Kaźmierczak, Oskar (2022) May I park here, or what is it we imagine a park to be? Investigating the perception of urban parks among Polish local government officials. Bachelor thesis.
|
Text
BA Thesis Oskar Kaźmierczak.pdf Download (4MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Urban parks have historically served as a means of mitigating and responding to social issues at a place and time. To this day, parks remain a tool used by local governments to deliver benefits to communities and improve citizens’ quality of life. However, for local governments to continue providing and maintaining parks, their functionality and benefits must be positively viewed. Despite the importance of officials’ perceptions of parks, few studies have investigated the issue. This thesis identifies this gap and explores the perceived physical characteristics (what renders a park a park) and conceptual characteristics of parks (their objectives, benefits and necessity) among local government officials in four Polish cities: Gdynia, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, and Szczecin. Both primary and secondary data were collected – primary data through semi-structured interviews with officials from municipal bodies tasked with planning, designing, or maintaining urban parks and secondary data in the form of municipal strategies and spatial studies. The former were analyzed through cognitive mapping and the latter through qualitative coding. The study finds that parks are viewed as a green space with a combination of tall and short greenery, amenities and infrastructure. Their area may vary greatly, but they are reported to have a primarily recreational function. Numerous park benefits are seen to follow from the objectives of their creation, while others are the result of the physical characteristics of the park. While largely complementary, parks may be partially replaced by nearby blue-green areas. Current perceptions largely mirrored the characteristics of the sustainable park model, concerned with human and ecological health, and integrating into larger green space systems. Newer solutions are emerging (networks of functionally diverse green areas and informal green spaces), but it will likely take time for their full implementation.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Spatial Planning and Design |
| Supervisor: | Roo, G. de |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2022 11:42 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jul 2022 11:42 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3935 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |