Biodiversity; to save valuable urban species, as refuges for species from rural biotopes
and as spreading corridors.
- Social and cultural values; for health, recovering and rehabilitation, to give beauty and
comfort, to give room for passivity and activity, as a cultural heritage, as an arena for
citizenship, for education.
- Gardening and allotments; as history of urban landscapes, as a social function, for life
quality and beauty, providing a reserve.
- Urban design; to give the city an understandable structure, to connect different scales
and parts of the urban landscape.

The benefits of urban green areas were described as detailed below under the main
headings.
5.1 Environmental benefits
Ecological Benefits
Urban green spaces provide to cities with ecosystem benefits ranging from maintenance of
biodiversity to the regulation of urban climate. Comparing with rural areas, differences in
solar input, rainfall pattern and temperature are usual in urban areas. Solar radiation, air
temperature, wind speed and relative humidity vary significantly due to the built
environment in cities. Urban heat island effect is caused by the large areas of heat absorbing
surfaces, in combination of high energy use in cities. Urban heat island effect can increase
urban temperatures by 5°C. Aside from these human benefits, well designed urban
greenspaces can also protect habitats and preserve biodiversity. Greenspaces that feature
good connectivity and act as ‘wildlifecorridors’ or function as ‘urban forests’, can maintain
viable populations of species that would otherwise disappear from built environments
(Haq, 2011; Byrne and Sipe, 2010).
Pollution Control
Pollution in cities as a form of pollutants includes chemicals, particulate matter and
biological materials, which occur in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets or gases. Air
and noise pollution is common phenomenon in urban areas. The presence of many motor
vehicles in urban areas produces noise and air pollutants such as carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide. Emissions from industrial areas such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are
very toxic to both human beings and environment. The most affected by such detrimental
contaminants are children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems. Urban
greening can reduce air pollutants directly when dust and smoke particles are trapped by
vegetation (Haq, 2011).
Noise pollution from traffic and other sources can be stressful and creates health problems
for people in urban areas. The overall costs of noise have been estimated to be in the range
of 0. 2% - 2% of European Union gross domestic product. Urban green spaces in over
crowded cities can largely reduce the levels of noise depending on their quantity, quality
and the distance from the source of noise pollution. In the contemporary studies on urban
green spaces consider the overall urban ecosystem, conservation of the urban green spaces
to maintain natural ecological network for environmental sustainability in cities. For the
cities in fast urbanizing and growing economy, country like China should consider the
dynamic form of urban expanding to manage effective urban green spaces which will
contribute to reduce the overall CO2 by maintaining or even increasing the ability of CO2
absorption via natural eco-system (Haq, 2011).

5.2 Biodiversity and nature conservation

Green spaces do functions as protection centre for reproduction of species and conservation
of plants, soil and water quality. Urban green spaces supply the linkage of the urban and
rural areas. They provide visual relief, seasonal change and link with natural world.

5.3 Economic and aesthetic benefits

Energy Savings
Using vegetation to reduce the energy costs of cooling buildings has been increasingly
recognized as a cost effective reason for increasing green space and tree planting in
temperate climate cities. Plants improve air circulation, provide shade and they transpire.
This provides a cooling effect and contributes to lower air temperatures. A park of 1. 2 km
by 1. 0 km can produce an air temperature between the park and the surrounding city that is
detectable up to 4 km away. A study in Chicago has shown that increasing tree cover in the
city by 10% may reduce the total energy for heating and cooling by 5 to 10% (Haq, 2011)
Property Value
Areas of the city with enough greenery are aesthetically pleasing and attractive to both
residents and investors. The beautification of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was
one of the factors that attracted important foreign investments that assisted rapid economic
growth. Still, indicators are very strong that green spaces and landscaping increase property
values and financial re-turns for land developers, of between 5% and 15% depending on the
type of Project (Haq, 2011).
5.4 Social and psychological benefits
Recreation and Wellbeing
People satisfy most of their recreational needs within the locality where they live. Urban
green spaces serve as a near resource for relaxation; provide emotional warmth. In Mexico
City, the centrally located Chapultepec Park draws up to three million visitors a week who
enjoy a wide variety of activities (Haq, 2011)
 Human Health
People who were exposed to natural environment, the level of stress decreased rapidly as
compared to people who were exposed to urban environment, their stress level remained
high. Certainly, improvements in air quality due to vegetation have a positive impact on
physical health with such obvious benefits as decrease in respiratory illnesses. The
connection between people and nature is significance for everyday enjoyment, work
productivity and general mental health (Haq, 2011)
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