As a city becomes urbanized and achieves high density, urban green space plays an increasingly important role. Urban green space is one of the essential infrastructures in the city. It serves as a healthy and comfortable living environment to urban dwellers as well as its ecological, social and recreational functions. However, it is a difficult task for cities to increase urban green spaces because of expensive land prices and the constant pressure of development. Therefore, the urban green space we already have should be appropriately evaluated and managed to perform to high quality standards.

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.

Children’s active travel (AT—i.e., walking, bicycling) has declined substantially, especially for independent active travel (IAT). An increasing number of studies have examined walking behaviour of adults to test the new urbanist hypothesis that design features should support pedestrian activity. More neighbourhood adult walking has been reported in new urbanist communities than in conventional suburban neighbourhoods. However, study of children’s AT in new urbanist settings is under-represented. This study investigates the association between neighbourhood design and children’s active school travel (AST) in conventional and new urbanist neighbourhoods. Three types of data collection methods were used: survey, travel diary, and devices (accelerometers and GPS units). 4-5th graders, 367 children in conventional suburban and new urbanist neighbourhoods, participated in the children’s survey. Among 367, 60 wore accelerometers and GPS units for seven consecutive days and recorded a travel diary. Built environment (BE) variables including distance to school, children’s population density, mixed land use, street density, intersection and sidewalk density, and physical activity (PA) locations around the home were measured within a quarter mile buffer of each participant’s home in ArcGIS. Analyses of a further 254 students living within 2 miles from school with opportunities for walking were also conducted. T-test confirmed all BE variables were significantly different between conventional and new urbanist neighbourhoods. New urbanist children engaged in twice the number of days of walking and 5-7 times more days of biking compared to children in conventional neighbourhoods. Maps were interpreted from the perspective of (1) sidewalk network, (2) traffic features, and (3) PA locations around the routes to schools. Results finally suggest the need for further tests of new urbanist design principles in relation to children’s AT to support development of neighbourhood design policies and interventions that may provide health promotion benefits to children.

Urban shrinkage is a problem that is faced by some metropolitan areas globally in urban cities faced with depopulation. Therefore, these cities require “smart shrinking”, which consists of design methods intended to satisfy residents’living needs, even though the population is declining. The purpose of this paper is to develop a walkability indicator for visualizing smart shrinking. The methods include statistical analysis by GIS analysis and questionnaire in the Northern Osaka Metropolitan Area where there are many small-sprawl areas. The following four results were identified. First, the population decline in sprawl areas indicates the regional characteristics of each city. Second, this paper develops a walkability indicator composed of household density, convenience of facilities, road connectivity, and traffic safety. Third, Wi(i), which is walkability in each residential area, in sprawl areas, and in public housing areas, is important for future population change. Finally, the validity and effectiveness of the indicator is clarified by questionnaires regarding regional evaluation. In conclusion, the walkability indicator is able to visualize smart shrinking in sprawl areas.

Following the evolutionary pattern already observed in western countries, China is now witnessing a tremendous growth in car ownership that is reshaping the urban environment. Despite the surge in motorised traffic, the remaining high level of bicycle usage and the rapid development of dock-less app-based bicycle-sharing systems highlight the urgent need to assess the bikeability level in Chinese cities. However, this unique setup renders obsolete most of the western tools used to rank cities with respect to their bike friendliness. Following a multidisciplinary approach, we compare the results of our survey to the commonly accepted western views and isolate indicators suitable to urban cycling in China. While refining and sometimes reformulating the goals commonly pursued in bicycle planning, we also provide recommendations for measurements and effective improvements of bikeability when western solutions fail to meet the needs specific to the Chinese context.

This study examines the relationship between landscaping trees and climate changes in the Korean context through a questionnaire designed to elicit the perceptions of construction professionals in South Korea. The questionnaire results show that these professionals are well aware of the various climate change phenomena. Based on this analysis, three noteworthy implications are identified: (1) drought and heat wave as major climate change phenomena that affect tree defects in Korea, (2) building a tree planting environment reflecting climate change prediction, and (3) additions for sustainable tree planting in the Korean context. In the answers to the questions pertaining to professionals’perceptions of the impact of climate change on tree defects, most respondents felt that climate change has already had a decisive impact on trees, and that impact needs to be reflected in tree-planting standards for securing the sustainability of urban trees.

The aim of this empirical study of Hongneung Experimental Forest (HEF) was to determine how urban forests in residential areas are being used as restorative environments. A survey (n = 232) based on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale was conducted to analyse how each element of the scale differed based on the user’s characteristics and to identify the relationship between use patterns and psychological restorativeness. Analysis showed that HEF played a role as a restorative environment in a residential area. The extent of stay received the highest score (6.35), followed by being away (5.97), fascination (5.59), and compatibility (5.47), whereas legibility (4.81) received a relatively low score. The differences in psychological restorativeness based on sex, age, visit frequency, and duration of stay were statistically significant. In particular, the psychological restorativeness for housewives and the elderly was greater than that for men. The greater the frequency of regular visits (e.g., 1~2 times per year), the more likely the visitor will stay for approximately 3h. In the midst of social demand for the restorative environments of urban forests that are accessible and available in everyday life, this study is significant in that it examined the effectiveness of urban forests as restorative environments and presented empirical directions from the visitor’s perspective for the planning of urban therapeutic spaces. However, there is a limit to generalizing the psychological restorativeness of urban forests with just the HEF as an example; therefore, future research is warranted to comparatively analyse various spaces.

Land consolidation (LC) is implemented as a public project that contributes to the improvement of agricultural productivity, and its effect is evaluated mainly by labour productivity and land productivity. However, to maintain both agricultural production and the social community, understanding the impact on non-farmers in the community as one of the aspects of LC is extremely important. In this study, we surveyed rural areas about eight years after the LC was implemented by posted questionnaire and analysed the difference between farmers' and non-farmers' perceptions of the multifaceted evaluation items on the policy effect. The evaluation points for the LC include the following: [1] Impact on farming and farmland preservation, [2] Impact on community activation, and [3] Impact on collaboration between farmers and non-farmers. Results can be summarized as follows: First, it was confirmed that there is a trend for non-farmers' attachment to the area to be reduced because of LC. Second, non-farmers evaluations that LC attracts young farmers were also low. However, this opinion was much more noticeable in non-farmers who had quit agriculture recently than in the generation that had left agriculture because of LC. In other words, LC is a useful policy for improving agricultural conditions and agricultural structure. However, in some cases, the connections between farmers and non-farmers is weakened. Thus, cooperative activities to actively prevent this weakening are important.

Despite the increasing knowledge about city branding and city identity, there is a fundamental gap in the understanding of city branding among professionals with respect to the relations between Quality of Life (QOL), Economic Improvement Districts (EIDs) and Lighting Branding (LB). This exploratory study is aimed to address this knowledge gap through in-depth interviews with 41 professionals. The results of the study suggest that the strategic potential of LB has positive effects on city nocturnal identity, QOL, and EIDs. In this study, these factors were analysed using ten types of different buildings separately. The findings of the study reveal that attention to the lighting of traditional and old buildings, recreational facilities, commercial buildings, and parks has the greatest effect on city identity. The findings of this research can be applied in planning an urban lighting master plan. The results emphasize the role of LB, lighting architecture, and nocturnal city identity in sustainable development as a determining factor in policy making.

A Green City Management Information System (MIS) has been designed to support a reliable and comprehensive database of Green Open Space (GOS) development policies in Malang City. This paper aims to acquire feedback on the development of a Green City MIS as a provider of spatial and non-spatial data in planning and design of green cities, for the monitoring and control of sustainable urban green open spaces. In this study, the location as a sample for monitoring and control of green open space with a Green City MIS was carried out in densely populated areas on the banks of the Brantas River in the city of Malang. This MIS can be effectively used to monitor urban dense residential areas such as Warna-Warni Kampong (Picturesque Village) and Biru Kampong (Blue Village) on the banks of the Brantas River. The results of this study were used to conduct a review of the development policies of the Brantas riverbank area, especially in determining urban green spaces, as a control model for the implementation of urban spatial planning.