Evaluation of Urban Parks in Terms of Usage Diversity

Abstract

Cities are experiencing rapid population growth and uncontrolled construction. As a result, it is seen that the
planned green areas in the city have decreased and their usage purposes have been restricted. The use of green
areas in cities and the areas they cover in the city are very important. Green areas, it softens the transition between
nature and urbanization and provides the balance between building and human scale. The planned green areas
provide visual aesthetics at the scale of urban space. At the same time, green areas protect the microclimate and
ecological structure of cities. In addition, green areas create wide areas that allow recreational activities of urban
users. The rate of intensive construction and urbanization is increasing day by day. Therefore, it is thought that
protecting and evaluating existing green spaces and increasing green spaces will be very valuable for future
generations. Within the scope of the study, parks from European cities were selected and the possibilities of these
parks in terms of physical activity diversity were examined. The names of these parks; Tiegarten from Berlin,
Englischer Garten from Munich, Germany, Vondelpark from Amsterdam, Kralingse Bos from Rotterdam,
Netherlands and Champ de Mars and Luxemburg Garten from Paris, France. The parks selected within the scope
of the study; it was evaluated in terms of their location in the city, the functions they contain and their physical
structures. In this direction, in the parks; physical activity variations, plant elements and structural units are
tabulated. Thus, 6 different urban parks examined were compared with each other. As a result, when European
parks are examined, it has been seen that the parks are not just for recreational purposes. At the same time, it has
been concluded that it contributes to both physical and mental health of city users. While designing parks, it should
be realized that its contribution to public health is very high