sustainable urban green space management practice

International Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand SIC, Vol 2 (2017), 1-4 Symposium on Innovation and Creativity (iMIT-SIC), Vol 2 (2017) pp 1- 4 e-ISBN: 978967xxxxxxx

SUSTAINABLE URBAN GREEN SPACE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE Hui Qian Yoong1, Kah Yee Lim1, Lai Kuan Lee2, Nor Azazi Zakaria1, Keng Yuen Foo1,* 1

River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. 2 School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia. Email: [email protected] Abstract: Sustainable development remains a comprehensive and complex interplay between the population growth, urbanization, economical development, and the living environment. During the last few years, the concept of “sustainability” has become the common interest among the scientific community. An important criterion for the translation of “sustainability” into the action plan is the availability of urban green space and its best management practice. This transition to sustainability has to be initiated in the urban areas, with the total emissions of greenhouse gases of 80%. Today, approximately 50% of the world’s population is staying in the urban cities, and the figure is expected to be exceeding 60% by 2025. In parallel to this development, the novel concept of urban green space management practice, with its respective criteria and sub-criteria, has been highly promoted. The present work was conducted to update the unique concept of the urban green space management practice and its unique features. The implementing strategies, successful examples, major contributions, together with the key challenges and future prospects are outlined.

Keywords: Ecological, Economical, Social, Sustainable, Urban green space management practice

INTRODUCTION Sustainable development, or sustainability, is now seen to be pervasive and multidimensional. According to the Brundtland Report (1987), the interpretation of “sustainability” is related to the emphasis placed on the three components of sustainable development, namely economy, environment and society. Accordingly, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as Earth Summit in Rio was held in 1992, to emphasize all dimensions of sustainable urban growth and address the issues pertaining not only to the ecological aspect, but also the social and societal improvement to attain sustainability. Such activities were the foundations for the “green space management practice” that were planned and implemented to fulfill multiple roles, among which they were designed to serve as catalysts for the broader society to promote changes towards a more sustainable town and city development, and transformation processes. While cities have united approximately 70% of the global population, their unprecedented growth has brought great challenges: environmental degradation, loss of natural habitat and species diversity, changing local climate, the Urban Heat Island, and the rising level of air and noise pollution (Grimm et al. 2008). According to Mann et al. (1999), global warming in recent decades has taken global temperature to its highest level in the past millennium. An increasing number of studies have highlighted that green space is important to the effective mitigation of urbanization-induced environmental effects and improve the quality of life, focus mostly on local climate stabilization via air ﬁltration, cooling through shade provision, increase carbon storage and sequestration, and reduction of total energy consumption. The synthesis of the comprehensive understanding on the contemporary issues in human-environment interactions in urban green space management among the developing countries, notably in Malaysia, are needed to the transition for a more sustainable practice, strengthening of the resilience of desirable social-ecological systems. With the aforementioned, this www.perlis.uitm.edu.my/imitsic

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present paper attempts to highlight the novel concept of urban green space management practice, with the introduction of ecological, economical, social and planning criteria. The implementation strategies and applications in successful urban green space examples are featured. The major benefits, key challenges and future prospects are outlined.

URBAN GREEN SPACE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE Urban green space management practice is characterized by a unique set of governing criteria and sub-criteria that could be grouped under four major themes, namely a) Ecological (Li et al. 2005); b) Economical (Haq 2011); c) Social (Haq 2011), and d) Planning (Van et al. 2003) are tabulated in Table 1. Table 1. Urban Green Space Management Practice.

Themes Ecological

Criteria Fragmentation

Sub-criteria Size

Shape index

Connectivity/ Isolation

Level of protection Biodiversity

Pollution and air quality

Protected areas Species diversity Biotope diversity within urban green spaces Air quality

Capacity of urban green to improve air quality

Economical

Drainage

Soil sealing

Socioeconomic

Accessibility

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Description The ratio of green space to total urban surface area. Positive % represents green space that retained in urban regions and negative % represents green space that converted to “grey” space. The breadth of green patch divided by its circumference. High shape index is indicative of poorer ecological quality. The number of green connectivity elements by which it is connected to another urban green space are counted. Secondly, the number of different types of such corridors is assessed. These two values can be multiplied by each other to indicate the connectivity value of each site, and the average value for connectivity 80% of the area of urban green used to give the connectivity value for the whole city. The proportion of the urban green area which is protected. Higher % is the better protected green areas. It is evaluated by using different species group, for instance, breeding birds and vascular plants. The number of different habitat types found within the urban green areas (forest, wasteland, parks, etc.) of a city. Measurements of a few of the impurities which are recorded for most cities such as NO 2, SO2, CO, O3, inhalable dust particles (PM10), and humidity. The volume of vegetation and the surface area of water and unsealed soil are indicative of the capacity for removing pollutants from and releasing humidity to the atmosphere. The amount of soil surface in each of the soil-sealing categories is measured: Constructed (soil surface covered by buildings), covered (hard surface, e.g. asphalt, cement, stone, etc.), compacted (e.g. grit surfaced car park or sports field), and non-sealed. Amount of residences within a maximum walking distance of 15 minutes or 1000 meters from the urban green space Amount of residences within a maximum public transport travel time of 10 min. from the urban green space Amount of entrances of urban green spaces related to the outline of the park Actual/planned average generalized travel costs of visitors related to the total area of the park Number of parking places related to the total amount of

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average visitors by car per day during weekends Amount and frequency of public transport lines that connect the site related to the total area of the park

Table 1. Urban Green Space Management Practice (Continue).

Theme Economical

Criteria Socioeconomic

Sub-criteria Availability

Multi-functionality

Production

Employment

Education

Environmental

Regulation

Preservation

Merit

Aesthetic

Substitution


Description Total area of the urban green space concerned as a percentage of the total area of urban green space Area of urban green space per residence Area of urban green space per visitor Number of permanent functions related to the total area of park Number of occasional functions related to the total area of park Intensity of exercised permanent functions related to the total area of park Intensity of exercised occasional functions related to the total area of park Number of products delivered by urban green space per km2 of urban green space Total “green” profit as a percentage of the average “urban” profit Number of “green” jobs per km2 of urban green space Number of “green” jobs per visitor of the urban green space Contribution of the salary costs of “green” jobs to urban income Number of students following some kind of “green” education as a percentage of the total number of students of the city Costs of education and research projects with regard to (urban) green per km2 of urban green space Area of children’s farms in the city as a percentage of the total area of the city Total hours of (practical) education spend per year on green issues at elementary and grammar schools as a percentage of the total ours of education Amount of pollution in the air/around the park compared to an area with no urban green spaces in the neighborhood with regard to the size of the area. Volume of the vegetation in the urban green area concerned Annual discounted future savings of costs for protection of urban wildlife and urban resources per km2 urban green space Presence of botanical gardens/children’s farms related to the total area of the city. Price and rent differences between houses/ companies with and without an urban green space in the neighborhood Average price and rent of houses/companies with urban green space in the neighborhood related to the total area of the urban green space Average household income around urban green space as a percentage of the average urban income Price and rent differences between houses/ companies with and without gardens/balconies Number of captive visitors as a percentage of the total

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Barrier

number of visitors of the urban green space Distribution of income of the visitors of the urban green Number of trees and their size in the urban green space related to the total area of the urban green space


Theme Economical

Criteria Merit

Sub-criteria Barrier

Safety

Financial

Public authorities

Finance

Social

Quality of life

Health and well-being Education and life skills

Community and local identity

Security and social inclusion Recreation and sport

Support, management and finance


Description Noise level in the urban green space compared to the noise level outside the park Number of days with a temperature above 25ºC Annual amount of incidents in the park as compared to the annual amount of urban incidents Annual costs of crime prevention and control with regard to urban green as compared to the total costs of crime prevention in the city Level of criminality of parks inside the centre as compared to parks outside the city Level of criminality of small parks as compared to larger parks per km² Number of hours planned/spent on urban green policy as a percentage of total hours planned/spent on policy Budget for urban green spaces as a percentage of the total urban budget Urban green budget per km2 of urban green space Actual expenditures on urban green space as a percentage of the total urban expenditures Actual expenditures on urban green space per km2 urban green space Number of usage possibilities to the authorities Alternative ways of financing; Amount of budget/expenditures for development per km² of urban green space (can be public and private) Amount of budget/expenditures for maintenance per km2 of urban green space (can be public and private) Amount of budget/expenditures for revitalisation per km2 of urban green space (can be public and private) The height of green taxes and tourism taxes Annual income because of an entrance fee of the green area Promotion of high quality living and working conditions Daily recreation needs Life strategies Physical and emotional well-being Retreat against stress and pace of urban life Exploration of the natural world Understanding on the urban environment Educational resources Optimise local use Location Community ownership Local identity Fear of crime/safe use Social inclusion Recreation of network Sport facilities Family/community events Management regimes Training

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Financing


Theme Planning

Criteria Legislative and planning aspects

Urban green as the outcome of an integrated process

Sub-criteria Urban green policy and legal context Planning and guidelines Administrative measures to integrate private green of public interest with urban green Internal integrated system (Coordination within the urban area) External integrated system (Coordination with bordering entities)

Citizens participation

Management and maintenance capacity

Cultural and esthetical aspects


Coordination between urban green planning and other kinds of planning Involvement of Citizens and Private Sectors Inclusion of Urban Green in the Local Agenda XXI Plans Definition of Responsibilities within the Public Administration Description Waste Management Processes Energy Resources Coordination of Street Green and Roads Maintenance Inclusion of Cultural and Esthetical Aspects

Description Adequacy of existing urban green policies at national, regional and local levels Coordination among Landscape Plan, City Master Plan, Green Plan, Landuse Plan, Public Open Space Plan, Ad Hoc Green Projects Provide conventions and fiscal incentives

Consider urban green as a system (Green Network and/or Ecological network) coordinating all kinds of green resources and potentialities, in a city such as parks, tree lined streets and avenues, water streams, gardens, residual portion of green, possibly private green, etc. Connect an urban green space with another one, but also with surrounding geographical entities, such as natural parks, natural reserves, rural lands, coastlines and river beds, which are located in the near territories to create a green areas system Combine with transportation plans, infrastructure plans, educational settlement plans, tourism development plans, water basin plans, and civil protection plans

Involve in designing, maintaining process

planning,

managing

and

Protection of natural environment within and around the cities, by conserving the remaining natural capital, and encourage the development of renewable energy sources Involve in the processes of planning and managing urban green, and enable the identification of strengths in the system, and possible shortcomings which may delay and/or the failure of the process Selective sorting of waste generated in parks and gardens and composting Production of energy required to run equipment and facilities in the green areas Collection of data on the location of pipelines, electrical line, and sewage system; linked to a thematic cartography at adequate scale Verification of historical and cultural component as a fundamental element inspiring the planning of urban green space

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Green building Under the “Local Agenda 21- Inclusion of Urban Green” criteria, green building is one of the essential component in urban green space management practice. Accordingly, Green Building Index (GBI) is a tool assessing “greenness” of a building, with six main criteria, namely energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, sustainable site planning and management, material and resources, water efficiency, and innovation. These criteria were adopted and modified in different countries. In order to get certification as a green building, a minimum score of 50-65 points is required, generally ranked as silver (66-75 points), gold (76-85 points), and platinum (86-100 points) green buildings.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND APPLICATIONS List of urban green space projects A list of the urban green space projects is presented in Table 2.

Countries United States

Russia England Netherlands Spain Sweden American Oceania Israel China

Hong Kong

Singapore Seoul

Japan

India Philippines Malaysia

Table 2. List of urban green space projects. Urban Green Space Projects New York (Brooklyn Bridge Park, The High Line, The Lowline, Bryant Park), Alabama (Railroad Park), Texas (Klyde Warren Park, City of Houston), Illinois (Millenium Park), Georgia (The Atlanta BeltLine), Minneapolis (Minnesota City), San Francisco (Transbay Neighbourhood), Pennsylvania (Fairmount Park), Seattle (Freeway Park, Gasworks Park), Denver (Wash Park, Civic Center Park, City Park, Cheesman Park, Confluence Park, Alamo Placita, Sloan’s Lake Park, Stapleton Conservatory Green Visitor Center, the twenty-five acre 26th Avenue Park) Moscow (Red Square) London (Hyde Park) South Holland (Rotterdam) Madrid (Madrid Río), Jamaica (Green Village Country Club) Denmark (Augustenborg) New Jersey (Asbury Park), Mexico (La Línea Verde Park), Savannah (Savannah Squares) Australia (Brisbane), Sydney (Ryde Garden) Tel Aviv (Ariel Sharon Park) Xi’an (Sponge Park, Feng Xi local municipality), Shanghai (Houtan Park, World Expo Park), Suzhou (Lingering Garden, Humble Administrator´s Garden, Lion Grove Garden), Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Beijing National Aquatics Centre), Hebei (Red Ribbon Park), Shanghai (Shanghai Tower) Kowloon Bay (Urban Oasis, Kowloon Park), Admiralty (Pacific Place, Hong Kong Park), Northwestern New Territories (Hung Shui Kiu), New Territories West (Yuen Long Bypass Floodway), Victoria Harbour (New Central Harbourfront), South East Kowloon (Kai Tak Development), Aberdeen (Aberdeen Reservoirs), West Kowloon (Waterfront Promenade) Marina Bay (Singapore’s Marina One Complex), Tanjong Punggo (Punggol), Kitchener Road (Park Royal), Novena North District (Zedge Condominiums, Nova 88 Condominiums) South Korea (Cheonggyecheo Stream, Yongsan Family Park, Nam Mountain, Naksan Park, Dream Forest), North Korea (Yeouido Plaza, Yeouido Park), Sangamdong-gil (World Cup Park), Yangcheon-gu (West Seoul Lake Park) Fukuoka (Kitakyushu), Tokyo (Otemachi Forest, Mianto), South of Tokyo (Yokohama), Osaka (Namba Parks, Kobe city), Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji, Zen Buddhist Temple, Kyoto Station), Hokkaido (Sapporo), Iwaki city (Misaki Park), Nakadōri (Fukushima city) Kollam (Asramam Maidanam), Surat (Green Paradise, Green City, Green Fab Tex House), Jahagirabad (Green Aristo Plaza) Taguig (Arya Residences) Penang (Quaywest Residence, The Clovers, Hilltop Villas, Asia Hills, Mandarin Quarter, Asia Heights, The Zen, Victoria Bay, Shih Chung), Kuala Lumpur (Menara Ken Ttdi, The Greens, Menara Hup Seng 2, The Horizon Residence, Nadi Bangsar Service Residence, Lucentia Residence, East Eco Park, The Veo, Quarza Residence, Setapak Green, AraGreens Village, Green Beverly Hills, Sanctuary Ridge City, Green Residence, Stonor 3, Senada Residences, Serenia City), Selangor (Ken Damansara, Ken Rimba, Bellevue, Casaview, Eco


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Forest, Bangunan Suruhanjaya Tenaga, Heriot-Watt University, Kundang Estate, Puteri Hills, O2 Residence, Tropicana Heights, Oasis Corporate Park, Oasis Rio, Cantara Residences, Bandar Bukit Raja), Klang Valley (Eco Business Park), Sabah (Menara Shell), Sarawak (Plaza Shell, Sarawak Energy Berhad), Kajang (Diamond City), Negeri Sembilan, (Seri Binjai, Kiara Court, Azalea 2), Johor (Bandar Meridin East)

Successful leading examples of sustainable urban green space management practice Vauban, Germany Vauban district was planned around green transportation where pedestrian and bicycle paths form a highly-connected, efficient, green transportation network with every home within walking distance of a tram stop, and all schools, businesses, and shopping centers located within walking distance. The 5,000 hectares of forestry surrounding the town is managed sustainably and organically with certification from the Forest Stewardship Council. The city contains over 600 hectares of parks and 160 playgrounds providing greenery, recreation, and biodiversity. 3,800 small privately owned garden allotments for the inhabitants to grow their ow n food lie on the outskirts of the city. Frankfurt, Germany There are more than 200,000 trees tended by the Parks Department on the city’s streets and in public spaces. Of the total city area, 52 per cent comprises open spaces and water. There are more than 40 parks in the city. There are over 50 lakes and ponds, some 100 hectares of well-kept green spaces along the Main and the Nidda. The GreenBelt, a green strip that runs around the heart of Frankfurt, accounts for one-third of the surface area of the city. The municipal forest with gnarled oaks and tall beech trees offer plenty of space for walking, cycling, rest and relaxation. Brussels, Belgium To foster environmental awareness and action, Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment (IBGE) launched the Quartier Durable (Sustainable Neighborhood) project where urban green space (recreation park, playground) need to be included as one of the criteria. Residents are encouraged to form groups and identify a sustainable project in their neighborhood, with the most promising projects receiving subsidies, expert advice and technical support. Helsinki, Finland Its Sustainability Strategy and Action plan 2002-10 made Helsinki the first capital city in Europe to complete a full scale sustainable development action planning process. Since 1995, Helsinki has taken a collaborative approach to the use and development of municipally owned urban forests, and allow residents in setting goals for the use of green areas and minimizing conflicts over space. Madrid, Spain The Manzanares River Project, Madrid’s main urban-regeneration project, had transformed the banks of the capital’s river. Water flow in the river, which runs to the west and south of the city centre, has been improved and more public spaces have been created, to stabilize the river’s ecosystem. Nine new pedestrian walkways over the river are linked to some Madrid’s poorer neighborhoods. The land reclamation along the river was made possible by the construction of a new and controversial motorway, the M-30, which has rerouted traffic. The area was planted with 25,000 trees, to include 42 km of pedestrian paths and 32 km of cycling tracks, and provided a riverside beach, new children’s playgrounds and quiet areas designed to attract elderly visitors.

BENEFITS, MAJOR CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD A good urban green space management practice contributes positively to some of the key agendas in urban areas and offer useful opportunities to people in different ways. This management practice helps a city to a) Strengthen its long-term perspectives and promotion of sustainability; b) Promote a more holistic overview and better understanding of the urban green space situation, quality as well as the needs, priorities and values of its inhabitants; c) Build a collective vision of its own www.perlis.uitm.edu.my/imitsic

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urban green space development; d) Discover effective ways to solve urban green space problems and develop its urban green space potentials; e) Improve the quality of life i.e. improve its environment together with its facilities for recreation, leisure and social activities; f) Incorporate the urban green space issues into its planning system and legislation; g) Raise public and political awareness for urban green spaces and generate public participation; h) Generate stakeholder and interdepartmental cooperation, and i) Develop long term funding and management opportunities. Previous studies have highlighted the contributions of urban green space management practice from several perspectives including social (Wolf 2008), health (Chiesura 2004), economical (Beer et al. 2003), environmental (Kottmeier et al. 2007) or planning dimension (Jim 2004). The benefits of the good urban green space management practice are illustrated in Figure 1. Carbon dioxide sequestration

Preservation of urban biodiversity Environmental Local climate stabilization

Reduction of urban air temperature

Rainwater infiltration Positive mental health

Health Benefits of a good urban green space management practice

Reduction of obesityrelated diseases Reduction of mortality

Social

Development of social ties Cultural enhancement Increase price of real estate

Economical

Encompass tourism Attract investment Noise attenuation

Planning

Enhancement of identity and competitiveness of cities Boundary landscape


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Figure 1. Benefits of urban green space management practice.

Understanding on relationship between the urban population and the amount of green spaces is particularly important for the evaluation of their functionality. The quantification of urban green spaces are green space ratio, green space coverage and green space area per capita. It is difficult to evaluate the appropriate allocation of land and distance from the residential area, especially for the implementation of urban green spaces with proper services in the highly populated countries. Appropriate measurements, monitoring, planning, management and integrative approach are very essential for cities in developed countries, and most importantly in the developing regions (Wang 2009). The evaluation of recreational green spaces has to be centred on a variety of available quality and with a proper standard, to accommodate future changes. Public participation in the planning and design is important to incorporate their values and pattern of life throughout the development (Haq 2011). Within this framework, planning authorities were advised to adopt a strategic approach for the strong protection, and resist new development opportunities, to ensure accessibility, and provide good quality green space and recreational facilities (Balram and Dragicevic 2005).

CONCLUSIONS To date, the rising climate change and global warming crisis has driven to the global concern and the race to the best urban green space management practice. Together with the new concept of “smart green city”, both government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue to advocate multidisciplinary of technical and non-technical efforts to adopt a new constructive framework to transform new cities into a high quality and excellent level. The plan espouses the new implementation of urban green space management practice. Subsets to this development, the cooperation between different parties, international focus and a great deal of supporting policies need to be pursued continuously to speed up the process, in establishing a sustainable oriented cities, and enhance the human-environmental relationship, toward building a sustainable future.

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