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Volume 112 Issue 4
- Research article
by
1Department of Landscape Architecture, Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, 119 Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA19104-6311, USA
- Volume 112 Issue 4
- Pages: 133
- - 150
- https://doi.org/10.70517/la20221124-08
The decisions regarding urban greening should include the quantified estimate of the points where vegetation–health associations turn towards urbanization, what physical health outcomes have the most prominent direction, and whether the near-home vegetation is different from that outside one’s living environment. The proximity gradient, allowing for preserving neutrality in analysis, is constructed upon the heterogeneous data concerning urbanicity, greenspace, and physical health. The neutrality-preserving approach allows highlighting all three directions of finding: positive protective associations in more urban locations, no urbanicity differences, and positive protective associations in less urban locations. Directions, neutrality, smoothed dominance, and restriction by small groups give rise to the concrete urban signal. The numerical evidence includes 37 papers and 57 findings, including 22 findings favoring more urban areas, 29 neutral findings, and 6 findings favoring less urban areas. As a whole, the evidence base is mostly neutral; however, the directional subset shows very high levels of urban orientation, with 22 out of 28 non-neutral findings favoring more urban locations. Cardiovascular-related health outcomes demonstrate the highest values in outcome weighting, followed by mortality, birth outcomes, diabetes, cancer, respiratory-related conditions, and obesity-related disorders, while general physical well-being has a somewhat negative value. In terms of residential distance, the distance band at 500 m showed the greatest contribution to actionable value, whereas broader bands were either neutral or slightly less urban-oriented. Green landcover was shown to provide more actionable value than just public greenspace. Consequently, the interpretation is clear: considering neutrality in the total findings denominator, it is reasonable to prioritize urban greening at the residential scale.
- Research article
by
1Islamic Azad University of Ramsar
- Volume 112 Issue 4
- Pages: 114
- - 132
- https://doi.org/10.70517/la20221124-07
The importance of urban parks may be enhanced by mobility constraints which affect recreation opportunities, family visits and relief from the stress of the day. This paper attempts to determine whether the sharp fall in usage at two public parks in Jeddah during the COVID period indicated lack of park value or limited access to an undiminished valued resource for well-being. The data used includes park profile values, answers of 215 visitors, percentages, visit frequency and duration categories, motivation factors, place attachment items and crisis perception responses, relating to Al Masarah Garden and Al Jamaa Garden located centrally in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Numerical data includes park profile values, visitor responses (n=215), percentage statistics, visitor loads per hectare, shares of suppressed access, concentration of one-hour visits and a Restorative Access Demand index including restorative, proximity, social and equity sensitivity measures. Of the total responses received during the crisis period, 66% in the case of Al Masarah garden and 68% in the case of Al Jamaa garden did not report any park visits, whereas the share of visits not exceeding one hour rose to 66% and 71% respectively. However, these figures co-existed with strong restorative dependency: 67% actually missing parks, 79% feeling parks help relieve psychological stress, 81% considering that parks meet crisis period requirements, and 86% feeling that they are necessary for good mental health. Al Jamaa Garden had higher expected load per hectare, while Al Masarah Garden belonged to the category of older public gardens. Clearly, the Jeddah crisis period park usage issue revolved around accessibility of nearby, socially engaging green relief, rather than loss of public park value.
Call for Papers
Landscape Architecture invites submissions for Volume 2026, Issue 3, scheduled for publication in September 2026. The journal welcomes high-quality scholarly contributions that advance research, theory, criticism, and applied knowledge in landscape architecture and related fields.