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Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria
Alexandria Engineering Journal (2020) xxx, xxx–xxx
H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University
Alexandria Engineering Journal www.elsevier.com/locate/aej www.sciencedirect.com
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria Mona M. Abdelhamid *, Mohamed M. Elfakharany Department of Architecture, Pharos University in Alexandria, Canal ElMahmoudia Street, P.O. Box 37, Sidi Gaber, 21311 Alexandria, Egypt Received 11 November 2019; revised 20 December 2019; accepted 23 December 2019
KEYWORDS Public park; Users needs; Park usability; Sustainable revitalization
Abstract Historically, public urban park was designed to provide large open green spaces inside the city that can help in minimizing the negative impact of industrialization. Recently, most of the developed countries in the world have recognized the importance of multi-functional use of public parks in the sustainable development of cities. However, there are many public parks that already exist in developing countries but suffer from abandoned or underutilization due to the lack of public awareness, poor maintenance, lack of security and adequate facilities, as well as, lack of sports and social activities. The aim of the study is to assess the factors needed to improve park usability and analyze the factors influencing use of public parks in Egypt as an example of developing countries. Al-Shalalat Park situated in the centre of Alexandria city is used as a site study. A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen needs and preferences for public park usability have been made on 150 of local Alexandrian community from different ages and social backgrounds. Finally, the research suggests a design proposal for the revitalization of AlShalalat Park based on the results from the questionnaire. Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction A successful urban park in cities is beneficial for citizen’s general health. Many of famous developed countries such as New York, Boston, Paris and London have their own urban public park that are highly used and attract visitors from all over the * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Abdelhamid), [email protected] (M.M. Elfakharany). Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.
city [1]. The idea of modern urban park that aims to bring large green open spaces in the congested cities was first introduced in Britain with the development of Victoria Park 1840 which became the initiator of public parks as it was called as: ‘‘People’s Park”. Then, it was followed by the construction of Birkenhead Park 1847 in Liverpool, England, which was designed by the English gardener and architect Joseph Paxton [19]. The Birkenhead Park has become very famous because it responded to people needs by providing recreational green areas with different activities [2]. Urban parks become also popular during the mid-19th century in Europe and North America. The Central Park in New York City, USA is
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042 1110-0168 Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
2 considered the first America’s public park, which was constructed in 1859 by the Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux who were influenced by the design of Birkenhead Park [19]. The concept of urban Public Park has been rapidly spread in other cities to design leisure and recreational spaces that allow citizens to enjoy in peaceful and healthy environment [1]. Moreover, urban park usually reflects the social, cultural and economical image of the cities and they are very important for maintaining the urban ecosystem because they provide habitats for wildlife. Large urban parks will also improve the environmental quality in cities, because plants provide clean air and can reduce the urban heat island effect [3]. However, underutilization or negligence of existing public parks is considered a common problem in developing countries. This paper aims to explore the different reasons that encourage people to visit public parks in order to find proper solution for obsolete parks by improving their usability. The research begins by a literature review about human needs and the importance of urban park in sustaining both human health and the ecosystem. It also, discusses different aspects that can attract people to use a park. As an application for this review, Alexandria was selected as an Egyptian city (developing countries) that suffers from public parks underutilization. Alexandria is a Mediterranean and the second largest city in Egypt in terms of population and urban density. It has three large public parks distributed along the city, which are Al-Montazah Gardens, Al-Shalalat Park, and El-Nozha Complex, which includes Antoniadis Garden, Nozha Garden, Rose Garden, and Alexandria Zoo Garden [4]. However, these parks are facing an underutilization and abandoned problems, which causes damages, deterioration and obsolescence of the parks elements and designs. Al-Slalalt Park was selected as a study site because of its central location in the city of Alexandria and its easy access. The aim of the study is to assess the factors needed to improve park usability and to analyze the factors influencing use of public parks in Alexandria (Egypt). A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen needs and preferences for public park usability have been made on 150 participants from different ages and social background. A master plan for the development of Al-Shalalat Park has been proposed according to the questionnaire results in order to encourage park utilization by the Alexandrian Community. 2. Human needs and successful public urban park To design a successful public park, it is important to recognize different people’s needs and preferences. According to Drivers, Brown & Peterson [5], park visitors will react in the urban space if they found their desires or needs. It is also argued that the urban park may be transferred to an unsuccessful and uninteresting place if there is a failure in responding to changes of visitor’s needs and preferences [1]. According to Maslow [6], human needs can be divided into six categories: physiological needs, safety-security, feel of belonging, need or recognition, self-actualization (fulfillment of potential), and aesthetical cognition (learning to appreciate beauty). However, these categories are too general and require carefully consideration when applied to park design [1]. It was also proposed by Carr et al. [7] that successful urban public spaces should respond to the five basic human needs: comfort, relaxing, discovering, passive and active engagement with the natural environment.
M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany Carr suggests that comfort is the most important need and it should be essential and prerequisite before looking to meet other needs [1]. The relaxation could be achieved through meeting a combination of psychological and physical needs. Discovering is the need of exploring something different. According to Carr et al., [7] the discovery need is essential for human survival because it is related to human mental and physical development. The sense of exploration and discovery can be introduced in the physical design of the urban space. Watching and observing the natural features in the surrounded environment or watching people’s activities and sports can achieve passive engagement need. Active engagement involves socializing through talking or playing with other people in a recreational area [1]. Hence, Parks managers must ensure that the parks serve their communities through meeting different needs and preferences of park users. Usership surveying is a valuable tool that can be used by park manager to get careful information about the characteristics and needs of park visitors in order to help for the improvement of existing urban parks or the development of new public parks while ensuring good usability of the space [8]. Because world is changing fast in terms of environmental changes, population and technologies, thus a continuous survey and post occupancy evaluation for the park visitors should be made to ensure the continuous usability of the urban park. Smart technologies together with the Internet of things can facilitate the data collection about users needs after the park operation to help parks managers in selecting the better and fast decisions for the park redevelopment programs. 3. Sustainable development in planning and development of urban parks According to Satterthwaite (1999), there are three major aspects that can lead to the sustainable development. These aspects include: meeting people needs and preferences; sustaining the natural environment in its local, regional and national levels; and sustaining the cultural values [15]. The principle of sustainable development should be addressed in the planning and development of urban public parks to improving the quality of places where people live and work [1]. Urban green parks contribute to ecological sustainability. Ensuring the continuous usability of the urban public park is important to maintain the ecological sustainability within the city [9]. Development of sustainable urban spaces should be based on a balanced relationship between both human needs and the environmental value of biodiversity [10]. To achieve this balance, the designing and developing of public parks need to follow the three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economical and environmental) at the same time. Sustainable urban parks should be self-sufficient, adapted to the local condition and subjected to a continuous low cost maintenance program [11]. 3.1. Benefits from sustaining urban public parks Well-designed and maintained public parks according to users needs and adapted with the natural environment will provide a useable green space that have positive impacts on human beings and the natural environment. These positive effects
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries include improving human physical and mental health, improving air quality and preserving the biodiversity [11]. Improving the quality of urban park has also economical benefits through encouraging tourism, attracting and retaining businesses in the area, creating jobs opportunities, and increasing the surrounding land and property value [12]. Moreover, urban parks may have educational benefits as they can be used to be an outdoor classroom for schools and universities for practicing environmental studies or making research projects. The aim of the educational experience is to connect young people with the natural world so that they could understand the value and importance of sustainable environment. Therefore, Urban Parks can be seen as open-air laboratories for biologists, geographers, environmentalists as well as social scientists [1].
3 pre-registration. These activities may include walking, running, bicycling, skating, climbing, ball games, and children playing areas. The spaces needed for spontaneous recreation in public urban parks can include multi-use paths, climbing mountains, grass areas, playgrounds, and rectangular fields for ball games (beach volleyball courts, tennis courts, basketball courts, and soccer goal posts). Structured recreation refers to organized sport with registration fees such as fitness classes and many of other sports listed for spontaneous recreation such as tennis courts, basketball courts, beach volleyball, and ice rinks. Those physical activities taking place in a natural environment will provide a healthy development of youth and visitors. The successful planning for park activities and spaces requires the participation of all stakeholders. It needs also to create a balance between variety of spontaneous and structured spaces [14].
4. Reason for visiting the public park (c) Social People can visit public urban parks to achieve one or more of the following objectives: culture, recreation, social, heritage, and education. There should be a balance between park zones and different amenities to meet all the roles of park especially for citizens with the greatest needs such as low-income people, elderly and persons with disabilities [14]. (a) Culture It is important to encourage cultural amenities to be presented in public park (such as: art, music, festival, and history) contribute to a community’s sense of place. Urban parks are good environment to host outdoor concerts and theatrical performances that can create a highly memorial experience. ‘‘Shakespeare in the Park” is an example of popular cultural event. With the revitalization of Lithia Park Ashland in Oregon, a theater was built especially to present Shakespeare plays during the Shakespeare festival. Public Park may also present free musical performances to be points of gathering and attraction in the public spaces. Presenting art works in Public parks is a good method that can show the local culture and stimulate citizen’s creativity. The Central Memorial Park in Calgary can represent a good example of integrating art in public parks that can strengthen sense of place in Calgary’s residents and visitors while providing place for recreation and learning. Moreover, the beauty of the natural environment in the park can also offer venues for artists to inspire and facilitate the creation of art [14]. (b) Recreation According to the Framework for Recreation in Canada, recreation is defined as: The good feeling resulting from participating freely in physical, social, intellectual, creative and spiritual activities that can enhance human wellbeing. Passive, spontaneous, and structured recreations are three types of recreational activities that can take place in public parks. Passive activities can include relaxation while enjoying the surroundings natural environment and observing wildlife, reading, social gatherings, walking, and photography. The amenities needed for passive recreation can include shades areas, open green spaces, walking track, picnic tables and benches. Spontaneous recreation occurs when visitors can freely choose and participate to physical activities at anytime without
Parks are a great platform for social gathering aiming to appreciate difference between people, which create social cohesion and strong community development. Meeting friends and new people is the most popular form of social activity. People with different cultural backgrounds will have the opportunity to connect and interact with each other in a public park environment [14]. (d) Heritage A lot of existing public urban park were developed on or around significant historical sites or monuments. In these cases, urban parks will have an important role in preserving community’s history and increasing citizens interest and utilization. Creating cultural events in the park gives rise to celebrating the history in different ways [14]. (e) Education Several researches showed that being in an open space helps the progress of the learning process. Urban Park is a good platform for nature and environmental treatment education. It is a good place to share different experiences to teach the public and students about how to take care of their environment [14]. 4.1. Ways to improve park usability A National study of neighborhood parks in American cities was made over two-years (from 2014 to 2015) to identify what are the main aspects that encourage and increase park usability. Data was collected and observed from 174 parks designs and human behaviors in 25 cities across the country. The study found and recommended that park design; park program; marketing; and measuring park use are the four main aspects that can affect park usability [13]. (a) Park Design Landscape, hardscape, playground, sports zone and services designs influence the degree of a park usability and affect the physically activity of park users [13]. According to The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America, it was
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
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found that walking loop with exercise equipment stations at distance around the loop have increased the number of park users by 80%. The study also mentioned that ‘‘taking children” was the common reason for visiting the park and 25% of all children are using the play areas. Multigenerational playgrounds or playgrounds that have adjacent Fitness Zones, are important solution that give the opportunity for both kids and their caregivers to make physical activity at the same time. As an example, Anacostia Park in Washington, DC have provides a free park fitness facility adjacent to the children’s playground. This study also approved that number of park visitors my decrease if the park doesn’t have a clean and comfort public toilets, even if it has great amenities, a beautiful setting, varied programming and easy accessibility [13]. (b) Park program The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America has proved that providing a scheduled park program that provides supervised activities and social events will increase number of park visitors. The study assumed that supervised activity could increase park usability by 48% and the physical activity by 37%. Programs should have variation to benefit different age groups and genders [13]. (c) Marketing and advertisement According to The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America, On-site marketing and advertisement, such as signs, banners, and posters can increase park usability by 62% and physical activities by 63%. Online marketing that connect people from all over the world to the parks through official websites and social media can also increase park usability. As an example, the city Greensboro, NC began in 2017 to use online tools such as ‘‘Meetup” to advertise and encourage participation in exercise classes in the parks. Since using the Internet tools, the classes have doubled in size. To bring the park marketing into the digital age, signs can be digital or printed boards having QR codes. Visitors can scan the code by their smartphones to download a video about the workout modules in the park [13]. (d) Measuring park use (post occupancy evaluation) Measuring park use is not cheap and usually takes time, however, it greatly improve park managers ability for targeting investments and activities to serve all residents and visitors. Measuring park usage of spaces is also important to justify which place is used more that others to help in maintaining and enhancing park spaces. There is a tool used for measuring park use called SOPARC (Systematic Observation of Play and Recreation in Communities). This tool utilizes direct observation to make assessment for park spaces and activities to identify number or users, gender, ages, activity type, and groups. The observation also collects data on park activity spaces characteristics (such as accessibility, supervision, and the presence of organized events or activities). New technologies such as using the Internet of Thing (IoT) can facilitate data collection through connecting users smart devices to the server. Inserting
on site sensors such as passive infrared, ground sensors, piezoelectric strips, and smart benches can track the number people within range of the sensors [13]. 5. Case study: revitalization of Al-Shalalt Historical Park, Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria is a Mediterranean city and the second capital of Egypt. However, it lack of appropriate Public Park to help people getting over their stress and to enhance the general human health. The whole city contains three historical gardens, distributed in different areas, but unfortunately, they are underutilization (see [15] Fig. 1). Al-Shalalat Park was selected as a study site for its historical, environmental, social and cultural values. It is also considered the third largest public garden in Alexandria city. The park was constructed on a Roman archeological site during the late 19th century AD. It was ‘‘Monfront” the French engineer who designed the park, following the design concept of the American landscaper and designer ‘‘Federick Law Olmsted”. It includes a number of historical structures, a wide variety of ancient plant species, a lake, waterfall, open green spaces for families and Youth activity centre (see Fig. 2). However, it is estimated that the Park is currently facing a higher retrogradation rate caused by the absence of any maintenance program [16]. Al-Shalalat Park is located in the city centre of Alexandria city, Egypt. Three major streets surround the garden: Salah Mostafa, Canal El suez street, Abou Kir Street, the fourth side is bounded by Hossny Hamad street. The park is accessible from the major transportation routes of Alexandria city, which are: the Cornish street, the Tram street and Abou kir street. Its total area was reduced many times during several urban development from 68 feddans in 1958 to become less than 30 feddans in 2019. The absence of effective maintenance program for the park has led to a higher deterioration rate for its structures, landscape and hardscape. Thus, it is important to encourage people who live in the Alexandrian community to return using the park in order to benefit from this huge green asset before that it disappears over time. 5.1. Description of the existing site’s elements The researchers have made several visits to the park (during 5 months from February to June 2019) under different conditions (holidays, weekends, weekdays; cold or sunny weather; early morning or afternoon) to observe the highest occupation of the park and average ages of users. It was obvious that only two types of people who visit the park with a very low density even during weekend and the sunny weather. Those were mainly group of teenagers and young people at the age between 15 and 25 years old and males at the age between 25 and 45 years old taking their dogs for a walk. A small numbers of families where presented during weekend (this number didn’t exceed 8 families during a Friday morning). A field survey and observation has also been made by the researchers to record updated information about the actual condition of landscape elements and other built structures situated within the area of the park. This data has been summarized (see Fig. 3 and Tables 1 and 2).
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries
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Fig. 1 Alexandria map showing the three gardens distributed in different locations of the city. A: Montazah Gardens; B: EL-Nouzha Complex; C: Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Map quest, modified by the researchers.
Fig. 2
Historical Development of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Nourhan H., 2017, modified by the researchers.
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 3
Shows the actual condition of different areas at the main and zone of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Photo taken by the researchers.
Table 1
Actual Condition of the built structures at Al-Sahlalat Park.
Elements
Actual condition
Bastion El-Nabih Cistern El-Nahaseen Fort Western Tower Cafeteria Entrances gates
Good condition. Need minor maintenance In a good condition. Under renovation to be used as touristic site Al walls of the structure exist but parts of the plaster layer are removed and the structure is exposed. Need minor maintenance Al walls of the structure exist but parts of the plaster layer are removed and the structure is exposed. Need minor maintenance The building is outdated. The place didn’t provide good snakes, seating or service facilities There are two gates located at important part of the park. The main gate is beside El-Nahaseen fort on the Salah mostafa street. The second gate is located on the opposite side on the hossny hamad street and in front of the axial street coming fom the Cornish street and passing by El-Tram street. This street provides a direct connection between the park and Bibliotheque d’Alexandrie. Unfortunately, the gates are not designed to reflect a welcoming impression for visiting the park
5.2. Involving local residents and Alexandrian community in the development program 5.2.1. Methods and results A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen’s needs and preferences for public park usability was conducted during 5 months from February to June 2019. The questionnaire aimed also to get clear information for answering the question of why this large green asset situated in a vital and central part of Alexandria city is abandoned and underutilized. One to one interview with non-structured questions has been made in order to get transparency from participants in expressing their opinion freely and without any restrictions.
The answers were collected from 150 interviewees with different ages, genders, education and social level (see table 3), and summarized with percentages (see Figs. 4–6). Answers regarding Alexandrian communities preferences for amenities and activities has been classified under the 5 main aspects that encourage people to visit a park (discussed in the literature review). For the purpose of this research, the analysis will be limited to the following questions answers: (a) Did you visit Al-Shalalat Park during the latest five years? Why? (b) What are the reasons for not visiting the park?
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries
7 (c) Which amenities or activities will motivate you to visit the park? (d) Do you prefer that the park works all the day or having working hours? (e) Do you think providing a scheduled park program can increase its usability? (f) If yes, what do you think is needed to be included in the program?
Table 2 Condition of Landscape and Hardscape Elements at Al-Sahlalat Park. Landscape Elements
Actual condition
Bushes
Bushes exits in different places but are not used to define a pedestrian path or to lead for a gathering point Most of the garden area is covered with greenery but not with colorful flowers that can gives the feel of joy Very bad condition (no regular irrigation system) The green spaces are bordered with massive bazalet blocks painted yellow and white. Some of them are broken or removed A wide variety of aged trees and palms. Some of them are in a good condition and other are broken and not well maintained
Flowers
Grass Grass borders
Trees and palm Hardscape Elements
Actual condition
Park fence
Very low in height and allows visual continuity but will allow the entrance of anyone without going through the entrance gate Pedestrian paths are not well defined and they are not paved with permeable materials Waterfalls look pleasant places but the water is unclean. Seating is not well distributed around the waterfalls Located in a central point of the park. The water is polluted There are lighting elements but their number are not sufficient and not well distributed to provide a good lighting during night. Only lighting poles of approximate 3 m height exist. No other type of lighting that focus on water and landscape elements or to define pedestrian paths are presented Minimum seating in a bad condition. Not distributed along the park paths. No seating around the main water features of the park. No seating in the kids playing area Shaded areas are not well maintained and don’t cover all the park spaces No garbage baskets along pedestrian paths or at the gathering points No signs for way finding or to show rules of using the public space appropriately
Pedestrian pavement Water falls
Artificial lake Lighting elements
Seating
Shaded areas Garbage baskets Signs
Table 3
The participant’s response to the question (a) was that 35% of the total interviewees number have visited the park for several purposes with different percentages (see Fig. 4). 65% of interviewees didn’t go to the park during the past five years, however, 35% from the 65% were used to visit the park in the past around thirty years ago. They said that the park was safer and provided several activities and appropriate amenities. The majority of the participants mentioned that feeling unsafe (because of drug injection, sexual harassment, and theft crimes) and lack of park maintenance were the reasons that make them away from benefiting from this historical park, although it is the most accessible park among the three others situated in Alexandria city. Other reasons are (with different percentages) lack of appropriate amenities, absence of social activities, lack of sports activities, no safe pedestrian accessibility (such as ramps, pedestrian traffic lights), lack of night lighting, and poor playground areas (see Fig. 5). A lot of companies and bank are in the surrounding area because the park is located in the city centre of Alexandria, however, absence of pedestrian accessibility or appropriate services has discourage workers to spend their rest time during the day in the park. To answer question (c), each participant has stated a list of amenities or activities needs and preferences. Items are grouped from all participant and percentages have been calculated (See Fig. 6). The majority of participants (94%) confirmed that a clean park with maintenance program is the main aspect that will attract them to enjoy the natural environment in their city (Containing historical trees and water feature). Clean toilets, Well-paved paths, benches, picnic tables and shades are all highly demanded with a percentages range from 88% to 78%. Because of security issue 72% of participant suggested the distribution of many Security nodes at several part of the park, while 40% of interviewees proposed to increase the number of night-light for the same purpose. Cafeteria serving a good quality of healthy snacks was mentioned to be important for 70% of interviewees, who have children or aiming to play sports as well as for employees who work around the park and want to take their lunch break while enjoying the beauty of the
Participants distribution.
Distribution Residence
N.
Distribution Gender
N.
Distribution Age
N.
Distribution Education
N.
Distribution Social level
N.
Neighborhood citizens Close to the neighborhood Fare from the neighborhood Foreigners
77 30 28 15
Male Female
80 70
12–18 Y 18–30 Y 30–45 Y 45–65 Y Above 65 Y Total 150
20 45 40 20 25
School students University students Bachelor and above Non-educated
37 48 40 25
High-income level Medium-income level Low-income level
30 78 40
Total 150
Total 150
Total 150
Total 150
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Reasons for visiting the park.
Reasons for not using the park.
Fig. 6 Percentage of participants desires and needs for amenities and activites collected from 150 participants of Alexandrian Community.
nature. Providing ramps outside and inside the park is also considered an important amenity that will encourage elderly, family having strollers and disable people to easily visit the park in order to enjoy the beauty of their city while giving them they right to interact and socialize with other people in the community. Spaces for sports and activities such as play path, Kids Playing areas (open and closed), ball games courts, water activities, climbing activities, yoga and fitness classes, as
well as, ballet and gymnastic classes, have been proposed by the participant to have a great influences in increasing park usability for several purposes. There were 40% of interviewees who asked for distributing signs weather printed boards or digitally displayed in order to facilitate their movement and way finding in the park. Around 35% aimed to have scheduled program for art and craft during summer and holidays for their children. Others about 35% suggested that providing free
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries Wi-Fi will respond to the digital world development and will attract more people to visit the park for several reasons (including studding, working, socializing, or even use GPS to find their way in the park). The free Wi-Fi can also help in collecting information from park users and connecting them with the Internet of Things. These data and information can help in accessing park usability to help for a continuous maintenance and activities upgrading to meet the needs for all future generation. An official Internet website for the park was suggested by 35% of interviewees to provides important data and announcements as a kind of fast advertisement for the park. While the park includes many historical structures and monuments, however, the majority of the community participant didn’t know about them or their history. Only 30–24% were concerned about the importance of providing places that can host musical concerts or cultural events as well as planning for night cultural shows in order to highlight the historical structures and preserve the cultural value of the urban context. About 30% of participants argued that to respond to the global need of sustainable development, people should learn more from nature about the benefits that will be reflected on their general health and well being if using sustainable features and materials. So, they suggest providing environmental treatment features such as water tanks, bio-retention facility, rain garden, shades and smart benches powered by solar energy (photovoltaic panels). Because a public park is an accessible place for all type of people with different social levels, the idea of sustainable development could be taught easier and faster when it is directly connected with nature (learning from nature for the benefit of both natural environment and human being). To answer question (d), a majority of 70% of participants preferred that the park should have working hours to provide time for park maintenance. They suggest that to control the timing and for not allowing undesirable entrance to the park, it is important to provide a fence at least 2 m height around the park. But for not isolating the view of green elements, the fence could be made from shrubbery or light structure. For question (e), 65% of participants (mainly younger people) were aware about the importance of creating a scheduled program of activities to increase park usability. While, the rest of 35% participants need only safe, clean environment and good amenities to visits the park. To help participant for answering question (f), there were guided to choose one or more from the following: advertisement program, activity program, touristic program, sustainable program and their answers were 70%, 65%, 45%, and 30% respectively. Mainly architects and highly educated people who were aware about the importance of adopting sustainable approach for sustaining both human health and the ecological biodiversity that already exist in the park. These results provide information and data that can help decision makers, city planners, urban developers, and governmental body to formulate strategies that meet public needs and expectations. Park usage will be increased if the Alexandrian community feels safe and comfortable while finding their needs and preferences in the park. 5.3. Suggestion for a development program The proposal for the revitalization of Al-shalalat Park was designed in accordance to the community’s needs and preferences. It is also based on the National Study of Neighborhood
9 Parks in America that aimed to increase public park usability, which were discussed in the literature review. The proposal suggested developing a program to revitalize the use of AlShalalat Park according to users needs that were collected from the questionnaire by following the next steps: (a) First step: Development of the urban space design through providing: – A wall fence of shurbbery with a 2.5 m high should surround the park to prevent undesirable entrance of baggars and peoples who don’t respect the laws. – Traffic signs for pedestrians should be presentence near the park entrance to allow safe movement from one street side to the other. – The public transit stops should be placed near the main entrance gate to promote strong connections with the park. – Hardscape elements should be maintained and well distributed within the garden spaces according to visitors needs. Adding some of smart hardscape elements such as: eco-friendly smart benches. – Soft-scape elements should be carefully treated and dead one can be replaced with other vegetation. Ground water that exists in the site can be used for irrigation to eliminate the irrigation cost from potable water and using smart water controller technology. – Providing ramps to facilitate the movement of elderly, handicaps and baby strollers. – The garden spaces should be designed to house several types of social activities such as: water activity, sketching, concerts, running, cycling, science, reading, etc. . .. . .. (b) Second step: Develop a maintenance program. The park should have working hours and other closed time for maintenance. Several guards kiosk with 3d cameras should be distributed within appropriate distance in the garden to monitor and observe any violation of the park rules. Cameras should be connected to the park administration building. There should be some workers who check the park spaces every week to record if any necessary maintenance is needed. The money collected from visitors that do not respect the rules will be used in garden maintenance. Fees that will be collected from the park activities will be used for physical maintenance and salaries for people working in the park. Developing park web site can be used for announcement of donation campaigns to provide funding for the on going park maintenance program. Benefiting from the experience of the Ashland Parks, all donations should be tax-deductible to encourage people to participate in the campaigns [17]. (c) Third step: Advertisement program to encourage people for visiting the park. Develop Internet website and add a well-designed panel at the main entrance, which may includes the following information based on participants respond to questions (e & f): – Opening and closing time of the garden. – Pictures, timing and fees for several social activities program.
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 7
– – – –
A proposed plan for the revitalization of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: the researchers.
Pictures for special events that takes place in the garden. Fees for photo session in the park. Picture and fees for visiting the monumental buildings. Penalty fees for causing any sort of deterioration, pollution or unethical behavior.
5.4. Promoting the sustainability concept in the development program The sustainability concept is suggested to be achieved through the following based on participants respond to question (f): – – – – – – – –
Restoring the biodiversity and the soil. Storm water and rain water management. Air purification and carbon sequestration. Filtering noise. Mitigating the urban heat island effect. Energy efficiency for the park lighting system. Eco-friendly smart benches. Constructing an organic recycling unit to use the park leftover as bio-composts.
5.5. Proposed plan for Al-Shalalat Park revitalization Most of the revitalization project focused in the past on bringing back the old appearance of the old parks while putting less consideration to the community needs and preferences. Which could lead to park abundance because the society cannot find their interests that attract them to visit the park. Therefore, the park development and revitalization process should change to follow society needs and people mentality [18]. The aim of this
proposal is to provide a guiding example for the future development of unused and deteriorated public parks in developing countries to transform them into vibrant, diverse and multifunctional urban spaces. The conceptual proposal for the revitalization of Al-Shalalat Park is based on theoretical study, and the community participation in order to encourage park usability when meeting users needs and desires. The proposed plan is designed to promote positive connections between the community, urban context and the nature. The concept of environmental and economic sustainability as well as of energy efficiency has been adopted for an integrated design approach. The park is currently divided in three zones by high traffic streets. The study is applied on the biggest zone that contains the water pond, waterfall, El-Nahaseen fort and the western tower. The objective of the new proposal is to design multifunctional spaces, thus three distinct typologies for functional areas (leisure, education and ecological) have been introduced. The park environmental education area can be used to improve the communication between the governmental body and the community. It also may help in raising public awareness about the importance of using and maintaining the green spaces in our cities. Park educational program can involve the public and school children in activities like planting, raking leaves and cleaning up for volunteering work so they can grow up with a deep understand of the benefit of clean and green environment on their general health and the community development [18]. The park environmental education area will be a concept for leisure, working and teaching community in which student life and learning processes are part of the community structure. As the strategy will be implemented the park could become progressively a centre for education and training, receiving students from all schools and universities of the city (see Fig. 7).
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Improving urban park usability in developing countries
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6. Conclusion Increasing public park utilization is an important issue that has a great benefit on human health (physical, mental, and physiological) through connecting people to nature. Connecting with nature can also enhance human cognition, creativity, and positive social behaviors [14]. When park is used it means that it need maintenance for its spaces to remain attract visitors as well as to preserve the natural ecosystem of the park. Thus, it is essential for governmental body responsible of park development to create a sustainable balance between the use and preservation of park nature and amenities. There was a study made by David E. in 2016 to understand the relationship between park use and security issue. The study indicated that there is in fact a mutual influence between park usability and safety of the space. The more a park is used the safer the area is perceived and also people have to feel safe in order to use the park. However, developing countries do not seem to realize that using public parks can contribute to social, cultural and economical development of their region. Accordingly, a study was conducted on one of the significant parks in Alexandria (Egypt) to find out what are the main reasons that make this historical large green space abandoned and underutilized despite its central and accessible location in the city. The findings of the questionnaire suggest that to increase the public park usability, park spaces should meet the diverse interests of different users ranging from recreational areas (both active and passive) and educational spaces to cultural events for tourist attraction and to increase sense of place for urban dwellers. Moreover, environmental treatment should be added to vegetation and wildlife habitat protection. However, the proposed plan is a conceptual study that still has some limitations and not elaborated in detail. Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. References [1] M. Suhardi, Preferences for Usability at Taman Tasik Seremban, Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Alam Cipta 8 (1) (2016). [2] E. Boults, C. Sullivan, Illustrated History of Landscape Design, John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey, 2010. [3] M.F. Shahidan, M.K.M. Sharif, P. Jones, E. Salleh, A. Abdullah, A comparison of Mesua ferrea L. and Hura
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crepitans L. for shade creation and radiation modification in improving thermal comfort, Landsc. Urban Plann. 97 (3) (2010) 168–181. H.A. Nourhan, Alexandria’s cultural landscapes: historical parks between originality and deterioration, in: Coastal Cities and Their Sustainable Future II, 170, WIT Press, 2017, pp. 73– 83. B.L. Drivers, P.J. Brown, G.L. Peterson, Benefits of Leisure, Venture Publishing, Pennsylvania, 1991. A. Maslow, Motivation and Personality, Harper and Row, New York, 1954. S. Carr, M. Francis, L.G. Rivlin, A.M. Stone, Public Spaces, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1992. R.S. Rabare, R. Okech, G.M. Onyango, The role of urban parks and socio-economic development: case study Of Kisumu Kenya, Theoret. Emp. Res. Urb. Manage. 3 (12) (2009) 23–36. G. Cranz, M. Boland, Defining the sustainable park: a fifth model for urban parks, Landsc. J. 23 (2004) 102–120. D. Maguelonne, The European landscape conservation, Landsc. Res. J. 31 (4) (2006). L. Luis, S. Rau´l, P. Thomas, Urban parks and sustainable city planning - the case of Portima˜o, Portugal, Wseas Trans. Environ. Devel. 3 (10) (2007) 171–180. D. Nigel, S. Carys, W. Helen, Improving Urban Parks, Play Areas and Green Spaces, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions Publications Sales Centre, London, 2002, pp. 73–83. E. Caryn, H. Peter, K. Linda, Active Parks, Healthy Cities: Recommendations from the National Study of Neighborhood Parks, City Parks Alliance, 2018. E. David, S. Ryan, The Roles of an Urban Parks System, 2016. Available at: https://www.worldurbanparks.org/images/ Documents/The-Roles-of-an-Urban-Parks-System.pdf (retrieved 9 -11-2019). D. Satterthwaite, Sustainable cities or cities that contribute to a sustainable development?, in: D. Satterthwaite (Ed.), The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities, Earthscan Routledge, London, New York, 1999, pp. 80–106. E. Farah, Rediscovering Alexandria’s Heritage Gardens, 2018. Available at: http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/15/61346/ Rediscovering-Alexandria%E2%80%99s-Heritage-Gardens (retrieved 19-2-2019). Ashland Parks Foundation. Available at: http://www. ashlandparksfoundation.com/Page.asp?NavID=21 (retrieved 15 October 2019). N. Kjell et al, Implementing urban greening aid projects – the case of St. Petersburg, Russia, Urban For. Urban Green. 6 (2007) 93–101. T. Ian, Urban parks. A history: 1839–2012., Landscape, J. Landsc. Inst. (2013) 37–41, Spring (Heritage and its role in our futures).
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H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University
Alexandria Engineering Journal www.elsevier.com/locate/aej www.sciencedirect.com
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria Mona M. Abdelhamid *, Mohamed M. Elfakharany Department of Architecture, Pharos University in Alexandria, Canal ElMahmoudia Street, P.O. Box 37, Sidi Gaber, 21311 Alexandria, Egypt Received 11 November 2019; revised 20 December 2019; accepted 23 December 2019
KEYWORDS Public park; Users needs; Park usability; Sustainable revitalization
Abstract Historically, public urban park was designed to provide large open green spaces inside the city that can help in minimizing the negative impact of industrialization. Recently, most of the developed countries in the world have recognized the importance of multi-functional use of public parks in the sustainable development of cities. However, there are many public parks that already exist in developing countries but suffer from abandoned or underutilization due to the lack of public awareness, poor maintenance, lack of security and adequate facilities, as well as, lack of sports and social activities. The aim of the study is to assess the factors needed to improve park usability and analyze the factors influencing use of public parks in Egypt as an example of developing countries. Al-Shalalat Park situated in the centre of Alexandria city is used as a site study. A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen needs and preferences for public park usability have been made on 150 of local Alexandrian community from different ages and social backgrounds. Finally, the research suggests a design proposal for the revitalization of AlShalalat Park based on the results from the questionnaire. Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction A successful urban park in cities is beneficial for citizen’s general health. Many of famous developed countries such as New York, Boston, Paris and London have their own urban public park that are highly used and attract visitors from all over the * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Abdelhamid), [email protected] (M.M. Elfakharany). Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.
city [1]. The idea of modern urban park that aims to bring large green open spaces in the congested cities was first introduced in Britain with the development of Victoria Park 1840 which became the initiator of public parks as it was called as: ‘‘People’s Park”. Then, it was followed by the construction of Birkenhead Park 1847 in Liverpool, England, which was designed by the English gardener and architect Joseph Paxton [19]. The Birkenhead Park has become very famous because it responded to people needs by providing recreational green areas with different activities [2]. Urban parks become also popular during the mid-19th century in Europe and North America. The Central Park in New York City, USA is
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042 1110-0168 Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
2 considered the first America’s public park, which was constructed in 1859 by the Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux who were influenced by the design of Birkenhead Park [19]. The concept of urban Public Park has been rapidly spread in other cities to design leisure and recreational spaces that allow citizens to enjoy in peaceful and healthy environment [1]. Moreover, urban park usually reflects the social, cultural and economical image of the cities and they are very important for maintaining the urban ecosystem because they provide habitats for wildlife. Large urban parks will also improve the environmental quality in cities, because plants provide clean air and can reduce the urban heat island effect [3]. However, underutilization or negligence of existing public parks is considered a common problem in developing countries. This paper aims to explore the different reasons that encourage people to visit public parks in order to find proper solution for obsolete parks by improving their usability. The research begins by a literature review about human needs and the importance of urban park in sustaining both human health and the ecosystem. It also, discusses different aspects that can attract people to use a park. As an application for this review, Alexandria was selected as an Egyptian city (developing countries) that suffers from public parks underutilization. Alexandria is a Mediterranean and the second largest city in Egypt in terms of population and urban density. It has three large public parks distributed along the city, which are Al-Montazah Gardens, Al-Shalalat Park, and El-Nozha Complex, which includes Antoniadis Garden, Nozha Garden, Rose Garden, and Alexandria Zoo Garden [4]. However, these parks are facing an underutilization and abandoned problems, which causes damages, deterioration and obsolescence of the parks elements and designs. Al-Slalalt Park was selected as a study site because of its central location in the city of Alexandria and its easy access. The aim of the study is to assess the factors needed to improve park usability and to analyze the factors influencing use of public parks in Alexandria (Egypt). A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen needs and preferences for public park usability have been made on 150 participants from different ages and social background. A master plan for the development of Al-Shalalat Park has been proposed according to the questionnaire results in order to encourage park utilization by the Alexandrian Community. 2. Human needs and successful public urban park To design a successful public park, it is important to recognize different people’s needs and preferences. According to Drivers, Brown & Peterson [5], park visitors will react in the urban space if they found their desires or needs. It is also argued that the urban park may be transferred to an unsuccessful and uninteresting place if there is a failure in responding to changes of visitor’s needs and preferences [1]. According to Maslow [6], human needs can be divided into six categories: physiological needs, safety-security, feel of belonging, need or recognition, self-actualization (fulfillment of potential), and aesthetical cognition (learning to appreciate beauty). However, these categories are too general and require carefully consideration when applied to park design [1]. It was also proposed by Carr et al. [7] that successful urban public spaces should respond to the five basic human needs: comfort, relaxing, discovering, passive and active engagement with the natural environment.
M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany Carr suggests that comfort is the most important need and it should be essential and prerequisite before looking to meet other needs [1]. The relaxation could be achieved through meeting a combination of psychological and physical needs. Discovering is the need of exploring something different. According to Carr et al., [7] the discovery need is essential for human survival because it is related to human mental and physical development. The sense of exploration and discovery can be introduced in the physical design of the urban space. Watching and observing the natural features in the surrounded environment or watching people’s activities and sports can achieve passive engagement need. Active engagement involves socializing through talking or playing with other people in a recreational area [1]. Hence, Parks managers must ensure that the parks serve their communities through meeting different needs and preferences of park users. Usership surveying is a valuable tool that can be used by park manager to get careful information about the characteristics and needs of park visitors in order to help for the improvement of existing urban parks or the development of new public parks while ensuring good usability of the space [8]. Because world is changing fast in terms of environmental changes, population and technologies, thus a continuous survey and post occupancy evaluation for the park visitors should be made to ensure the continuous usability of the urban park. Smart technologies together with the Internet of things can facilitate the data collection about users needs after the park operation to help parks managers in selecting the better and fast decisions for the park redevelopment programs. 3. Sustainable development in planning and development of urban parks According to Satterthwaite (1999), there are three major aspects that can lead to the sustainable development. These aspects include: meeting people needs and preferences; sustaining the natural environment in its local, regional and national levels; and sustaining the cultural values [15]. The principle of sustainable development should be addressed in the planning and development of urban public parks to improving the quality of places where people live and work [1]. Urban green parks contribute to ecological sustainability. Ensuring the continuous usability of the urban public park is important to maintain the ecological sustainability within the city [9]. Development of sustainable urban spaces should be based on a balanced relationship between both human needs and the environmental value of biodiversity [10]. To achieve this balance, the designing and developing of public parks need to follow the three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economical and environmental) at the same time. Sustainable urban parks should be self-sufficient, adapted to the local condition and subjected to a continuous low cost maintenance program [11]. 3.1. Benefits from sustaining urban public parks Well-designed and maintained public parks according to users needs and adapted with the natural environment will provide a useable green space that have positive impacts on human beings and the natural environment. These positive effects
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Improving urban park usability in developing countries include improving human physical and mental health, improving air quality and preserving the biodiversity [11]. Improving the quality of urban park has also economical benefits through encouraging tourism, attracting and retaining businesses in the area, creating jobs opportunities, and increasing the surrounding land and property value [12]. Moreover, urban parks may have educational benefits as they can be used to be an outdoor classroom for schools and universities for practicing environmental studies or making research projects. The aim of the educational experience is to connect young people with the natural world so that they could understand the value and importance of sustainable environment. Therefore, Urban Parks can be seen as open-air laboratories for biologists, geographers, environmentalists as well as social scientists [1].
3 pre-registration. These activities may include walking, running, bicycling, skating, climbing, ball games, and children playing areas. The spaces needed for spontaneous recreation in public urban parks can include multi-use paths, climbing mountains, grass areas, playgrounds, and rectangular fields for ball games (beach volleyball courts, tennis courts, basketball courts, and soccer goal posts). Structured recreation refers to organized sport with registration fees such as fitness classes and many of other sports listed for spontaneous recreation such as tennis courts, basketball courts, beach volleyball, and ice rinks. Those physical activities taking place in a natural environment will provide a healthy development of youth and visitors. The successful planning for park activities and spaces requires the participation of all stakeholders. It needs also to create a balance between variety of spontaneous and structured spaces [14].
4. Reason for visiting the public park (c) Social People can visit public urban parks to achieve one or more of the following objectives: culture, recreation, social, heritage, and education. There should be a balance between park zones and different amenities to meet all the roles of park especially for citizens with the greatest needs such as low-income people, elderly and persons with disabilities [14]. (a) Culture It is important to encourage cultural amenities to be presented in public park (such as: art, music, festival, and history) contribute to a community’s sense of place. Urban parks are good environment to host outdoor concerts and theatrical performances that can create a highly memorial experience. ‘‘Shakespeare in the Park” is an example of popular cultural event. With the revitalization of Lithia Park Ashland in Oregon, a theater was built especially to present Shakespeare plays during the Shakespeare festival. Public Park may also present free musical performances to be points of gathering and attraction in the public spaces. Presenting art works in Public parks is a good method that can show the local culture and stimulate citizen’s creativity. The Central Memorial Park in Calgary can represent a good example of integrating art in public parks that can strengthen sense of place in Calgary’s residents and visitors while providing place for recreation and learning. Moreover, the beauty of the natural environment in the park can also offer venues for artists to inspire and facilitate the creation of art [14]. (b) Recreation According to the Framework for Recreation in Canada, recreation is defined as: The good feeling resulting from participating freely in physical, social, intellectual, creative and spiritual activities that can enhance human wellbeing. Passive, spontaneous, and structured recreations are three types of recreational activities that can take place in public parks. Passive activities can include relaxation while enjoying the surroundings natural environment and observing wildlife, reading, social gatherings, walking, and photography. The amenities needed for passive recreation can include shades areas, open green spaces, walking track, picnic tables and benches. Spontaneous recreation occurs when visitors can freely choose and participate to physical activities at anytime without
Parks are a great platform for social gathering aiming to appreciate difference between people, which create social cohesion and strong community development. Meeting friends and new people is the most popular form of social activity. People with different cultural backgrounds will have the opportunity to connect and interact with each other in a public park environment [14]. (d) Heritage A lot of existing public urban park were developed on or around significant historical sites or monuments. In these cases, urban parks will have an important role in preserving community’s history and increasing citizens interest and utilization. Creating cultural events in the park gives rise to celebrating the history in different ways [14]. (e) Education Several researches showed that being in an open space helps the progress of the learning process. Urban Park is a good platform for nature and environmental treatment education. It is a good place to share different experiences to teach the public and students about how to take care of their environment [14]. 4.1. Ways to improve park usability A National study of neighborhood parks in American cities was made over two-years (from 2014 to 2015) to identify what are the main aspects that encourage and increase park usability. Data was collected and observed from 174 parks designs and human behaviors in 25 cities across the country. The study found and recommended that park design; park program; marketing; and measuring park use are the four main aspects that can affect park usability [13]. (a) Park Design Landscape, hardscape, playground, sports zone and services designs influence the degree of a park usability and affect the physically activity of park users [13]. According to The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America, it was
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found that walking loop with exercise equipment stations at distance around the loop have increased the number of park users by 80%. The study also mentioned that ‘‘taking children” was the common reason for visiting the park and 25% of all children are using the play areas. Multigenerational playgrounds or playgrounds that have adjacent Fitness Zones, are important solution that give the opportunity for both kids and their caregivers to make physical activity at the same time. As an example, Anacostia Park in Washington, DC have provides a free park fitness facility adjacent to the children’s playground. This study also approved that number of park visitors my decrease if the park doesn’t have a clean and comfort public toilets, even if it has great amenities, a beautiful setting, varied programming and easy accessibility [13]. (b) Park program The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America has proved that providing a scheduled park program that provides supervised activities and social events will increase number of park visitors. The study assumed that supervised activity could increase park usability by 48% and the physical activity by 37%. Programs should have variation to benefit different age groups and genders [13]. (c) Marketing and advertisement According to The National Study of Neighborhood Parks in America, On-site marketing and advertisement, such as signs, banners, and posters can increase park usability by 62% and physical activities by 63%. Online marketing that connect people from all over the world to the parks through official websites and social media can also increase park usability. As an example, the city Greensboro, NC began in 2017 to use online tools such as ‘‘Meetup” to advertise and encourage participation in exercise classes in the parks. Since using the Internet tools, the classes have doubled in size. To bring the park marketing into the digital age, signs can be digital or printed boards having QR codes. Visitors can scan the code by their smartphones to download a video about the workout modules in the park [13]. (d) Measuring park use (post occupancy evaluation) Measuring park use is not cheap and usually takes time, however, it greatly improve park managers ability for targeting investments and activities to serve all residents and visitors. Measuring park usage of spaces is also important to justify which place is used more that others to help in maintaining and enhancing park spaces. There is a tool used for measuring park use called SOPARC (Systematic Observation of Play and Recreation in Communities). This tool utilizes direct observation to make assessment for park spaces and activities to identify number or users, gender, ages, activity type, and groups. The observation also collects data on park activity spaces characteristics (such as accessibility, supervision, and the presence of organized events or activities). New technologies such as using the Internet of Thing (IoT) can facilitate data collection through connecting users smart devices to the server. Inserting
on site sensors such as passive infrared, ground sensors, piezoelectric strips, and smart benches can track the number people within range of the sensors [13]. 5. Case study: revitalization of Al-Shalalt Historical Park, Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria is a Mediterranean city and the second capital of Egypt. However, it lack of appropriate Public Park to help people getting over their stress and to enhance the general human health. The whole city contains three historical gardens, distributed in different areas, but unfortunately, they are underutilization (see [15] Fig. 1). Al-Shalalat Park was selected as a study site for its historical, environmental, social and cultural values. It is also considered the third largest public garden in Alexandria city. The park was constructed on a Roman archeological site during the late 19th century AD. It was ‘‘Monfront” the French engineer who designed the park, following the design concept of the American landscaper and designer ‘‘Federick Law Olmsted”. It includes a number of historical structures, a wide variety of ancient plant species, a lake, waterfall, open green spaces for families and Youth activity centre (see Fig. 2). However, it is estimated that the Park is currently facing a higher retrogradation rate caused by the absence of any maintenance program [16]. Al-Shalalat Park is located in the city centre of Alexandria city, Egypt. Three major streets surround the garden: Salah Mostafa, Canal El suez street, Abou Kir Street, the fourth side is bounded by Hossny Hamad street. The park is accessible from the major transportation routes of Alexandria city, which are: the Cornish street, the Tram street and Abou kir street. Its total area was reduced many times during several urban development from 68 feddans in 1958 to become less than 30 feddans in 2019. The absence of effective maintenance program for the park has led to a higher deterioration rate for its structures, landscape and hardscape. Thus, it is important to encourage people who live in the Alexandrian community to return using the park in order to benefit from this huge green asset before that it disappears over time. 5.1. Description of the existing site’s elements The researchers have made several visits to the park (during 5 months from February to June 2019) under different conditions (holidays, weekends, weekdays; cold or sunny weather; early morning or afternoon) to observe the highest occupation of the park and average ages of users. It was obvious that only two types of people who visit the park with a very low density even during weekend and the sunny weather. Those were mainly group of teenagers and young people at the age between 15 and 25 years old and males at the age between 25 and 45 years old taking their dogs for a walk. A small numbers of families where presented during weekend (this number didn’t exceed 8 families during a Friday morning). A field survey and observation has also been made by the researchers to record updated information about the actual condition of landscape elements and other built structures situated within the area of the park. This data has been summarized (see Fig. 3 and Tables 1 and 2).
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
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Fig. 1 Alexandria map showing the three gardens distributed in different locations of the city. A: Montazah Gardens; B: EL-Nouzha Complex; C: Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Map quest, modified by the researchers.
Fig. 2
Historical Development of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Nourhan H., 2017, modified by the researchers.
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 3
Shows the actual condition of different areas at the main and zone of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: Photo taken by the researchers.
Table 1
Actual Condition of the built structures at Al-Sahlalat Park.
Elements
Actual condition
Bastion El-Nabih Cistern El-Nahaseen Fort Western Tower Cafeteria Entrances gates
Good condition. Need minor maintenance In a good condition. Under renovation to be used as touristic site Al walls of the structure exist but parts of the plaster layer are removed and the structure is exposed. Need minor maintenance Al walls of the structure exist but parts of the plaster layer are removed and the structure is exposed. Need minor maintenance The building is outdated. The place didn’t provide good snakes, seating or service facilities There are two gates located at important part of the park. The main gate is beside El-Nahaseen fort on the Salah mostafa street. The second gate is located on the opposite side on the hossny hamad street and in front of the axial street coming fom the Cornish street and passing by El-Tram street. This street provides a direct connection between the park and Bibliotheque d’Alexandrie. Unfortunately, the gates are not designed to reflect a welcoming impression for visiting the park
5.2. Involving local residents and Alexandrian community in the development program 5.2.1. Methods and results A questionnaire regarding park visitors and Alexandrian citizen’s needs and preferences for public park usability was conducted during 5 months from February to June 2019. The questionnaire aimed also to get clear information for answering the question of why this large green asset situated in a vital and central part of Alexandria city is abandoned and underutilized. One to one interview with non-structured questions has been made in order to get transparency from participants in expressing their opinion freely and without any restrictions.
The answers were collected from 150 interviewees with different ages, genders, education and social level (see table 3), and summarized with percentages (see Figs. 4–6). Answers regarding Alexandrian communities preferences for amenities and activities has been classified under the 5 main aspects that encourage people to visit a park (discussed in the literature review). For the purpose of this research, the analysis will be limited to the following questions answers: (a) Did you visit Al-Shalalat Park during the latest five years? Why? (b) What are the reasons for not visiting the park?
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries
7 (c) Which amenities or activities will motivate you to visit the park? (d) Do you prefer that the park works all the day or having working hours? (e) Do you think providing a scheduled park program can increase its usability? (f) If yes, what do you think is needed to be included in the program?
Table 2 Condition of Landscape and Hardscape Elements at Al-Sahlalat Park. Landscape Elements
Actual condition
Bushes
Bushes exits in different places but are not used to define a pedestrian path or to lead for a gathering point Most of the garden area is covered with greenery but not with colorful flowers that can gives the feel of joy Very bad condition (no regular irrigation system) The green spaces are bordered with massive bazalet blocks painted yellow and white. Some of them are broken or removed A wide variety of aged trees and palms. Some of them are in a good condition and other are broken and not well maintained
Flowers
Grass Grass borders
Trees and palm Hardscape Elements
Actual condition
Park fence
Very low in height and allows visual continuity but will allow the entrance of anyone without going through the entrance gate Pedestrian paths are not well defined and they are not paved with permeable materials Waterfalls look pleasant places but the water is unclean. Seating is not well distributed around the waterfalls Located in a central point of the park. The water is polluted There are lighting elements but their number are not sufficient and not well distributed to provide a good lighting during night. Only lighting poles of approximate 3 m height exist. No other type of lighting that focus on water and landscape elements or to define pedestrian paths are presented Minimum seating in a bad condition. Not distributed along the park paths. No seating around the main water features of the park. No seating in the kids playing area Shaded areas are not well maintained and don’t cover all the park spaces No garbage baskets along pedestrian paths or at the gathering points No signs for way finding or to show rules of using the public space appropriately
Pedestrian pavement Water falls
Artificial lake Lighting elements
Seating
Shaded areas Garbage baskets Signs
Table 3
The participant’s response to the question (a) was that 35% of the total interviewees number have visited the park for several purposes with different percentages (see Fig. 4). 65% of interviewees didn’t go to the park during the past five years, however, 35% from the 65% were used to visit the park in the past around thirty years ago. They said that the park was safer and provided several activities and appropriate amenities. The majority of the participants mentioned that feeling unsafe (because of drug injection, sexual harassment, and theft crimes) and lack of park maintenance were the reasons that make them away from benefiting from this historical park, although it is the most accessible park among the three others situated in Alexandria city. Other reasons are (with different percentages) lack of appropriate amenities, absence of social activities, lack of sports activities, no safe pedestrian accessibility (such as ramps, pedestrian traffic lights), lack of night lighting, and poor playground areas (see Fig. 5). A lot of companies and bank are in the surrounding area because the park is located in the city centre of Alexandria, however, absence of pedestrian accessibility or appropriate services has discourage workers to spend their rest time during the day in the park. To answer question (c), each participant has stated a list of amenities or activities needs and preferences. Items are grouped from all participant and percentages have been calculated (See Fig. 6). The majority of participants (94%) confirmed that a clean park with maintenance program is the main aspect that will attract them to enjoy the natural environment in their city (Containing historical trees and water feature). Clean toilets, Well-paved paths, benches, picnic tables and shades are all highly demanded with a percentages range from 88% to 78%. Because of security issue 72% of participant suggested the distribution of many Security nodes at several part of the park, while 40% of interviewees proposed to increase the number of night-light for the same purpose. Cafeteria serving a good quality of healthy snacks was mentioned to be important for 70% of interviewees, who have children or aiming to play sports as well as for employees who work around the park and want to take their lunch break while enjoying the beauty of the
Participants distribution.
Distribution Residence
N.
Distribution Gender
N.
Distribution Age
N.
Distribution Education
N.
Distribution Social level
N.
Neighborhood citizens Close to the neighborhood Fare from the neighborhood Foreigners
77 30 28 15
Male Female
80 70
12–18 Y 18–30 Y 30–45 Y 45–65 Y Above 65 Y Total 150
20 45 40 20 25
School students University students Bachelor and above Non-educated
37 48 40 25
High-income level Medium-income level Low-income level
30 78 40
Total 150
Total 150
Total 150
Total 150
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Reasons for visiting the park.
Reasons for not using the park.
Fig. 6 Percentage of participants desires and needs for amenities and activites collected from 150 participants of Alexandrian Community.
nature. Providing ramps outside and inside the park is also considered an important amenity that will encourage elderly, family having strollers and disable people to easily visit the park in order to enjoy the beauty of their city while giving them they right to interact and socialize with other people in the community. Spaces for sports and activities such as play path, Kids Playing areas (open and closed), ball games courts, water activities, climbing activities, yoga and fitness classes, as
well as, ballet and gymnastic classes, have been proposed by the participant to have a great influences in increasing park usability for several purposes. There were 40% of interviewees who asked for distributing signs weather printed boards or digitally displayed in order to facilitate their movement and way finding in the park. Around 35% aimed to have scheduled program for art and craft during summer and holidays for their children. Others about 35% suggested that providing free
Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042
Improving urban park usability in developing countries Wi-Fi will respond to the digital world development and will attract more people to visit the park for several reasons (including studding, working, socializing, or even use GPS to find their way in the park). The free Wi-Fi can also help in collecting information from park users and connecting them with the Internet of Things. These data and information can help in accessing park usability to help for a continuous maintenance and activities upgrading to meet the needs for all future generation. An official Internet website for the park was suggested by 35% of interviewees to provides important data and announcements as a kind of fast advertisement for the park. While the park includes many historical structures and monuments, however, the majority of the community participant didn’t know about them or their history. Only 30–24% were concerned about the importance of providing places that can host musical concerts or cultural events as well as planning for night cultural shows in order to highlight the historical structures and preserve the cultural value of the urban context. About 30% of participants argued that to respond to the global need of sustainable development, people should learn more from nature about the benefits that will be reflected on their general health and well being if using sustainable features and materials. So, they suggest providing environmental treatment features such as water tanks, bio-retention facility, rain garden, shades and smart benches powered by solar energy (photovoltaic panels). Because a public park is an accessible place for all type of people with different social levels, the idea of sustainable development could be taught easier and faster when it is directly connected with nature (learning from nature for the benefit of both natural environment and human being). To answer question (d), a majority of 70% of participants preferred that the park should have working hours to provide time for park maintenance. They suggest that to control the timing and for not allowing undesirable entrance to the park, it is important to provide a fence at least 2 m height around the park. But for not isolating the view of green elements, the fence could be made from shrubbery or light structure. For question (e), 65% of participants (mainly younger people) were aware about the importance of creating a scheduled program of activities to increase park usability. While, the rest of 35% participants need only safe, clean environment and good amenities to visits the park. To help participant for answering question (f), there were guided to choose one or more from the following: advertisement program, activity program, touristic program, sustainable program and their answers were 70%, 65%, 45%, and 30% respectively. Mainly architects and highly educated people who were aware about the importance of adopting sustainable approach for sustaining both human health and the ecological biodiversity that already exist in the park. These results provide information and data that can help decision makers, city planners, urban developers, and governmental body to formulate strategies that meet public needs and expectations. Park usage will be increased if the Alexandrian community feels safe and comfortable while finding their needs and preferences in the park. 5.3. Suggestion for a development program The proposal for the revitalization of Al-shalalat Park was designed in accordance to the community’s needs and preferences. It is also based on the National Study of Neighborhood
9 Parks in America that aimed to increase public park usability, which were discussed in the literature review. The proposal suggested developing a program to revitalize the use of AlShalalat Park according to users needs that were collected from the questionnaire by following the next steps: (a) First step: Development of the urban space design through providing: – A wall fence of shurbbery with a 2.5 m high should surround the park to prevent undesirable entrance of baggars and peoples who don’t respect the laws. – Traffic signs for pedestrians should be presentence near the park entrance to allow safe movement from one street side to the other. – The public transit stops should be placed near the main entrance gate to promote strong connections with the park. – Hardscape elements should be maintained and well distributed within the garden spaces according to visitors needs. Adding some of smart hardscape elements such as: eco-friendly smart benches. – Soft-scape elements should be carefully treated and dead one can be replaced with other vegetation. Ground water that exists in the site can be used for irrigation to eliminate the irrigation cost from potable water and using smart water controller technology. – Providing ramps to facilitate the movement of elderly, handicaps and baby strollers. – The garden spaces should be designed to house several types of social activities such as: water activity, sketching, concerts, running, cycling, science, reading, etc. . .. . .. (b) Second step: Develop a maintenance program. The park should have working hours and other closed time for maintenance. Several guards kiosk with 3d cameras should be distributed within appropriate distance in the garden to monitor and observe any violation of the park rules. Cameras should be connected to the park administration building. There should be some workers who check the park spaces every week to record if any necessary maintenance is needed. The money collected from visitors that do not respect the rules will be used in garden maintenance. Fees that will be collected from the park activities will be used for physical maintenance and salaries for people working in the park. Developing park web site can be used for announcement of donation campaigns to provide funding for the on going park maintenance program. Benefiting from the experience of the Ashland Parks, all donations should be tax-deductible to encourage people to participate in the campaigns [17]. (c) Third step: Advertisement program to encourage people for visiting the park. Develop Internet website and add a well-designed panel at the main entrance, which may includes the following information based on participants respond to questions (e & f): – Opening and closing time of the garden. – Pictures, timing and fees for several social activities program.
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M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany
Fig. 7
– – – –
A proposed plan for the revitalization of Al-Shalalat Park. Source: the researchers.
Pictures for special events that takes place in the garden. Fees for photo session in the park. Picture and fees for visiting the monumental buildings. Penalty fees for causing any sort of deterioration, pollution or unethical behavior.
5.4. Promoting the sustainability concept in the development program The sustainability concept is suggested to be achieved through the following based on participants respond to question (f): – – – – – – – –
Restoring the biodiversity and the soil. Storm water and rain water management. Air purification and carbon sequestration. Filtering noise. Mitigating the urban heat island effect. Energy efficiency for the park lighting system. Eco-friendly smart benches. Constructing an organic recycling unit to use the park leftover as bio-composts.
5.5. Proposed plan for Al-Shalalat Park revitalization Most of the revitalization project focused in the past on bringing back the old appearance of the old parks while putting less consideration to the community needs and preferences. Which could lead to park abundance because the society cannot find their interests that attract them to visit the park. Therefore, the park development and revitalization process should change to follow society needs and people mentality [18]. The aim of this
proposal is to provide a guiding example for the future development of unused and deteriorated public parks in developing countries to transform them into vibrant, diverse and multifunctional urban spaces. The conceptual proposal for the revitalization of Al-Shalalat Park is based on theoretical study, and the community participation in order to encourage park usability when meeting users needs and desires. The proposed plan is designed to promote positive connections between the community, urban context and the nature. The concept of environmental and economic sustainability as well as of energy efficiency has been adopted for an integrated design approach. The park is currently divided in three zones by high traffic streets. The study is applied on the biggest zone that contains the water pond, waterfall, El-Nahaseen fort and the western tower. The objective of the new proposal is to design multifunctional spaces, thus three distinct typologies for functional areas (leisure, education and ecological) have been introduced. The park environmental education area can be used to improve the communication between the governmental body and the community. It also may help in raising public awareness about the importance of using and maintaining the green spaces in our cities. Park educational program can involve the public and school children in activities like planting, raking leaves and cleaning up for volunteering work so they can grow up with a deep understand of the benefit of clean and green environment on their general health and the community development [18]. The park environmental education area will be a concept for leisure, working and teaching community in which student life and learning processes are part of the community structure. As the strategy will be implemented the park could become progressively a centre for education and training, receiving students from all schools and universities of the city (see Fig. 7).
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6. Conclusion Increasing public park utilization is an important issue that has a great benefit on human health (physical, mental, and physiological) through connecting people to nature. Connecting with nature can also enhance human cognition, creativity, and positive social behaviors [14]. When park is used it means that it need maintenance for its spaces to remain attract visitors as well as to preserve the natural ecosystem of the park. Thus, it is essential for governmental body responsible of park development to create a sustainable balance between the use and preservation of park nature and amenities. There was a study made by David E. in 2016 to understand the relationship between park use and security issue. The study indicated that there is in fact a mutual influence between park usability and safety of the space. The more a park is used the safer the area is perceived and also people have to feel safe in order to use the park. However, developing countries do not seem to realize that using public parks can contribute to social, cultural and economical development of their region. Accordingly, a study was conducted on one of the significant parks in Alexandria (Egypt) to find out what are the main reasons that make this historical large green space abandoned and underutilized despite its central and accessible location in the city. The findings of the questionnaire suggest that to increase the public park usability, park spaces should meet the diverse interests of different users ranging from recreational areas (both active and passive) and educational spaces to cultural events for tourist attraction and to increase sense of place for urban dwellers. Moreover, environmental treatment should be added to vegetation and wildlife habitat protection. However, the proposed plan is a conceptual study that still has some limitations and not elaborated in detail. Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. References [1] M. Suhardi, Preferences for Usability at Taman Tasik Seremban, Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Alam Cipta 8 (1) (2016). [2] E. Boults, C. Sullivan, Illustrated History of Landscape Design, John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey, 2010. [3] M.F. Shahidan, M.K.M. Sharif, P. Jones, E. Salleh, A. Abdullah, A comparison of Mesua ferrea L. and Hura
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Please cite this article in press as: M.M. Abdelhamid, M.M. Elfakharany, Improving urban park usability in developing countries: Case study of Al-Shalalat Park in Alexandria, Alexandria Eng. J. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.12.042