Locating pocket parks: Assessing the effects of land use and accessibility on the public presence

Abstract

Nowadays, pocket parks can serve people's interests as outdoor recreational spaces. Existence of these spaces is essential, but it may be challenging to establish and maintain them in some neighborhoods for a variety of reasons. This study aimed to compare land use and accessibility as two main factors that affect choosing appropriate places for these mini-parks. For this purpose, we assessed the effect of these variables on public presence. A survey was conducted among N = 376 respondents, including Baharestan neighborhood residents. We also used Space syntax to investigate residents' access to green local space. The results indicated that the effects that location had concerning packet parks greatly overshadowed the effects of accessibility. It was additionally concluded that, the different types of commercial land use are more closely associated with people's attendance rather than the scale of land use. The findings will help urban planners and authorities to make better decisions towards choosing better pocket park locations in our cities.

Keywords

• Accessibility
• Land use
• Pocket park
• Green space
• Space syntax
• Public presence