Assessment of public open space research hotspots, vitalities, and outlook using CiteSpace

Urbanization is essential for human development and progress. Therefore, it is urgent to study urban public open space (POS) under the dual impact of urbanization construction and the global COVID-19 outbreak. Bibliometric visual analysis is currently popular in academia, as it can be used to analyze specific fields. This research summarizes the development history, hotspots, and trends in POS, with theoretical and data support based on the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection. The study period was from 2002 to 2022. A total of 398 papers were collected, with the number of papers increasing over time. The research covers various fields, including environment, architecture, ecology, geography, design, behavior, etc. The results show that POS research hotspots include form layout, social value, and sustainable renewal. This paper demonstrates that there is a lack of vitality in urban POS. Although affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamental reason for this is that the vitality of POS is not created from multiple dimensions. Vitality should be enhanced according to the space's terrain, ecology, environment, and other factors. POS research lacks crossdisciplinary collaboration and the fusion of multiple fields. Thus, cooperation between the various disciplines involved must be strengthened. In the future, POS research should change its design concept, continue to place the "human" in the leading position, establish a multidisciplinary research system, use local empirical cases, and develop applicable theories that can be extended upon. Thus, it will be possible to build harmonious open spaces that enhance the relationship between the people and the land and provide practical solutions for other countries in which urbanization is advancing.

Policymaker and Practitioner Perceptions of Parks for Health and Wellbeing: Scoping a Holistic Approach

Urban parks provide a multitude of health benefits for citizens navigating the challenges of 21st-century living. And while this is well known by both scholars and practitioners, there is less understanding about the differential impacts of park size, type of facilities, community accessibility, and management. This is the central concern of the research reported here, which is a part of a larger project titled 'Better Parks, Healthier for All?' funded under the UKRI-NHMRC Built Environment and Prevention Research Scheme 2019. Within this broader context, the current paper discusses the results of a focus group to better understand how different park qualities promote physical and mental health. Using a COVID-safe research approach, we brought key park providers, park policymakers, and green and open space designers from New South Wales, Australia, together to participate in an online focus group in May 2021. The recruitment was based on the domain expertise and practitioner knowledge of the issues at hand. The ensuing discussion canvassed three areas of interest: What is park quality? How is park quality associated with health? How can we assess park quality and its ability to deliver health outcomes? A thematic analysis of the group's deliberations reveals a very holistic appreciation of park quality. The ability of a park network to provide a range of health outcomes is central to this view, with each park playing a role in delivering different benefits across the network. Our findings indicate that there are many opportunities to enhance the myriad of benefits and multiple ways to gain them. Co-design is essential to ensure that parks best suit the local context and provide relevant benefits to all stakeholders. In this way, local communities can gain ownership and enhanced agency in relation to using and enjoying their parks. We conclude that delivering locally networked parks and associated spaces for community health and wellbeing are essential in the broader context of global environmental sustainability.

Social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in urban national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: Covid-19 and outdoor recreation.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the mobility, accessibility, and behaviors of visitors dramatically. Under the impact of COVID-19, the social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in parks and recreation areas are expected to change due to the uncertainty of health risks associated with visitors' behaviors. This study conducted an on-site visitor survey at Leiqiong Global Geological Park, a national park located in urban-proximate areas in Haikou, China. This study aims to examine factors impacting visitors' perceived crowding and emotions under varying levels of visitor use in urban national parks in the context of COVID-19. Study results suggest that visitors have the highest level of motivation for scenery and culture viewing and are generally satisfied with the environmental quality and design and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation efforts within the park. Moreover, this study suggests that the level of crowding and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation can affect visitors' emotions in urban natioanl parks significantly. These findings highlight the importance of enforcing the social carrying capacity limits and COVID-19 prevention strategies for urban parks and protected areas to mitigate physical and mental health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survey of citizens' satisfaction with urban parks in the COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey

Urban landscapes and green spaces are an important and integral part of urban spaces, these places play a significant role in improving the quality of life of citizens and increasing their well-being, so citizens' satisfaction with these places, especially in critical situations such as A pandemic is important, Therefore, citizens 'satisfaction with these places is especially important in critical situations such as pandemics. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate citizens' satisfaction with urban parks in pandemic conditions. The required data have been obtained through library resources and questionnaires and have been analyzed by calculating the frequency and mean score of its variables. The results of the data showed that the role of urban parks in reducing the stress caused by the Covid 19 pandemic with an average score of 3.2 is significant and also the existence of an appropriate number of urban parks to reduce population density with an average score of 1.5 indicates a lack of urban green space. In general, it can be concluded that urban parks play an effective role in critical situations such as pandemics and their access should be maintained and strengthened, Also, the facilities needed by these parks to adapt them to pandemic conditions will be increased, in order to increase citizens' satisfaction with these places.

The Perceptions and Use of Urban Neighborhood Parks Since the Outbreak of COVID-19: A Case Study in South Korea.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the stress of city dwellers is increasing, and some adapt to the pandemic by pursuing physical and psychological well-being in neighborhood parks. To improve the resilience of the social-ecological system against COVID-19, it is important to understand the mechanism of adaptation by examining the perception and use of neighborhood parks. The purpose of this study is to investigate users' perceptions and use of urban neighborhood parks since the outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea using systems thinking. To verify the hypotheses about the relationship between variables involved in COVID-19 adaptive feedback, two research objectives were set. First, this study determined the causal structure leading to park visits using systems thinking. Second, the relationship between stress, motivation, and the frequency of visits to neighborhood parks was empirically verified. To conduct the research, the system of use and perceptions of parks were analyzed through a causal loop diagram to determine the feedback between psychological variables. Then, a survey was conducted to verify the relationship between stress, motivation for visits, and visit frequency, which are the major variables derived from the causal structure. A total of three feedback loops were derived in the first step, including a loop in which COVID-19 stress was relieved by visits to parks and a loop in which COVID-19 stress worsened due to crowding in parks. Finally, the relationship of stress leading to park visits was confirmed, and the empirical analysis showed that anger about contagion and social disconnection were linked as motives for park visits, and that park visits were mainly motivated by the desire to go out. The neighborhood park functions as an adaptive space for the stress of COVID-19 and will maintain its role as social distancing becomes more important to various socio-ecological changes. The strategies driven by the pandemic can be adapted in park planning to recover from stress and improve resilience.

SARS-CoV-2 Spillback to Wild Coatis in Sylvatic-Urban Hotspot, Brazil.

We tested coatis (Nasua nasua) living in an urban park near a densely populated area of Brazil and found natural SARS-CoV-2 Zeta variant infections by using quantitative reverse transcription PCR, genomic sequencing, and serologic surveillance. We recommend a One Health strategy to improve surveillance of and response to COVID-19.

City parks and slow streets: A utility-based access and equity analysis

During the spring and summer of 2020, cities across the world responded to the global COVID-19 pandemic by converting roadway facili-ties into open pedestrian spaces. These conversions improved access to public open space, but measuring the variation in that improvement among differ-ent populations requires clear definitions of access and methods for measur-ing it. In this study, we evaluate the change in a utility-based park accessibil-ity measure resulting from street conversions in Alameda County, Califor-nia. Our utility-based accessibility measure is constructed from a park activ-ity location choice model we estimate using mobile device data - supplied by StreetLight Data, Inc. - representing trips to parks in that county. The estimated model reveals heterogeneity in inferred affinity for park attributes among different sociodemographic groups. We find, for example, that neigh-borhoods with more lower-income residents and those with more residents of color show a greater preference for park proximity while neighborhoods with higher incomes and those with more white residents show a greater pref-erence for park size and amenities. We then apply this model to examine the accessibility benefits resulting from COVID-19 street conversions to create a set of small park-like open spaces;we find that this policy has improved eq-uity in that marginalized communities including Black, Hispanic, and low-income households receive a disproportionate share of the policy benefits, relative to the population distribution.

Present security of the neighbourhood urban parks considering SARS-CoV-2 potential spreading - a case study in Ursynow district in Warsaw

Motives: It is expected that COVID-19 pandemic will impact future design, use and perception of urban green spaces such as public parks. How to facilitate residents' safe use of the urban green spaces and reduce health risks has become important question to consider by landscape architects and municipal authorities responsible for the public green areas resources. This research focuses on examination of urban parks of a typical residential district of a large city in terms of their security in time of COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: In urban parks of Ursynow district in Warsaw were assessed: quality and present security and possibilities of re-adjustments to increase their security.

Recruiting, paying, and evaluating the experiences of civic scientists studying urban park usage during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper describes an attempt to utilize paid citizen science in a research project that documented urban park usage during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in two U.S. cities. Strategies used by the research team to recruit, pay, and evaluate the experiences of the 43 citizen scientists are discussed alongside key challenges in contemporary citizen science. A literature review suggests that successful citizen science projects foster diverse and inclusive participation;develop appropriate ways to compensate citizen scientists for their work;maximize opportunities for participant learning;and ensure high standards for data quality. In this case study, the selection process proved successful in employing economically vulnerable individuals, though the citizen scientist participants were disproportionately female, young, White, non-Hispanic, single, and college educated relative to the communities studied. The participants reported that the financial compensation provided by the study, similar in amount to the economic stimulus checks distributed simultaneously by the Federal government, were reasonable given the workload, and many used it to cover basic household needs. Though the study took place in a period of high economic risk, and more than 80% of the participants had never participated in a scientific study, the experience was rated overwhelmingly positive. Participants reported that the work provided stress relief, indicated they would consider participating in similar research in the future. Despite the vast majority never having engaged in most park stewardship activities, they expressed interest in learning more about park usage, mask usage in public spaces, and socio-economic trends in relation to COVID-19. Though there were some minor challenges in data collection, data quality was sufficient to publish the topical results in a peer-reviewed companion paper. Key insights on the logistical constraints faced by the research team are highlighted throughout the paper to advance the case for paid citizen science. Copyright © 2022 Alizadehtazi, Woerdeman, Tangtrakul, Gussenhoven, Mostafavi and Montalto.

Lessons from the Distribution Pattern of Urban Parks and Factors that Contribute to Control COVID-19 Outbreak in Neighborhood Design

The novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading over South Asia at alarming rates. In Sri Lanka, urban cities like Colombo with high population densities are challenged to control the spread of the virus due to the unprecedented clustering of people in public parks. However, allowing access to such spaces is a vital requirement to ensure the health and wellbeing of the neighborhood. Since the gatherings and crowding in open parks are inevitable, the risk of being infected is irrepressible. Thus, it is of paramount importance to study the physical distribution of parks and playgrounds in dense neighborhoods of the Colombo metro area to evaluate their user attraction and risk index, in order to reinvent strategies to ease the pandemic outbreak. This study investigates five main variables: neighborhood density (ND), park values (PV), user mobility (UM), park capacity (PC) and park extent (PE) of 34 public parks and playgrounds located within the Colombo metro area. Each variable was visualized using Geographical Information System and space syntax and further correlated using SPSS software. PVs are designed to numerically interpret user attraction towards selected settings. From the relationship between each variable with park values, it was identified that large-scale parks with multifunctional facilities attract more users than small pockets of neighborhood playgrounds. Thus, study findings strongly suggest that parks and playgrounds should be distributed in more isolated pockets to absorb the threshold of park users within a neighborhood bubble, while discouraging visitors from outside the bubble. Through fragmenting the large scale municipal and district parks and facilitating the local parks of less than 0.05 square kilometers, the attraction of users can be controlled. Overall, moderation of facilities can reduce 41% of the total attraction to parks. The even distribution of facilities encourages more utilization of neighborhood, community, and pocket parks, which leads to the creation of neighborhood pockets. The study suggests that suitable planning and design recommendations regarding park profiles can encourage small neighborhood parks to promote livability through easing the outbreak. © 2021 IEEE.

Editorial

This special issue discusses changes in leisure and aging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics discussed include: the leisure of Brazilian older adults who frequent urban public parks;adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in the United States;retirees' perceptions of the effects of COVID-19 mitigation strategies on leisure participation and social relationships;the impact of COVID-19 on therapeutic recreation practice in long-term care homes across Canada;the digital divide and leisure as resistance in a time of physical distance;the ups and downs of older adults' leisure during the pandemic;intergenerational family leisure in the COVID-19 pandemic;and pickleball participation, social connections, and psychological well-being among seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Locked-down!: how children's access and use of urban green spaces and playgrounds changed after COVID 19 outbreak

Slight more than a year ago, our lives have completely changed with a newly discovered virus. This new strain of Coronavirus family has rapidly infected many people in china. The virus, now commonly called COVID-19, has also transferred to almost every part of our world with international flights, causing a global pandemic. This new situation has changed many children's daily lives. During the first months of COVID-19 pandemics, almost 99.5% of all children in the world lived with movement restrictions and 60% lived under full or partial lockdowns. In Turkey, children locked down for over 2 months with no outside permission. This study aimed to understand effect of lockdown process on children's daily lives, physical activity patterns, and visits urban green spaces and playgrounds. The emerging findings illustrate that children's daily habits have changed during the lockdown. Many children showed symptoms of boredom, loneliness, lack of communication, anxiety and even depression. Children invested more time in watching TV. Slightly more than half of the children spent only around an hour for physical activity every day, and a third of children have spent no time on any physical activity. Percentage of children visiting urban green spaces and playgrounds declined rapidly. On average, children payed 27 minutes shorter visits to urban green spaces than they visited before COVID-19.

Special Issue: Sustainabilty and consumer behavior. (Special Issue: Sustainabilty and consumer behavior.)

Environmentally-sustainable consumer behavior is an important aspect of environmental protection, which eventually benefits the society. In order to better understand environmentally-sustainable consumption and promote environmentally responsible consumer behavior, this research provides a sound conceptualization of environmentally-sustainable consumer behavior, and presents a systematic review and perspective on theories established in tourism and environmental psychology. Further, this special issue contains 9 articles that discuss: the customer equity paradigm to propose a green induced tourist equity model in the tourism context;the effects of hotel's sustainability practices in three areas of sustainability and familiarity with those practices on hotel guest satisfaction and loyalty in the Kazakhstan hotel industry;the anchoring effect on travelers who may need to pay aviation green tax;the concept of internal environmental locus of control (INELOC) to the context of eco-friendly drone food delivery services;the impact of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus on inbound tourism in South Korea toward sustainable tourism;exploring preferences and sustainable attitudes of Airbnb green users in the review comments and ratings;understanding hotel corporate social responsibility performance scale;comparing resident and tourist perceptions of an urban park;and the contribution of backpacker tourism to sustainable consumption.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact urban green spaces? A multi-scale assessment of Jeddah megacity (Saudi Arabia).

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged as a global public health threat. In this crisis period, urban parks provided multiple ecosystem services and direct/indirect benefits to mental and physical health. However, the use patterns, attitudes, and perceptions of urban park visitors remained unexplored in Saudi cities. This study aimed to find out the use patterns, attitudes, and perceptions of people regarding urban parks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the findings were compared with non-pandemic periods. Two urban parks (Al Masarah Garden and Al Jamaa Garden) in Jeddah megacity (Saudi Arabia) were assessed, and 215 respondents were surveyed to fulfil the objectives of the study. The study applied a questionnaire survey and field observations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use patterns, attitudes, and perceptions of urban park visitors. Non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests) were performed to find out the impact of sociodemographic factors (such as age, gender, and education). From the results, it was found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on the use, attitudes, and perceptions of urban parks in comparison with non-pandemic periods. The number of park visitors decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but urban parks were crucial to people's mental and physical well-being. The findings of this study may help to understand the importance of urban parks as green spaces and to implement measures to enhance the quality and quantity of urban green spaces in Saudi cities.

Leisure and COVID-19: reflections on Brazilian older adults who frequent urban public parks. (Leisure and aging in difficult times.)

This qualitative research analysed how the pandemic caused by COVID-19 influenced the leisure of older adults who frequent urban public parks in a city in southern Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone with 23 older adults, 16 women and 7 men (60 years old), who frequented urban parks before the beginning of the pandemic. The interviews were specifically designed for this research and addressed (a) the participants' perspectives on the concept of leisure;(b) the influence of COVID-19 on leisure and (c) leisure events and activities during the pandemic. The data was analysed using the content analysis technique. The participants reported that their leisure was affected by COVID-19, mainly due to pandemic-related restrictions which make social, cultural, touristic and physical activities unfeasible and reduced their leisure participation in urban public parks. Furthermore, findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the freedom and autonomy of older adults, and increased inequality, fear and lack of time, resulting in greater leisure constraints. With more time at home and in contact with friends and family, albeit virtually, leisure has been re-defined, denoting different and important configurations for older adults. Esta pesquisa qualitativa analisou como a pandemia causada pela COVID-19 influenciou o lazer de idosos frequentadores de parques p..blicos urbanos em uma cidade do sul do Brasil. Entrevistas semiestruturadas foram realizadas por telefone com 23 idosos, 16 mulheres e sete homens (60 anos), que frequentavam parques urbanos antes do in..cio da pandemia. As entrevistas foram elaboradas especificamente para esta pesquisa e abordaram: (a) as perspectivas dos participantes sobre o conceito de lazer;(b) a influ..ncia da COVID-19 no lazer;e (c) eventos e atividades de lazer durante a pandemia. Os dados foram analisados por meio da t..cnica de an..lise de conte..do. Os participantes relataram que seu lazer foi afetado pela COVID-19, principalmente devido ..s restri....es relacionadas .. pandemia que inviabilizam as atividades sociais, culturais, tur..sticas e f..sicas e reduzem a participa....o no lazer em parques p..blicos urbanos. Al..m disso, os resultados sugerem que a pandemia da COVID-19 reduziu a liberdade e a autonomia dos idosos e aumentou a desigualdade, o medo e a falta de tempo, resultando em maiores restri....es de lazer. Com mais tempo em casa e no contato com amigos e familiares, ainda que virtualmente, o lazer foi redefinido, denotando configura....es diferentes e importantes para os idosos.

Parks Canada Introduces National Urban Parks to the Prairies

The article focuses on growing awareness of the importance of urban parks as essential places for conservation, recreation, and learning, as well as mental and physical well-being. It mentions role green space played in the health of Canadians and their communities was brought to the forefront throughout the COVID-19 epidemic. It also mentions Manitobans will recall the 1970s Agreement for Recreation and Conservation (ARC) for the Red River Corridor that generated the momentum.

Travel changes and equitable access to urban parks in the post COVID-19 pandemic period: Evidence from Wuhan, China.

COVID-19 has spread worldwide, leading to a significant impact on daily life. Numerous studies have confirmed that people have changed their travel to urban green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in China, where COVID-19 has been effectively controlled, how the travel behavior of visitors to urban parks has changed under different risk levels (RLs) of COVID-19 is unclear. Faced with these gaps, we took a highly developed city, Wuhan, as a case study and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 3276 respondents to analyze the changes in park visitors' travel behaviors under different COVID-19 RLs. Using a stated preference (SP) survey method, four RLs were assigned: new cases in other provinces (RL1), Hubei province (RL2), Wuhan (RL3), and in the district of the park (RL4). The results indicated that visitors reduced their willingness to visit urban parks, with 78.39%, 37.97%, and 13.34% of visitors remaining under RL2, RL3, and RL4, respectively. Furthermore, the service radius of urban parks also shrank from 4230 m under no new cases of COVID-19 to approximately 3000 m under RL3. A higher impact was found for visitors using public transport, those with a higher income and higher education, and female visitors. Based on the modified travel behaviors, the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method was used to evaluate the accessibility and the Gini coefficient was calculated to represent the equality of the urban parks. A higher RL led to lower accessibility and greater inequitable access. The results should help the government guide residents' travel behaviors after COVID-19.

Using Social Media Data to Evaluate Urban Parks Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In the context of increasing urbanization and associated economic, social and environmental challenges, cities have increasingly acknowledged the importance of urban parks in delivering social, economic and environmental benefits to the population. The importance has been demonstrated also during the COVID-19 pandemic that generated lockdowns and reduced the capacity of urban inhabitants in accessing such benefits. The present study aims to determine how the presence in urban parks was reflected on social media during the pandemic period of 2020. We examined Instagram posts associated with a sample of eight urban parks in Bucharest, Romania and also the entire history of Google reviews between January and August 2020. The selection of parks was made according to their size, location in Bucharest, previous reported number of visitors and profile of attractiveness. Results revealed that the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first initiation of the lockdowns strongly affected the recreation and leisure activities that people performed almost daily in the parks of Bucharest. Reviews and comments of the population were not that focused on the pandemic even after the restrictions were lifted, but they evidenced the positive and negative aspects of each park. Our results can represent a useful instrument for local administrations in determining both the flow of visitors but also their perceptions towards the endowments, landscape and most important management of urban parks.

Who benefits from urban green spaces during times of crisis? Perception and use of urban green spaces in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urban green spaces (UGS) provide health benefits to city dwellers, which may be even more important during times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lack of access to UGS or important features of UGS, in addition to concerns about UGS safety or maintenance, could prevent people from receiving these benefits. We designed an online survey to understand how people were using and perceiving UGS during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City during the spring of 2020. The survey included questions about how people's visits to UGS and perceptions of the importance of UGS for their health had changed since the start of the pandemic, as well as the concerns people had and features of UGS they considered important. Of the 1372 people who took the survey, most respondents were concerned about a lack of social distancing and crowded UGS, and respondents with these concerns were less likely to visit UGS and had visited UGS less often during than before the pandemic. In addition, generalized linear models showed differences in some concerns and important features of UGS across gender, race and ethnicity, demonstrating the importance of considering specific community needs in UGS design and management. Although concerns about lack of access were not common in our study population, these also appeared to prevent people from using UGS, and were more common in certain areas of the city that were also hard-hit by COVID-19 in the beginning of the pandemic. To ensure that people can get health benefits from UGS during times of crisis, cities must eliminate barriers by providing equitable access to UGS, considering what amenities communities need from UGS, and provide consistent communication about public health policies.

The Influence of Urban Park Attributes on User Preferences: Evaluation of Virtual Parks in an Online Stated-Choice Experiment.

Urban green areas, such as parks, are becoming increasingly important in densifying cities. Urban parks encourage physical and social activity, recreation and relaxation, and thus eventually promote people's well-being. The aim of the current study is to examine which urban park attributes influence the preferences of park users, in order to offer recommendations regarding how urban parks of quality can be designed. To elicit the preferences of park visitors we designed an online stated-choice experiment. Seven park attributes, in particular the number and composition of trees and the presence of benches, side paths, a playground, litter, and flowers, were manipulated in a virtual park. In an online stated-choice task, videos of these park alternatives were presented and the preferences of 697 participants were measured. It is found that especially the number of trees and the presence of flowerbeds, particularly with a diversity of flowers, influenced participants' preferences. The presence of many benches and a playground were valued as well, but to a lesser extent. The presence of litter was found to be less troublesome than expected. Alternatives with all trees placed in one cluster were disliked. Moreover, significant standard deviations were found for the presence of side paths, a playground, and the absence of litter, which indicates that preference heterogeneity for these attributes exist. In a latent class analysis, two groups were identified, namely a Nature-loving group, who mainly valued the trees and the flowers, and an Amenity-appreciating group, who valued almost all attributes. It can be concluded that natural elements and a variety of flower species are important in an urban park, while facilities are evaluated differently by different groups of people. These findings may support park designers and policymakers in decision-making. Moreover, it illustrates the usefulness of creating a virtual park in environmental preference research.