2020 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 4-20
Multitudinous studies about urban green space (UGS) reveal that designed and managed UGS may provide not only social, environmental, and economic benefits for cities, but also mental, physical, and physiological benefits for their residents. However, past studies have focused on widely recognized green spaces in urban areas such as parks, gardens, and forests. Wasteland, wilderness, and unplanned in-between margins, which have been called informal green space (IGS), could provide supplementary green space. This study explores IGS in Ichikawa City, a post-industrial satellite town of Tokyo with scarce UGS, by addressing the following questions: (a) What types of non-standardized and unsystematised green space exist in the target area? (b) How is IGS in the target area perceived? (c) Could IGS be considered supplementary green space for the city? Using a systematic land use survey, we identified nine types of IGS in Ichikawa City that accounted for 6.35% of total land use. A questionnaire survey showed that undergraduate students recognize the existence of IGS in their neighbourhood, perceive multiple benefits and see especially street verges, unimproved land and water verges as potential supplementary green space. We conclude that IGS can serve as a supplementary green space and discuss how IGS might be integrated into green space planning to improve residents’ well-being.
