TY - JOUR

T1 - Impact of summer heat on urban park visitation, perceived health and ecosystem service appreciation

AU - Kabisch, Nadja

AU - Kraemer, Roland

AU - Masztalerz, Oskar

AU - Hemmerling, Jan

AU - Püffel, Catharina

AU - Haase, Dagmar

N1 - Funding information: This work was carried out within the research project ‘Environmental-health Interactions in Cities (GreenEquityHEALTH) – Challenges for Human Well-being under Global Changes’ (2017–2022) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) , funding code: 01LN1705A . We thank Jan Bumberger and Paul Remmler (both Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research-UFZ Leipzig, Department Monitoring and Exploration Technologies) for providing technical support and advise in the air temperature measurements. We thank the City of Leipzig, Department for Urban Green and Waters, for supporting the project. We also thank Judith Rakowsky, Wiebke Drescher and Marc Schumann for supporting the questionnaire survey.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Urbanization, environmental change and ageing are putting urban health at risk. In many cities, heat stress is projected to increase. Urban green spaces are considered as an important resource to strengthen the resilience of city dwellers. We conducted a questionnaire survey in two structurally distinct parks in Leipzig, Germany, on hot summer days in 2019. We assessed the respondents’ activity patterns, satisfaction with the existing infrastructure, heat-related health impairment, changes in park use during heat waves and evaluation of the role of parks in coping with heat stress. We found that the old-grown, tree-rich park was used significantly more frequently for experiencing nature, while the newer, less tree-rich park developed on a former railway-brownfield site was used more often for socializing and having BBQs and picnics. Satisfaction with available drinking fountains and public toilets was generally low and satisfaction with lighting was assessed less satisfactory in the old-grown park. Safety was assessed as satisfactory in general but significantly less satisfactory by female respondents. The heat stress summary score indicating heat-related health impairment was significantly higher for participants in the newer park. A high share of respondents stated that they used parks during heat waves as frequently as usual in the summer (46 %), while some respondents stated that they adapted their park use behaviour (18 %), e.g., by coming later in the evening. Regarding the participants’ responses about the role of parks under summer heat conditions, we matched 138 statements to several regulating and cultural ecosystem services, and we found cooling and recreation to be mentioned most often. We concluded that green space planning should diminish usage barriers, such as insufficient lighting and insufficient sanitary infrastructure, to ensure equal park use opportunities for all city dwellers. Specific local environmental and sociocultural conditions, changing environments and climate adaptation must be considered. To maintain ecological processes and functions and to cope with climate change, urban planning should preserve older parks with a large amount of tree coverage while respecting demands for particular built infrastructure.

AB - Urbanization, environmental change and ageing are putting urban health at risk. In many cities, heat stress is projected to increase. Urban green spaces are considered as an important resource to strengthen the resilience of city dwellers. We conducted a questionnaire survey in two structurally distinct parks in Leipzig, Germany, on hot summer days in 2019. We assessed the respondents’ activity patterns, satisfaction with the existing infrastructure, heat-related health impairment, changes in park use during heat waves and evaluation of the role of parks in coping with heat stress. We found that the old-grown, tree-rich park was used significantly more frequently for experiencing nature, while the newer, less tree-rich park developed on a former railway-brownfield site was used more often for socializing and having BBQs and picnics. Satisfaction with available drinking fountains and public toilets was generally low and satisfaction with lighting was assessed less satisfactory in the old-grown park. Safety was assessed as satisfactory in general but significantly less satisfactory by female respondents. The heat stress summary score indicating heat-related health impairment was significantly higher for participants in the newer park. A high share of respondents stated that they used parks during heat waves as frequently as usual in the summer (46 %), while some respondents stated that they adapted their park use behaviour (18 %), e.g., by coming later in the evening. Regarding the participants’ responses about the role of parks under summer heat conditions, we matched 138 statements to several regulating and cultural ecosystem services, and we found cooling and recreation to be mentioned most often. We concluded that green space planning should diminish usage barriers, such as insufficient lighting and insufficient sanitary infrastructure, to ensure equal park use opportunities for all city dwellers. Specific local environmental and sociocultural conditions, changing environments and climate adaptation must be considered. To maintain ecological processes and functions and to cope with climate change, urban planning should preserve older parks with a large amount of tree coverage while respecting demands for particular built infrastructure.

KW - Behaviour

KW - Central Europe

KW - Heat

KW - Leipzig

KW - Perception

KW - Public health

KW - Social survey

KW - Urban green space

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102538148&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127058

DO - 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127058

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85102538148

VL - 60

JO - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

JF - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

SN - 1618-8667

M1 - 127058

ER -