Identifying green spaces in Kuala Lumpur using higher resolution satellite imagery

There is a growing need for municipal councils to map and to monitor the extent and condition of urban green spaces, as one measure of the overall sustainability of a city. In this study, we identify the information about urban green spaces that can be obtained from satellite imagery. This research which is based in the city of Kuala Lumpur tests the ability of IKONOS higher resolution satellite imagery in identifying the different types and the different functions provided by green spaces using both automated methods and manual methods of visual interpretation. Both these methods were found to produce a map of green space for the entire city area that was 70% accurate when validated against ground surveys. In cases where higher resolution satellite imagery exists, we show how it can produce a variety of enhanced information which may enable city planners to monitor green space more regularly and to evaluate consistently which areas of green space within the city ought to be protected in order to maintain its benefits for the city populatio

True colours of urban green spaces : identifying and assessing the qualities of green spaces in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This thesis starts from the proposition that the ingrained perception of urban green space as being synonymous only with fairly well maintained amenity parkland is too narrow and generally overlooks the many environmental and social benefits that other types of green space and their natural habitats bestow on urban residents and wildlife. A critical review of the literature on the benefits which different kinds of green space confer on urban residents in environmental, social, health and well being and economic terms confirms the need for a more holistic approach to the study of green spaces in cities and also highlights the need to develop and realise a more comprehensive "ontology" of urban green space in tropical countries, a fundamental task which is a main concern of the present thesis. From reviewing the classification schemes or typologies used in different countries to formally recognise and to distinguish different types of green space, the author develops a new, expanded typology for urban green space adapted to Malaysian conditions, aiming to use this as far as possible as a framework to categorise the green spaces of Kuala Lumpur (KL). KL provides a particularly interesting case study as a rapidly growing city in a developing country with a tropical climate, a context where there has been relatively little research on urban green space, despite shade being particularly appreciated in very hot climates. Also KL has experienced much loss of green space in recent decades: on its periphery from urban expansion; and around the city centre from the drive, fuelled by economic growth, to use central land more intensively. The main empirical analysis in the thesis uses data obtained from remotely sensed satellite images of high resolution (from the IKONOS satellite) to try to identify all vegetated forms of land cover in KL and to discern their nature, primarily whether trees, shrubs or grass, regardless of their location, using object oriented software to process the IKONOS data. The degree to which the different types and functions of green space can be identified from IKONOS imagery using both semi-automated and manual methods of visual interpretation is then compared. The results show that, using high resolution IKONOS imagery, it is not possible to identify unambiguously all the types of green land use or green land cover that are found in the proposed, new typology of green space, either by using semi-automatic classification or by visual interpretation, although the latter enables more types of green space to be distinguished with confidence. A key result of the preceding analysis, nevertheless, is to produce maps of green space showing the foregoing 3 classes of vegetation (plus water, bare ground and built up areas) for the entire city in very fine detail using first a semi-automated classification followed by selective manual revision. This produces a more complete picture of the geography of these 3 basic types of green space across the whole city than the typical picture purely or mainly of public parks generated from the typologies used by city governments in developing countries, including KL, simply reflecting their traditional concerns being largely restricted to the latter kinds of green space. These finely detailed maps showing the complex mosaic of green space are, in some respects, the most important result of the thesis. These maps of green space produced from satellite data are linked in a geographic information system (GIS) with data on land use for small land parcels and, using dasymetric methods, with data on population from the census to produce a range of alternative, illuminating perspectives on the nature and extent of green space across the whole city, often at a very fine geographical scale, and including an analysis of the relative provision (or lack thereof) of green space over the whole city; this also yields insight into the role of particular green spaces in the wider urban system. Subsequently, the use of GIS operations enables officially recognised green spaces and the even more extensive and diverse areas of green space not officially recognised to be mapped and examined separately, possibly for the first time in KL. A social survey designed mainly for urban planners and landscape architects in KL was carried out mainly to learn and study their views on the nature, roles and benefits of urban green space, on the new expanded typology, on the problems of protecting urban green space in KL and on what attributes of green spaces they considered should be seen as most important when considering how much priority a particular green space should be given for preservation. From some 38 environmental and social criteria the 41 respondents considered very important, 31 criteria (13 environmental and 18 social) were chosen as attributes to use in evaluating 17 different green spaces of various types in different parts of the city through assessment on site by a small team of trained assessors. A smaller subset of 4 environmental and 3 "social" (actually all accessibility) criteria, selected from the foregoing 31 criteria, was identified which could be estimated "remotely" by "desk based" methods i.e. by using the satellite data and the population data held in our GIS, as well as by direct field survey. It was then possible to compare the 3 sets of evaluations for the 17 green areas in the form of overall rankings in turn on the environmental and then accessibility criteria: firstly the ranks of the sites on all 13 environmental criteria, then on the subset of 4 environmental criteria (both of the latter from field assessment) and finally on the same subset of 4 criteria estimated "remotely". The equivalent overall rankings for the 18 social amenity criteria, then the subset of 3 accessibility indicators from field observation and lastly the same subset of 3 but estimated remotely were then compared. The results showed clear similarities and strong correlations between the three sets of evaluations for the 4 environmental criteria measuring aspects of vegetative cover and "green connectivity" but less consistent similarity for the social and accessibility measures, with only weak correlations between rankings on the field and remote estimates for the 3 accessibility indices. The main conclusion is therefore that "remote" evaluation could potentially have a useful role, complementary to ground surveys, in monitoring and assessing green spaces as regards some key environmental criteria and, more debatably, may also be able to provide useful measures of accessibility, which are difficult to estimate from field visits. However, observation on site is necessary for assessment of nearly all the social criteria relevant to evaluating urban green spaces

Emerging green spaces in North of Dhaka: suitability analysis in a dense urban settlement

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is acute of green spaces. The uncontrolled urban sprawl is encroaching the lands in the city. The Southern part of Dhaka, the oldest part, offers few large urban green spaces for cultural activity, recreation etc. But there is serious deficiency of neighbourhood and regional urban green open or public gathering space in Northern Dhaka, except the diplomatic zone. Hence, this paper aims to identify the potential lands that can be converted into urban green space by using spatial suitability analysis and GIS. Two aspects have been chosen for desired environmental quality: existing criteria and green indices. The suitability factors are as such: size, accessibility, buffer, Historic-cultural value, existing land use, density, flooding, and water body. These suitability factors are classified into four sets- high, moderate, low and no suitability. The findings assist to synthesize the appropriate land to be adapted as public open space in North of Dhaka. Ultimately, it will help to form a base for generating a greener city in the future

Emerging green spaces in North of Dhaka: suitability analysis in a dense urban settlement

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is acute of green spaces. The uncontrolled urban sprawl is encroaching the lands in the city. The Southern part of Dhaka, the oldest part, offers few large urban green spaces for cultural activity, recreation etc. But there is serious deficiency of neighbourhood and regional urban green open or public gathering space in Northern Dhaka, except the diplomatic zone. Hence, this paper aims to identify the potential lands that can be converted into urban green space by using spatial suitability analysis and GIS. Two aspects have been chosen for desired environmental quality: existing criteria and green indices. The suitability factors are as such: size, accessibility, buffer, Historic-cultural value, existing land use, density, flooding, and water body. These suitability factors are classified into four sets- high, moderate, low and no suitability. The findings assist to synthesize the appropriate land to be adapted as public open space in North of Dhaka. Ultimately, it will help to form a base for generating a greener city in the future

The needs for coordination in sustainable urban infrastructure development

Urban infrastructure systems shape the interactions between civilized society and the natural environment. Whilst these urban systems are the most visible impact of humanity upon the environment, sustainable development of them is also crucial to minimize the impacts of human activities on the environment. Coordination among different agencies involved in the urban infrastructure development is an essential factor to achieve sustainability in the process. Co-ordination is a key enabler that brings together these agencies to make their endeavors more compatible with the interests of environmental, economic and social aspects, the triple bottom line of sustainability. From a sustainability point of view, this paper by identifying and analyzing the effects of lack of coordination, aims to delineate the role coordination in the context of sustain-able urban infrastructure development

Monitoring urban green space (UGS) changes by using high resolution aerial imagery: a case study of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Urban green space (UGS) in a city is the foundation of natural productivity in an urban structure. It is also known as a natural cooling device that plays a vital role in the city as an urban lung, discharging oxygen to reduce the city heat and as a wall against harmful air pollution. When urbanization happens, UGS, including the gazetted areas, is essentially converted into an artificial surface due to the population’s demand for new development. Therefore, identifying its significance is a must and beneficial to explore. The purpose of this study is to identify the 10 years of UGS change patterns and analyze the UGS loss, particularly in the affected gazetted zone. The study used available aerial imagery data for 2002, 2012, and 2017, and database record of green space. The study had classified UGS by using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. The training area was determined by visual interpretation and aided by a land use planning map as reference. The result validity was then determined by kappa coefficient value and producer accuracy. Overall, the study showed that the city had lost its UGS by about 88% and the total gain in built up area was 114%. The loss in UGS size in the city could be compared to a total of 2,843 units of football fields, transformed forever in just 10 years. The uncontrolled development and lack of advanced monitoring mechanism had negatively affected the planning structure of green space in KL. The implementation of advance technology as a new mitigation tool to monitor green space loss in the city could provide a variety of enhanced information that could assist city planners and urban designers to defend decisions in protecting these valuable UGS

The nature, functions and management of urban green space in Kuala Lumpur

As Malaysia's population continues to grow and becomes more concentrated in urban areas, the important benefits of urban green spaces to the environment, the economy, and the health and well-being of city residents become even more significant in counterbalancing some of the negative effects of the country's urban development. With this concern in mind, the authors designed a social survey for urban planners and landscape architects in Kuala Lumpur to identify and study their views on the nature, roles, and benefits of urban green spaces; the problems associated with protecting urban green spaces in Kuala Lumpur; and the attributes of green spaces they thought were most important when considering how much priority a particular green space should be given for preservation. Kuala Lumpur provides a particularly interesting case study as a rapidly growing city in a developing country with a tropical climate — a context in which there has been relatively little research on urban green space, despite the importance of shade in very hot climates. In addition, Kuala Lumpur has experienced a great loss of green space in recent decades, both on its periphery from urban expansion and around the city center from the drive (fueled by economic growth) to use central land more intensively

The many benefits of urban green spaces

Recently, the ideology of greenery city has received global attention, whichaimed to address the issues of rapid urbanization, population growth,andclimate change. Urban green spaces (UGS) seem like the essentialasset that could help cities to mitigate the adverse effects of rapid urbanization and urban sprawl in a sustainable way. It plays a vital role in our cities as an urban lung, discharging oxygen to reduce the city’s heat, the wall for harmful air pollution and offersmost significantbenefits in term of the environment, social and economy to a city. However, the presence of UGS as one of the criticalsectors in urban planning are always neglected.Nevertheless, UGS is loved by everyone however when it turns to the need; thenit is often apparent as a liability and claim as non-commodity goods in a planning development process. Hence, this paper aims to understand the many benefits of urban green space development in the contemporary of urban sustainability thought. The systematic review has been carried out through scientific online atabase,documentation and relevant related papers