The impact of global and local integration on the social functioning of neighbourhood green public open spaces (GPOS)

Neighbourhood parks and boulevards are important parts of the urban environment, but mere quantitative allocation of open space is not, in itself, sufficient to ensure their social success. The manner and extent of Green Public Open Space (GPOS) use depends upon a variety of parameters. This study focuses on one such parameter: how integrated their location is in the street network. Our research seeks to systematically examine- using the space syntax approach-the impact of different combinations of global and local integration on (a) the movement and (b) the activities performed by their various users. We therefore ask: What is the relationship between a GPOS’ neighbourhood/city integration and (a) their co-presence potential? (b) their variety of users and activities? We divided the GPOS in the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area into four integration categories based on neighbourhood and city-scale levels of angular integration. Next, we conducted observations in a representative sample, collecting data on number of users, diversity of ages, gender, activities, and grouping. We found significant connections between the GPOS’ integration categories and their social function. GPOS with high city-scale integration had higher co-presence potential, but it was the neighbourhood scale that influenced the variety of activities and ages of those present in the GPOS. While high neighbourhood-scale integration positively affects the daily movement of the large adult age group, low neighbourhood-scale integration was associated with leisure activities undertaken by other, smaller age groups.