Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities

Urban residents’ health depends on green infrastructure to cope with climate change. Shrinking cities could utilize vacant land to provide more green space, but declining tax revenues preclude new park development—a situation pronounced in Japan, where some cities are projected to shrink by over ten...

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Main Author: Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-08-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/3/59
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spelling doaj-fffb25ce0e95456fbace25ffbce7e4832020-11-24T21:04:31ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2017-08-01635910.3390/land6030059land6030059Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking CitiesChristoph D. D. Rupprecht0FEAST Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 6038047, JapanUrban residents’ health depends on green infrastructure to cope with climate change. Shrinking cities could utilize vacant land to provide more green space, but declining tax revenues preclude new park development—a situation pronounced in Japan, where some cities are projected to shrink by over ten percent, but lack green space. Could informal urban green spaces (IGS; vacant lots, street verges, brownfields etc.) supplement parks in shrinking cities? This study analyzes residents’ perception, use, and management preferences (management goals, approaches to participatory management, willingness to participate) for IGS using a large, representative online survey (n = 1000) across four major shrinking Japanese cities: Sapporo, Nagano, Kyoto and Kitakyushu. Results show that residents saw IGS as a common element of the urban landscape and their daily lives, but their evaluation was mixed. Recreation and urban agriculture were preferred to redevelopment and non-management. For participative management, residents saw a need for the city administration to mediate usage and liability, and expected an improved appearance, but emphasized the need for financial and non-financial support. A small but significant minority (~10%) were willing to participate in management activities. On this basis, eight principles for participatory informal green space planning are proposed.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/3/59vacant landland useurban planningJapanwastelandgreen infrastructurerecreationlandscapeparticipatory managementdepopulation
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
spellingShingle Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
Land
vacant land
land use
urban planning
Japan
wasteland
green infrastructure
recreation
landscape
participatory management
depopulation
author_facet Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
author_sort Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
title Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
title_short Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
title_full Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
title_fullStr Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
title_full_unstemmed Informal Urban Green Space: Residents’ Perception, Use, and Management Preferences across Four Major Japanese Shrinking Cities
title_sort informal urban green space: residents’ perception, use, and management preferences across four major japanese shrinking cities
publisher MDPI AG
series Land
issn 2073-445X
publishDate 2017-08-01
description Urban residents’ health depends on green infrastructure to cope with climate change. Shrinking cities could utilize vacant land to provide more green space, but declining tax revenues preclude new park development—a situation pronounced in Japan, where some cities are projected to shrink by over ten percent, but lack green space. Could informal urban green spaces (IGS; vacant lots, street verges, brownfields etc.) supplement parks in shrinking cities? This study analyzes residents’ perception, use, and management preferences (management goals, approaches to participatory management, willingness to participate) for IGS using a large, representative online survey (n = 1000) across four major shrinking Japanese cities: Sapporo, Nagano, Kyoto and Kitakyushu. Results show that residents saw IGS as a common element of the urban landscape and their daily lives, but their evaluation was mixed. Recreation and urban agriculture were preferred to redevelopment and non-management. For participative management, residents saw a need for the city administration to mediate usage and liability, and expected an improved appearance, but emphasized the need for financial and non-financial support. A small but significant minority (~10%) were willing to participate in management activities. On this basis, eight principles for participatory informal green space planning are proposed.
topic vacant land
land use
urban planning
Japan
wasteland
green infrastructure
recreation
landscape
participatory management
depopulation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/3/59
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