Secondary school students’ perspectives and use of three school grounds of varying size,content and design

School grounds can have multiple values, and especially sufficient size, green elements, variation, integrated design and participatory development have been described as positive qualities. However, many studies have focused on pre-school and primary school grounds, while less is known about school grounds for adolescents. This study explored how secondary school students experience and use school grounds of varying size, content and design. The study included one class in year 8 (aged 14–15) at each of three schools in southern Sweden. A questionnaire with mainly open questions was distributed, followed by both individual interviews and walking interviews with four students from each class. The results show that school grounds were appreciated, but also that many chose to stay indoors. Large surface area and varied content, with ball courts, greenery, seating and multifunctional equipment, were valued, but a school ground design with integrated and pleasant settings, allowing socialising and activities, particularly support use by secondary school students.     

Spatio-temporal monitoring of urban street-side vegetation greenery using Baidu Street View images

Street-side vegetation greenery contributes substantial health benefits for pedestrians. Multi-year street view images are expected to enable the monitoring of dynamic street-side vegetation greenery changes and the development of targeted urban landscape plans. However, the potential of multi-year street view images used for the assessment of street-side vegetation greenery has not been evaluated yet. Besides, complicated urban landscapes may make it difficult to accurately quantify vegetation greenery. This study developed a framework to assess the spatio-temporal variation of street-side vegetation greenery using the Baidu Street View images and a new Vegetation Greenery Index (VGI). The proposed analytical framework was applied to Tai’an city, a highly populated city where urbanization has been rapid in China. The level of vegetation greenery estimated using the proposed framework was compared with ground truths randomly collected at sampling sites along the road networks in 2014 and 2019 to assess the applicability. Results demonstrated that the proposed VGI method could accurately quantify street-side vegetation greenery. The comparison of multi-year VGI layers could identify locations where vegetation greenery substantially changed and quantify the overall change in urban greenery. Vegetation greenery estimates were well agreed with the ground truths. Spatio-temporal variations in the urban vegetation greenery were attributed to trees that were newly planted or removed, the natural growth of the existing vegetation, and new building construction. The proposed framework is expected to be a useful tool to evaluate urban vegetation greenery and help urban landscape planning.     

Design guidelines for the Dashilar,Beijing Open Green Space Redevelopment Project

When an urban redevelopment project is planned, the design needs to reflect the preferences of the users of the planned space. In China, however, the preferences of residents have rarely been reflected in projects dealing with public places such as open green spaces in urban settings. This paper employs three independent conjoint analyses covering components of open green space, including locational conditions, physical conditions, and greenery conditions in order to propose the most preferable design for a new open green space. The results of choice simulation showed that the users prefer the private garden style to the general public park style for the new open green space in Dashilar. Our research with three independent conjoint analyses is expected to provide specific guidelines for open green space design as a whole, which is intended to satisfy potential users of the space.     

The extent and dissemination of udeskole in Danish schools

Studies have shown that outdoor environments lend themselves to particular types of learning at the same time promoting physical activity and well-being of children. In the past decade, Danish public and private schools have introduced curriculum-based outdoor learning as a weekly or bi-weekly ‘outdoor school’ day for children aged 7–16 – called udeskole in Danish. Based on a national population survey of Danish schools (N=2082), information on the extent of udeskole activities, dissemination of udeskole, and barriers to teaching out-of-doors are presented. Findings show that 28% of the responding schools practice udeskole across the country. Furthermore, another 15% are planning to start udeskole within the next three years. It is argued that udeskole plays an increasing and important role in the Danish school system and constitutes a potential for green space management. As potentially key actors, we suggest that green space planners and managers regard udeskole as an important concept in the future development of public green space, and consider school teachers and pupils as an important contemporary and future user group.     

Children's perspectives on vegetation establishment: Implications for school ground greening

School ground greening might provide multiple benefits for children across age, gender and competence through allowing participation in the greening process and experience of nature and vegetation. However, the process of school ground greening must nurture a positive relationship between children and newly planted vegetation during the first years after establishment. This study explored how green space planning, management and maintenance approaches influence children's school ground use and experiences through a series of field observations following establishment of new vegetation in a landscaped area at a school in Malmö, Sweden. The methods included documentation of vegetation, observations of use and interviews with children and teachers on three occasions during one and a half years following the first planting. The greening approach appeared successful, especially for younger children (up to around 11 years), who were more positive and also used the area more than older children. They also used it for pretend play, which was rare in the school ground before greening. Experiences from continuous participation and physical use appeared important for children establishing a positive and caring relationship with the landscaped area. The results suggest that school ground greening should be well integrated with pedagogic activities. Damage to woody vegetation can be limited by establishing other landscape elements that are attractive for play and by using fences without hindering access.     

Visual processing of green zones in shared courtyards during renting decisions: An eye-tracking study

We used an eye-tracking technique to investigate the effect of green zones and car ownership on the attractiveness of the courtyards of multistorey apartment buildings. Two interest groups—20 people who owned a car and 20 people who did not a car—observed 36 images of courtyards. Images were digitally modified to manipulate the spatial arrangement of key courtyard elements: green zones, parking lots, and children’s playgrounds. The participants were asked to rate the attractiveness of courtyards during hypothetical renting decisions. Overall, we investigated whether visual exploration and appraisal of courtyards differed between people who owned a car and those who did not.The participants in both interest groups gazed longer at perceptually salient playgrounds and parking lots than at greenery. We also observed that participants gazed significantly longer at the greenery in courtyards rated as most attractive than those rated as least attractive. They gazed significantly longer at parking lots in courtyards rated as least attractive than those rated as most attractive. Using regression analysis, we further investigated the relationship between gaze fixations on courtyard elements and the attractiveness ratings of courtyards. The model confirmed a significant positive relationship between the number and duration of fixations on greenery and the attractiveness estimates of courtyards, while the model showed an opposite relationship for the duration of fixations on parking lots. Interestingly, the positive association between fixations on greenery and the attractiveness of courtyards was significantly stronger for participants who owned cars than for those who did not. These findings confirmed that the more people pay attention to green areas, the more positively they evaluate urban areas. The results also indicate that urban greenery may differentially affect the preferences of interest groups.     

Can you really see ‘green’? Assessing physical and self-reported measurements of urban greenery

Urban vegetation provides a wide array of services; yet, there is still a knowledge gap regarding the mechanistic processes behind urban vegetation–human well-being relationships. Two main approaches have been used to assess urban greenery associated with human well-being: physical and self-reported. We here assessed the associations between physical (green view index–GVI, green cover–GC) and self-reported measures (perceived visible greenery–PVG) of the streetscape greenery of two southeastern Mexican settlements (Xalapa, Coatepec). Our results show that both sites have considerable GC (Xalapa = 37.2%, Coatepec = 47.4%). We found a clear association between GVI and GC in Xalapa, but none in Coatepec. The latter was due to an important proportion of the vegetation of Coatepec being mainly constrained at block interiors, obstructed by walls. Regarding the self-reported measure, our results show an important discrepancy in relation to one of the physical measures (GVI), assessed through PVG/GVI ratios. In general, respondents tended to overestimate greenery, with greater overestimations related to GVI values <10%. Among the assessed respondent traits (gender, education level, live and/or work in neighborhood, time living and/or working in neighborhood), we found none to explain variations of PVG/GVI ratios in Coatepec, but respondent age did relate, non-linearly, with PVG/GVI ratios in Xalapa. In a nutshell, our findings indicate that the assessed physical and self-reported measures capture different aspects of urban greenery that differ in their potential uses, with GVI representing a helpful tool to quantify visible greenery at eye-level; GC being a highly informative physical measure to assess the amount of public and/or private urban greenery; and PVG as a quick and inexpensive measure of people’s perception of visible urban greenery. Depending on the monitoring, managing, and/or planning goals, the use of the three assessed measures can provide an integral evaluation of urban greenery.     

Crisis mediated new discoveries,claims and encounters: Changing use and perception of residential greenery in multistory housing in Berlin,Germany

With the stay at home orders during the pandemic, the often semi-public green spaces of the residential environment, usually created during the building of the houses, became our literal spheres of experience. In our study, we explored use and perceptions of local greenery by residents after sixteen months of the COVID-19 crisis, using face to face questionnaires in eight socially disadvantaged neighborhoods of Berlin, all exposed to high loads of environmental stressors and belonging to four relevant building types of Central European cities. Residential greenery was highly appreciated by residents during COVID-19, and fostered a more active appropriation such as meeting neighbors to reduce the sense of loneliness, doing sports and co-creating refugia in challenging times (e.g. greened balconies). Having children or doing home office/schooling encouraged people to use the green in front of the door in more active ways, such as gardening or even during winter. A minor proportion of respondents reduced contacts mainly due to fear of infections, underlining the need to overcome those distances and to re-connect neighbors and living inside and outside the houses in a post-pandemic city. Our data prove the functionality of residential greenery as ‘social tissue’ or ‘social hubs’ of neighborhoods by fostering attachment to place and people and, at the same time, as healthy environment for practices such as enjoying nature and physical activity in fresh air.     

Assessing urban greenery by harvesting street view data: A review

Urban greenery is of great significance for sustainable urban development due to the diverse ecosystem services it provides. Assessing urban greenery can reveal its impact on urban areas and provide the evidence base for strategic urban forest management and planning, thereby contributing to sustainable urban development. Street View (SV) images are being used more frequently and widely for assessing urban greenery due to the advantages of providing new perspective and saving workload and research costs. In this paper, 135 peer-reviewed publications that employed SV to assess urban greenery between 2010 and 2022 are reviewed. Presently, the most widely applied area of SV-based urban greenery research is to extract the green view index. Although this has many potential applications for assessing ecosystem services, it has most often been used to date to identify the impact of street greenery on residents' physical and mental health, activities, and well-being (i.e., cultural services). In contrast, fewer studies have explored the other ecosystem services related to the greening. Overall, as an emerging urban environment research method, this review shows that there are still challenges in the utilisation of SV images for assessing urban greenery applications. These include the insufficient spatial and temporal coverage of SV images, low data collection accuracy and immaturity of suitable deep learning techniques on object identification. However, there is clear potential for these approaches to be developed to support a broader range of urban greenery studies that consider different ecosystem services and/or specific types of green infrastructure, for example, street trees.     

Poisonous and allergenic plant species in preschool’s and primary school’s yards in the city of Novi Sad

Presence of the poisonous and allergenic plant species was observed in 8 primary schools and 6 preschools in Novi Sad, Serbia. The aim of this research was to determine the extent to which pre-school and school-age children are exposed to harmful plant species and also to gain insight does the present landscaping take into account the appropriateness in the use of certain ornamental species in arranging preschool's and school's greenery. In the analyzed locations 22 poisonous plant species were noticed, mainly belonging to genera Thuja, Symphoricarpos, Cotoneaster, Juniperus, Berberis and Taxus, represented with 367 specimens. Along with poisonous, 21 allergenic plant species mainly belonging to genera Acer, Tilia, Betula, Populus, Platanus, Celtis, Aesculus, Thuja, Ulmus, Robinia and Quercus, represented with 675 specimens, were determined. The calculated allergenic index grouped most of the investigated species into strongly allergenic (calculated A.I. = 7) due to their prolonged phenantesic period, high abundance and possible cross-reactivity with other species noticed in the greenery. Establishment and enhancement of the collaboration between schools and experts from relevant institutions would result in the removal of the very most allergenic and poisonous landscape plants and ultimately toxic-free and allergy-friendly school yards. Gradual removal might temper the public reluctance to this measurement, but finally only joint efforts and complete abandonment of pointed species can convert unhealthy school yards into ones that are safe and allergy-friendly.     

The effect of exposure to nature on children’s psychological well-being: A systematic review of the literature

Over the last few decades, children have spent significantly less time actively engaged in nature-based outdoor activities compared to previous generations. This has corresponded with them increasingly suffering from a range of psychological problems. Studies have been undertaken to explore the notion that such problems can be mitigated to some extent through exposure to nature within the context of built environmental settings. While much of the literature in this area has focused on adult populations, this article provides a comprehensive review of recent studies addressing this topic targeting children aged 6–12 years old. From an initial search of the literature, a total of 1036 records were identified from which 40 studies addressing this topic were identified and analyzed. Our results show that most of these studies employed cross-sectional rather than longitudinal designs, and most identified positive psychological outcomes associated with children’s exposure to nature, with many yielding statistically significant yet weak to moderate outcomes. We further categorized studies into experimental or observational according to the research design. Observational studies primarily investigated the impact of the accessibility/quantity of natural environments within residential settings. Some experimental-based studies explored children’s active involvement in nature-based activities. In contrast, others investigated passive exposure to nature through views or visual stimuli used as surrogates of actual environments, many of which were conducted in school and public open-space settings. Most of the studies explored terrestrial, or green spaces, within the context of predominately built environments, with water-based settings (blue spaces) being underrepresented. Some differences in research focus and design were evident across different countries where the studies were undertaken. We conclude that further research is needed to unveil the associations between nature exposure and children’s psychological well-being to provide directions for future environmental design strategies, environmental education and policymaking.     

Environmental inequities in terms of different types of urban greenery in Hartford,Connecticut

Urban greenery has long been recognized as an important component of urban ecosystem and provides many benefits to urban residents. However, different types of urban greenery provide different kinds of natural experiences to people. In this study, green metrics calculated based on multisource spatial datasets were used to quantify the spatial distribution of different types of urban greenery in Hartford, Connecticut. Geo-tagged Google Street View images, which capture the profile view of cityscape, were used to quantify street greenery by considering the time information. Land cover map and urban parks map were used to measure residential yard greenery and proximity to urban parks, respectively. We analyzed the associations of the calculated green metrics with socio-economic variables derived from census data. Statistical results show that: (1) people with higher income tend to live in neighborhoods with more street greenery; (2) census block groups with a higher proportion of owner-occupied units tend to have more yard vegetation and yard tree/shrub coverage; (3) Hispanics tend to live in block groups that have less yard vegetation but African Americans mostly live in block groups with more yard greenery; and (4) there are no significant environmental disparities among racial/ethnic groups in terms of proximity to urban parks. In general, this study provides an insight into the environments of urban residents in terms of urban greenery, and a valuable reference data for urban planning.     

The effectiveness of schools-based National Arbor Week activities in greening of urban homesteads: A case study of Grahamstown, South Africa

Arbor Day, or Week, is a well-established greening initiative worldwide, focusing on tree planting and the benefits thereof. Frequently most effort is targeted at institutions such as schools and community groups. Yet there has been limited assessment of the success of Arbor Day, or Week, activities both at the schools, or the wider dissemination in neighbouring communities and suburbs. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of school-based Arbor Week activities on learners’ home-based practices regarding tree planting and urban forestry. Learners from three schools in Grahamstown South Africa, with good Arbor Week participation, were assessed on their tree planting knowledge. The learners’ parents were also interviewed to determine whether the information obtained by the learners at school was taken home. A control group consisting of people with no children or very young children was also assessed. This study found that Arbor Week activities were, for the most part, successfully taught in the case study schools, and most of the learners stated that their knowledge of trees and their benefits came from their school activities. However, many learners could not remember the activities in which their schools partook the previous year. Whilst most learners were aware of the importance of trees, few had encouraged tree planting at home. However, over one-fifth of adults claimed that their knowledge of the benefits of trees was as a consequence of Arbor Day activities when they were young. Numerous constraints to tree planting were provided by learners and both the adult groups, the two most frequent being limited space and falling leaves making their yards untidy. External organisations should become more actively involved and provide much needed support systems if greening initiatives are to reach the wider community.     

The potential of school green areas to improve urban green connectivity and multifunctionality

Urban green infrastructure supports resilience in cities and promotes sustainable resource management. Small green areas, including school green areas (SGAs), are an important component of urban green infrastructure, playing a key role in supplying cities with educational services. This article describes how SGAs can amplify an urban green area's connectivity and multifunctionality. The analysis was performed in Bucharest as a case study. A survey based on questionnaires was used to obtain data regarding green spaces within public schools. A total of 411 administrators from 461 public schools participated in the survey for a response rate of 89.1%. Information from the questionnaires was augmented with spatial data of SGAs and public green spaces, i.e., parks and city gardens. Using parametric and nonparametric statistical analysis, we first identified the variables that determine an SGA's presence and size. Potential connectivity assessment results showed that most of the schools that lack or have small-sized SGAs have the possibility to cover their green space deficit by developing activities within nearby public green spaces. A structural connectivity assessment of SGAs toward other public urban green areas revealed that SGAs are an important element of the urban environment by serving as stepping stones to species flow. The multifunctionality of the SGAs was emphasized through the educational services they provide, being involved in pupils’ daily activities. The increased connectivity and multifunctionality of urban green infrastructure through small, specialized green areas, such as SGAs, is an indicator of the fact that such areas can be used to ameliorate the deficit of green space in major urban areas.     

Comparing conventional manual measurement of the green view index with modern automatic methods using google street view and semantic segmentation

Urban greenery has various beneficial effects, such as engendering peace of mind. The green view index (GVI) effectively measures the amount of greenery people can perceive and is a suitable indicator of urban greening. To date, the most common way to measure the GVI has been to photograph the street environment from eye level and use image-editing software to calculate the area occupied by vegetation. However, conventional methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the calculation results may vary among individuals. In recent years, the use of Google Street View (GSV) photos and calculation of the GVI using automatic image segmentation have rapidly developed. In this study, we demonstrate the advantages of GSV and image segmentation over conventional methods, verify their accuracy, and identify the shortcomings of modern methods. We calculated the GVI in the central part of Sapporo, Japan, using the automatic image segmentation AI “DeepLab” and compared the results with those measured by Photoshop. At the exact GSV locations, we also acquired photos and again calculated the GVI using AI, subsequently comparing the results with those obtained on-site manually. Although the correlations were high, automatic image segmentation tended not to identify lawns and flowers planted in the ground as vegetation. It was impossible to determine the year when the GSV photos were taken. In addition, the distance to greenery was biased, depending on the position on the street. These points should be considered when using these modern methods.     

The role of green spaces and their management in a child-friendly urban village

Environmental child-friendliness is affected by how built environments and green spaces are planned and designed, but also by their ongoing management, including both development and maintenance. This study examined children’s perspectives on their local environments with focus on green spaces and their management in an urban village. Five groups totalling 16 children aged 10–11 were interviewed through child-led walks. Both the qualities of the village as a whole and of specific places within it added to the child-friendliness of the local environment. The children showed planned and managed spaces including playgrounds and parks, and unmanaged places such as abandoned gardens. They found many qualities in multifunctional planned places with a varied, rich content. In unmanaged areas the lack of management was seen as positive for exploration, play possibilities and for the place to be children’s own. The findings suggest that children’s perspectives can play an important role not only in planning and design, but also in the ongoing process of landscape management, including the provision of more variation in local green spaces.     

Residents’ use of remnant natural vegetation in the residential area of Järvafältet, Stockholm

In growing cities, there is a demand for development areas, which poses a threat to existing green areas. Therefore, it is of interest to know to what extent different types of green areas are used by residents. In the suburb of Järvafältet, situated 15 km outside Stockholm city centre, inhabitants’ use of patches of remnants of original natural vegetation in green areas has been studied by momentary observations from fixed points over the periods 1978–1982 and 2002–2004. The number of people, sex, age, type of activity, and place of that activity were noted. Overall, there has been a significant increase in the amount of use of these types of recreation areas between the two periods. The use by organized groups, as well as by adult walkers, runners and cyclists, increased the most, while individual children's play decreased. Almost every other child observed was found to be partaking in organized school or day nursery group activities. Children belonging to organized groups were seen as frequently in areas at a distance of less than 100 m from the houses as between 200 and 400 m from the built-up area, while children not participating in group activities were seen much more frequently in the areas closest to buildings. These types of green areas were used more by children and young people than by adults. This implies the likelihood that the use of these areas for recreation is underestimated in outdoor recreation inquiries and interview studies, where children are not usually included. Residents’ use of areas with remnant natural vegetation in cities shows that these areas have a recreational value as well as with other values. This makes them important to take into consideration in the planning and design process. Small areas close to residential areas need to be considered.     

Exploring the impact of green space health on runoff reduction using NDVI

This study examines the impact of green space health on local flooding based on the analysis of eighty-two watersheds in four Texas metropolitan statistical areas: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. The runoff records in October 2007 and October 2012 were selected for the assessment. The study met the methodological challenge posed by comparison by using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) datasets produced based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery of the 250-m resolution as a proxy to represent the health of green space. Two linear regression models were employed to explain the variation in mean daily runoff depth in 2007 and 2012, while controlling multiple contextual variables.Results indicate that watersheds containing healthier green spaces were likely to generate lower amounts of runoff in both periods. Standardized coefficients of green space health also show that the NDVI is a powerful and significant predictor to explain variation in runoff. These findings illustrate the important role of urban green spaces in attenuating local flooding and may provide planners and decision-makers with a method to consider, using this kind of objective greenery index in further developing local and regional green infrastructure and land-use plans.     

The link between school environments and student academic performance

Healthy school environments are critical for children to learn, play, and grow. Although research focusing specifically on the benefits of green spaces on academic performance is limited, the current research does in fact point to the link between greater amounts of trees on campuses and higher academic performance. We are beginning to develop an understanding of the benefits of trees but only a few comprehensive studies have been performed that measure the effects of trees on academic achievement. We examine the relationship among green spaces, students’ socio-economic factors, and their academic performance by using spatial measurements in geographic information system (GIS).The research study included 219 District of Columbia (D.C.) public schools. School environment measurements (e.g., land cover), school demographic data (e.g., number of students, student teacher ratio and free lunch enrollment), and school performance data (e.g., DC Comprehensive Student Assessment in Mathematics and Reading) were collected and georeferenced. GIS was used to integrate spatially dependent information regarding student and environmental factors with the land cover data.We found that schools with more trees had a higher percentage of proficient or advanced scores in Mathematics and Reading standardized tests after controlling for school size, student teacher ratio, and free lunch enrollment. However, not all types of landscapes have the same beneficial properties. Large expanses of land, “featureless landscapes,” including large areas of campus lawns and athletic fields have negative effects on academic performance. These results may help to guide the decisions made by landscape architects on the basis on evidence when they plan new and renovate existing schools.     

Bird song diversity influences young people's appreciation of urban landscapes

Increased losses of green areas in cities reduce people's experience of flora and fauna. Earlier studies have shown that biodiversity has benefits for urban inhabitants but the influence of animal sounds on people's experience of green space is poorly known. A sample of young urban people (N = 227) rated their reactions – positive or negative – to three bird song combinations: House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), 7 spp. i.e. Willow Warbler, Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Great Tit (Parus major), European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Common Blackbird (Turdus merula), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), three urban settings (residential areas with varying amount of greenery) and nine combinations of song and setting. Bird song was generally considered positive and singing by several species was more highly rated than singing by a single species. On average, urban settings combined with bird song were more highly appreciated than the settings alone and even more so where there was singing by several species rather than just one. We conclude that our data support the idea that bird song contributes to positive values associated with urban green space. Urban planners should consider preserving a variety of habitats in cities for hosting a diversity of birds and thereby boost conservation of songbird diversity and recreational experiences for urban people.