scholarly journals Sustainable Development of Urban Green Areas for Quality of Life Improvement—Argument for Increased Citizen Participation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihaela Constantinescu ◽  
Andreea Orîndaru ◽  
Ștefan-Claudiu Căescu ◽  
Andreea Pachițanu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Life Improvement ◽  
Degree Of Association

Considering the imperative need for sustainable urban development, this article argues for increased citizen participation in the decision-making process, as it generates better outcomes (due to a wider range of perspectives) and also makes people better citizens, as they will be partially responsible for the results. One major dimension of urban areas’ which needs a sustainable development is represented by parks, which can be directly associated to citizens’ quality of life (QoL). Thus, we have conducted direct research (face-to-face interviews) of park visitors in order to analyze the perceived impact of green areas on their quality of life. From all the QoL dimensions, we have selected six which are directly linked to park visits—health (mental and physical), social interaction, education and culture, family life, freedom, and connection with nature—in order to determine the perceived degree of association between them, as well as the specific activities done in the park that impact those six dimensions. The research results were used to develop a conceptual model which links quality of life to park visits, a model that can and should be used by public authorities in order to build a collaborative process for urban sustainable development.

Rethinking urban areas: an example of an integrated blue-green approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1534-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Rozos ◽  
C. Makropoulos ◽  
Č. Maksimović
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Green Approach ◽  
Green Areas

The provision of high quality urban water services, the assets of which are often conceptualised as ‘blue infrastructure’, is essential for public health and quality of life in the cities. On the other hand, parks, recreation grounds, gardens, green roofs and in general ‘green infrastructure’, provide a range of (urban) ecosystem services (including quality of life and aesthetics) and could also be thought of as inter alia contributors to the mitigation of floods, droughts, noise, air pollution and urban heat island (UHI) effects, improvement of biodiversity, amenity values and human health. Currently, these ‘blue’ and ‘green’ assets/infrastructure are planned to operate as two separate systems despite the obvious interactions between them (for example, low runoff coefficient of green areas resulting in reduction of stormwater flows, and irrigation of green areas by potable water in increasing pressure on water supply systems). This study explores the prospects of a more integrated ‘blue-green’ approach – tested at the scale of a household. Specifically, UWOT (the Urban Water Optioneering Tool) was extended and used to assess the potential benefits of a scheme that employed locally treated greywater along with harvested rainwater for irrigating a green roof. The results of the simulations indicated that the blue-green approach combined the benefits of both ‘green’ and ‘blue’ technologies/services and at the same time minimised the disadvantages of each when installed separately.

scholarly journals Participatory measurements of sustainable urban development and quality of life in post-socialist Zadar, Croatia

Spatium ◽  
2008 ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branko Cavric ◽  
Silvija Toplek ◽  
Ante Siljeg
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Quality Of Urban Life ◽  
Planning Decision

Over the last two decades, there has been an intensive discourse and research about measuring sustainable urban development. Many cities, regions and countries have decided to introduce indicators for monitoring and measuring the progress towards sustainability. Today there is a wide spread perception that information on the environment in general, and urban environment in particular, is the determinant of effective rational decisions and allocation of resources. Such information would enable planners and decision makers to formulate redistributive policies and programmes to address some of the disparities that exist in a post-socialist city. Cities of the post-socialist world characterized by sharp disparities, socio-economic contrasts and environmental degradation provide an excellent laboratory for tracing information on the quality of urban life. The current situation in the emerging Croatian coastal city of Zadar reflects the diversity of the post-socialist urban change in a very fragile Mediterranean landscape. This paper takes a critical look at sustainable development and its measurements. It describes the participatory approach through which different local communities in Zadar were evaluating quality of life based on basic pillars of sustainable development. The identification and collection of their opinions provide valuable data base and community input into urban governance and development planning decision making.

scholarly journals Quality of Life Indicators in Sustainable Urban Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abunazel ◽  
Yasmin Hammad ◽  
Mohamed Abd AlAziz ◽  
Essam Gouda ◽  
Wagdy Anis
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Urban Quality Of Life ◽  
Quality Of Life Indicators ◽  
Urban Quality

Quality of life is a concept that has been discussed recently in various studies, as a response to many problems facing the compacted cities, all over the world as well as in Egypt.The purpose of this paper is to concentrate mainly on the concept of urban quality of life, it has a multi-dimensional and complex issue, the framework of this study is to find the (missing available urban quality of life indicators) in compacted cities.Although, there were design concepts of sustainable urban form in (High-density residential areas) with mixed land uses, which have a high degree of social interaction, this paper also aims to facilitate the participation of urban authorities in process of measuring, and analyzing the urban quality of life with providing an extra element for design concepts of a sustainable urban area such as greening & renewable energy.The study is beneficial for who interested in the field of sustainable development, and it gives indicators such as (GDP) (gross domestic product) which help the Simi sustainable areas to be a more efficient with urban quality of life indicators.GDP is highly useful for measuring marketing production and providing an indicative snapshot of an economy at a given time, this research uses the descriptive analytical and statistical approach to identify a quality of life indicators through study the Interrelationships environmental, social, economic and physical elements applying on compacted Egyptian cities.Finally, to raise the value of benefit from the resources and sustainable development within the compacted residential areas to get the required indicators of quality of urban life and managed.

scholarly journals Identification of Arboreal Vegetation and Potential Areas in the Commercial Center of Capitão Poço, Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 462
Author(s):  
Washington Duarte Silva da Silva ◽  
Jordan Luis Campos Modesto Pereira ◽  
Milton Garcia Costa ◽  
Adriane Dos Santos Santos ◽  
Magda Do Nascimento Farias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Vegetation ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
Commercial Center

Green spaces are urban spaces that bring man and nature closer together, positively influencing the quality of life of the population. The planning of green spaces is essential in urban areas and Geographic Information Systems (GIS’s) are tools capable of assisting in the identification, management and monitoring of these spaces. The objective of the work was to map the urban vegetation and carry out a survey of potential areas for parks and green areas in the commercial center from the municipality of Capitão Poço - PA. The study was carried out in the commercial center from Capitão Poço, PA - Brazil by obtaining images from the Google Earth software and photointerpreted with the aid of the QGIS software. Finally, the current and potential tree green areas were identified in the georeferenced images. The survey of green areas in the commercial center identified that only 4.74% of the total area contains tree vegetation, in addition to 53% of this vegetation being found around the mother church and the municipal square of Alvorada. For potential green areas, it was found that the commercial center has 5,873.5% more potential areas in relation to current tree vegetation. In this sense, it is observed that the commercial center from the municipality of Capitão Poço contains a low proportion of areas with arboreal vegetation and a high potential for the implantation of parks, forests and other types of green areas.

scholarly journals Determining Social Capital Indicators Affecting the Residents Life Quality in Informal Settlements

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (Special-Issue1) ◽  
pp. 243-252
Author(s):  
Saba Khorasani-Moghadam ◽  
Farhang Mozaffar ◽  
Bagher Hosseini
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Direct Evaluation ◽  
Indirect Evaluation

Given the importance of sustainable urban development and quality of life, the problem of informal settlements is now entering a new phase of research and social capital, as an important aspect of the quality of life in such settlements, is being widely explored. Aiming at realizing sustainable development and recovering liveliness in these settlements, the present study seeks to compile social capital factors of the quality of life in informal settlements. The methodology is descriptive-analytical and the indicators are determined by means of logical argumentation. According to the findings, outstanding indicators of the quality of life in informal settlements turn out to be trust, norm-orientation, as well as network connections in direct evaluation and participation, attitude of voluntariness, social cohesion, sense of security, informal social relations, as well as adherence to values in indirect evaluation. If investigated and improved, these indicators will play a major role in sustainable development

Indicators of Sustainable Development of the Province of Warmia and Mazury in the Environmental Aspect

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-309
Author(s):  
Mirosława Witkowska-Dąbrowska
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Indicator Method ◽  
Environmental Aspect ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Assessment Indicator ◽  
Area Unit

The purpose of this study has been to identify the degree of sustainability in the development of the Province of Warmia and Mazury. The theoretical and empirical investigations were conducted between 2003-2014 based on data from the Local Data Bank. Using a comparative indicator method, 20 indicators were developed, with different directions of preference. The evaluation involves the concept of uniform preference, hence the higher the assessment indicator, the better the situation in the evaluated area unit. Our studies on the sustainable development of the Province of Warmia and Mazury suggest that the indicators measuring the environmental dimension and consequently the quality of life of the residents (in this aspect) score higher than the country's average values. It is also optimistic that some progress, however small, can be seen in this area based on the analyzed dynamics of changes.

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