Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perception and Use of Urban Green Spaces in Korea.

Faced with the prospect that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change will be far-reaching and long-term, the international community is showing interest in urban green space (UGS) and urban green infrastructure utilization as a solution. In this study, we investigated how citizens' perceptions and use of UGS have changed during COVID-19. We also collected their ideas on how UGS can raise its usability. As a result, more people became to realize the importance of UGS. In particular, the urban environmental purification function from UGS was recognized as giving great benefits to respondents. On the other hand, the patterns of UGS use were mixed with decreasing UGS use to maintain social distancing or increasing UGS use to maintain health or substitute other restricted facilities. More than half of respondents had their UGS visit patterns impacted by COVID-19. In particular, the increase rate of UGS use was rather high in the group that seldom used UGS before COVID-19. In addition, they increased the use of UGS to replace other limited facilities, and thus tended to demand an increase in rest facilities. Based on these results, this paper suggested securing social support and sustainability for the policy by reflecting users' demand in landscape planning related to the increase of UGS in the city. This study can contribute to improving the resilience of UGS and the sustainability of urban space planning.

Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture as a Nature-Based Solution to Support Food Supply, Health and Well-Being in Bucharest Metropolitan Area During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cities and metropolitan areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable to various environmental and socio-economic disturbances, posing a growing concern to food security, public health and well-being. This chapter intends to address two concepts that have only recently been addressed together – urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPUA) and nature-based solutions (NbS) – through their potential to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic associated challenges in Bucharest Metropolitan Area. The work relies on statistical and spatial data related to UPUA as NbS initiatives, being identified two main types: bottom-up (e.g. community, private companies, or NGOs) and top-down (from the local authorities). Lessons learnt from experimenting with NBS during the pandemic period can be relevant for urban governance to further innovate and replicate the successful initiatives. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Green and Compact: A Spatial Planning Model for Knowledge-Based Urban Development in Peri-Urban Areas

A seemingly unresolved debate in urban planning is the call for compactness and the provision of intra-urban green spaces. This article defines a multi-scalar spatial planning model for peri-urban areas and urban voids able to reconcile medium to high building densities with the provision of ecosystem services. The research is framed within design science research, and the theoretical definition of the model was followed by its application to the International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS) proposed by the University of Campinas, Brazil. The model’s parameters and indicators derive from a literature review, case studies, and GIS spatial analyses. A series of expert workshops and a survey were carried out to test and validate the model. The results show that the model can support knowledge-based development in peri-urban areas with high levels of population density while ensuring good accessibility to green spaces and productive landscapes. The model can serve as a planning and design tool and support the development of public policies for other contexts committed to more resilient and sustainable development.

Nature-based solutions, mental health, well-being, price fairness, attitude, loyalty, and evangelism for green brands in the hotel context

Given that the polluted environment affects human health, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) is becoming an emerging issue in the hospitality and tourism industry. This research is designed in order to explore the influence of NBSs on Green Brand Evangelism (GBE) through mental health, emotional well-being, Green Brand (GB) attitude, and Green Brand Loyalty (GBL) in the hotel industry by considering the moderating effect of price fairness. Our theoretical model was built based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory, which successfully embraces the NBS framework, GBL, and GBE. Our findings based on an online survey reveal that NBS as a second-order construct, which embraces the four first-order elements, significantly improves guests' perception of mental health and emotional well-being. The direct and indirect effects of mental health, emotional well-being, GB attitude, and GBL also uncovered and significantly impacted GBE. The hypotheses were generally supported. Furthermore, the moderating impact of price fairness was found.