To what extent can the creation of urban pocket parks improve the microclimate, improve living conditions for residents in cities, and can be part of the realization of pro-environmental, pro-climate and pro-social sustainable development goals, can be an important part of the green transformation of the economy, and can be an important element of urban development in accordance with the concept of sustainable, green, smart cities?
In the country where I operate usually before local elections in many cities, local government officials, as part of their election campaigns, recall the residents of the municipality, analyze the needs and demands raised by residents, local activists and local independent media. What they consider to be more frequent in the aforementioned demands they choose as banners for the ongoing election campaign, put on advertising banners, in promotional videos aired in various media, and, in the form of articles, place in controlled local government magazines or published by NGOs and associations specially established for the elections. Recently, before the local elections, a rapturous number of local government officials are now talking about the need to create urban pocket parks, while just a few years ago the so-called concretosis was developed on a large scale in many cities. Of course, it's a good trend that in many cities local government officials have finally now noticed the demands that have been made for years by many residents and by researchers that have been made for at least a dozen years. In a situation where, due to previously improper land use, incorrectly implemented zoning plans in many cities in the past, green areas have been eliminated in order to create a concrete plaza or widen the asphalt surfaces of parking lots, sidewalks and so on. green areas in many cities have been significantly reduced and in some cities have been completely eliminated altogether, and as a result, the quality of life in cities has deteriorated significantly in many respects, and there is no possibility of creating large urban parks, then the creation of urban pocket parks although to a small extent, but nevertheless will help urban residents by improving the conditions of existence, living, functioning, etc. in a certain urban agglomeration. Even through the establishment of urban pocket parks, the number of trees, shrubs, flower meadows and lawns in cities can be significantly increased, which will translate into a decrease in the temperature near them during the summer heat. In addition, the humidity of the air will also increase, which is also important during the summer heat. Placing benches in the areas of urban pocket parks will also increase the number of places where residents can relax. Near the creation of urban pocket parks, children's playgrounds and physical exercise facilities, so-called gyms and outdoor climbing walls can be established, thanks to which the number of places for recuperation and active rest from the urban hustle and bustle and after work offered to residents will increase. Established flower meadows will help protect pollinating insects, whose numbers of individuals in populations of bees and other pollinating insects have been declining rapidly over the past few decades. For this purpose, it is worth putting up houses for insects but also for birds in urban pocket parks and other parks being created. In larger urban parks it is also worth creating water reservoirs, ponds which can also significantly improve the natural qualities of the park, can increase the biodiversity of flora and fauna found in the park and improve the issue of microclimate and also increase the natural, aesthetic, etc. attractiveness of a specific park from the point of view of residents. In view of the above, the creation of urban pocket parks also fits perfectly into the realization of the pro-environmental, pro-climate and pro-social goals of sustainable development, can be an important part of the green transformation of the economy, and can be an important element of urban development in accordance with the concept of sustainable, green, smart cities.
Key aspects of the negative effects of the ongoing process of global warming and the associated necessary acceleration of the processes of green transformation of the economy in order to decarbonize the economy, slow down the process of global warming, protect the climate, biosphere and biodiversity of the planet's natural ecosystems I described in the article:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE PRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE ECONOMY TOWARDS GREEN ECONOMY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Article IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY DEVE...
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of scientists and researchers:
To what extent can the creation of urban pocket parks improve microclimates, improve urban living conditions, and can be part of the realization of pro-environmental, pro-climate and pro-social sustainable development goals, can be an important part of the green transformation of the economy, and can be an important element of urban development in accordance with the concept of sustainable, green, smart cities?
To what extent can the creation of urban pocket parks improve the microclimate and living conditions for residents in cities?
What do you think about this topic?
What is your opinion on this issue?
Please answer,
I invite everyone to join the discussion,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
The above text is entirely my own work written by me on the basis of my research.
In writing this text, I did not use other sources or automatic text generation systems.
Copyright by Dariusz Prokopowicz
Dear Prof. Prokopowicz!
You spotted an important topic. There are many answers and the results of each of those are case - and context-dependent ones toward the evolution of new sustainable urban ecosystems:
Herath, P., Bai, X. Benefits and co-benefits of urban green infrastructure for sustainable cities: six current and emerging themes. Sustain Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01475-9, Open access:
Article Benefits and co-benefits of urban green infrastructure for s...
A case -study:
Bagiouk, S., Sotiriadis, D. & Katsifarakis, K.L. Combining Pocket Parks with Ecological Rainwater Management Techniques in High-Density Urban Environments. Environ. Process. 11, 7 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-024-00690-x, Open access: Article Combining Pocket Parks with Ecological Rainwater Management ...
Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely
There are now many pocket parks in Chinese cities. They are important in the sense that they contribute to better living conditions for local residents. However, I think a condition for pocket parks should be enough normal urban parks planned or designed in the city. Put another way, pocket parks, albeit important, cannot replace normal parks. Their importance should be assessed in correct context.