An Investigation of Urban Green Space Suitability in Residential Complexes (Case Study: Rasht City)

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 MA in Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Urban green spaces such as gardens, parks and woodlands provide a wide range of benefits to human urban populations, and a vital habitat for wildlife. By improving physical fitness and reducing depression, the presence of green spaces can enhance the health and wellbeing of people living and working in cities. Hence, there is an inclusive consensus on the importance of green spaces in the cities for urban planning and developing sustainable or ecological cities of the 21st century. Although there is no universal definition of urban green space, today, the notion of cities without effective green space in various forms is not conceivable. Urban green space is part of the urban landscape that is composed of a variety of vegetation alongside the buildings to determine the city's morphological structure. These spaces are part of the open spaces of a city, which are covered by natural and often manmade trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses and other plants based on human monitoring and management rules. Urban green spaces are divided into four general categories; one of which is semi-private green space which is restricted to the owners. Residential complexes are one of the most important areas to develop green spaces in cities. Attempts to provide the green space needed by residents in urban residential complexes have a significant impact on the complexes as well as urban landscape. However, there are significant differences among residential complexes in terms of their green space criteria (such as per capita, diversity, density, etc.). Despite its location in a humid climate, Rasht metropolis, as the capital city of Guilan province, does not have a desirable condition in terms of green space. For this reason, it is important to investigate green space condition of residential complex in Rasht. Therefore, the purpose of the present research is to rank the residential complexes of Rasht in terms of their greens paces.
Methodology
A descriptive – analytical method is used in this study. To gather information, a library research method along with an implementation of questionnaires and a field survey are applied. After preliminary information was gathered, we started explanation of criteria and indicators associated with this work and the process of developing the questionnaire. There are a total of 49 residential complexes in the city which are used as study population of this research in order to rank them based on their green space. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to rank the complexes. Using the Spearman's rank-order correlation, in SPSS software, the correlation between the area and the rank of green space in the residential complexes were tested. GIS and AutoCAD software are used to produce the maps. 
Results and Discussion
To investigate the desirability of residential green space in residential complexes, 11 criteria of designing the green space have been considered. These criteria are including vegetation diversity, trees density, entranced green space, existence  of  pesky trees, green space,  flowers, evergreen trees, climate-compatible plants. According to experts, importance of the criteria was extracted in paired comparisons, among which the design criterion has the highest score. As a result, it has the greatest impact on determining the green space of residential complexes, while the pesky trees criterion has the lowest score. After determining significance coefficient of the criteria, the significant coefficient of each option is determined. The results of this study showed that residential complexes of Gas and Bahoor with the highest score (0.54) are in the first place in terms of the desirability of green spaces in residential complexes. The lowest score (0.05) belongs to the residential complexes of Atlas, Pasargadae, Shaghayegh, Sefidroud and Baahonar. The complexes with the highest rank in terms of the green space criteria are located in the central part of the city, whereas the complexes with the lowest rank are located in the south and southwest part of Rasht. The relationship between the area and the rank of residential complexes is one of the other issues examined in this study. In fact, the analysis was conducted assuming that the larger the area of residential complexes, the higher the rank in terms of green space. However, the results showed that there is no significant relationship between the area and the green space of residential complexes in Rasht at a 95 percent confidence level. This means that there may be complexes with less space and a higher rank and vice versa. It can be argued that there is no relationship between the available space in the residential complexes and their green space in Rasht. Nevertheless, there is no serious planning to provide the required green space in these complexes.
Conclusion
The results showed that 49 residential complexes in Rasht are mainly concentrated in the north and north-east of the city. Thus, they are not well distributed throughout the city. Also, investigation of the indices studied in this research showed that most of the complexes are ranked average in terms of green space design, existence of pesky trees, productive trees and planted surfaces criteria. Most of the complexes are ranked very well in terms of entrance green space, tree density, climate-compatible plants, and per capita green spaces. Finally, based on the hierarchical analysis technique, Gas and Bahoor residential complexes with the highest scores in terms of green spaces are in first place; while the residential complexes of Atlas, Pasargadae, Shaghayegh, Baahonar and Sefidrud with the lowest scores are in the last place among the complexes. As noted earlier, the investigation of relationship between the area of the complexes and their green space ranks indicates that there is no correlation between these parameters.

Keywords

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 7, Issue 2
July 2019
Pages 265-283

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