Urban Green Spaces: how geospatial information can help identify diversity. A case study from eastern Lesser Poland

Abstract

Progressing globalisation and suburbanisation are driving dynamic changes in land management, particularly in suburban zones. Green infrastructure and its impact on human quality of life are playing an increasingly important role in appropriate spatial management, because of human activities that are changing the natural environment. Therefore, monitoring and assessing the proportion of green spaces is essential for environmental, urban and social balance. The purpose of the study is to develop a method for measuring and monitoring the diversity of land cover classes, including green spaces as representatives of natural land cover classes. The proposed method describes the current state of land in quantitative and qualitative terms based on spatial data on land cover. The study employs Shannon’s Diversity Index (SHDI) to empirically investigate land cover homogeneity. The intensity of the phenomenon was visualised in space using statistical hot spot analysis. The case study involves two cities in eastern Lesser Poland and districts adjacent to them. The results have demonstrated that the investigated areas have a highly heterogenic land cover. Basic assessment fields have exhibited homogeneity only towards large, green, agricultural, environmentally valuable and, often, protected areas. The results concerning urban green spaces comprise a set of data that constitute a valuable source of information to aid the development of informed urban-planning solutions under the sustainable development paradigm.