Visualizing Green and Open Spaces

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green and open spaces as a piece of land that lacks development and can be accessed by the public. Green spaces include areas covered with grass, trees, shrubs, or other types of vegetation. Parks, community gardens, and cemeteries are some examples of green spaces. Open spaces include green spaces, public seating areas, public plazas, etc. The environmental quality of neighborhoods is enhanced by green and open spaces ( https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/openspace.html ). “ Public green spaces and positive mental health – investigating the relationship between access, quantity, and types of parks and mental wellbeing ” provides research on the relationship between green space and positive mental health. Fiona Bill, et al. wanted to observe whether access, quantity, and types of green spaces increase mental wellbeing. In this study, they found that green spaces within an accessible distance of 1.6 km of an individual’s home had a significantly positive impact on mental health. Green spaces have been shown to ameliorate depression and stress, and this study demonstrated the importance of these spaces being accessible to improve mental health ( Bull, F., Foster, S., Hooper, P., and Wood, L., 2017 )

In this project, I was tasked to map and visualize the green spaces on campus for the Facilities Design and Construction Department at FSU. Another component of the project was to identify pedestrian areas and routes to areas where both faculty and students can meet, study, socialize and connect. I utilized aerial imagery and the network analysis extension tool to complete the objectives of the project, provide data on the green spaces, and the accessibility to open spaces for students and faculty to congregate.

 Sustainable Campus at FSU  provided this opportunity through the Sustainability Fellows program. Sustainable Campus delivers FSU the resources to develop, apply, and practice sustainability.  The Sustainability Fellows  program provides students opportunities to collaborate with campus and community partners to participate in projects that further incorporate sustainability efforts on FSU’s campus and in the Tallahassee community. 

In this project, I used The Alliance for Public Garden’s GIS data model as a guide to creating each green space and landscape type feature. The Alliance for Public Gardens GIS is a consortium of biological collection managers and GIS professionals who dedicate to making GIS more accessible to managed landscapes for use in asset management, education, etc.  

· Define open and green spaces (ex: shrubs, flower beds, turf, plazas, etc.)

· Convert and georeferenced AutoCAD DWG files to GIS-compatible file geodatabase. 

· Generate an inventory geodatabase of the open and green spaces’ conditions and locations.

· Create and edit features and add the attributes for each open and green space through aerial imagery and the ArcGIS Pro Create Feature tool.

·Symbolize each open and green space feature based upon its conditions.

· Conduct a Network Analysis utilizing the service area tool to measure pedestrian accessibility to open spaces from parking spaces.

Public Open Spaces (POS) have become an essential component of a community’s physical well-being ( Tang K., Tang, B. and Wong K. 2021 ). POS provides a positive environment that promotes environmental sustainability and ecological biodiversity. POS should be within close proximity for communities to be able to walk and cycle to these spaces. If these spaces are within a walkable distance, then it promotes good health and reduces the risk of obesity and other health issues caused by excessive sedentary behavior ( Tang K., Tang, B. and Wong K. 2021 ). In this accessibility analysis, I studied open spaces that are within a pedestrian-friendly accessible time from parking spaces on campus. A majority of students commute to campus, therefore it is important to study our accessibility to open spaces from our cars to the open space. 

I utilized the Network Analysis extension to analyze pedestrian accessibility to open spaces on campus. This extension provides tools to spatially analyze accessibility based upon time, costs, or its conditions. The extension utilizes a system of interconnected elements, such as edges and connecting junctions that represent routes from one location to another, also known as a “Network” ( ESRI ArcGIS Pro Help ). I obtained pedestrian facilities/sidewalks from the GeoData Hub for Leon County and I created and built the pedestrian network around campus using the network tools in ArcGIS Pro. The pedestrian network is presented in the map below.

The Network Analysis extension provides different tools to measure accessibility. I completed a service area analysis, which is a tool from the Network Analysis extension to analyze the accessibility based upon distance or time from a point. The tool visualizes the reachable area from each facility, whether it is based upon time or distance ( ESRI ArcGIS Pro Help ). 

In this study, I wanted to analyze the acceptable times it takes to reach an open space from a parking lot. Therefore, I researched acceptable times for an individual to walk to spaces, such as parks, green spaces, or plazas. The Ten-Minute Walk campaign provided guidance on the acceptable distance an individual should have access to these spaces by walking. If a green or open space is too far for an individual to walk to, then it is not convenient. Ten minutes has been shown to be a convenient time to access these spaces and improve the quality of life for communities ( The Trust for Public Land ). 

In my analysis, the service area times presented as green are areas within a one-minute walk, yellow as times within a five-minute walk, and red as times within a ten-minute walk from parking spaces on campus. I calculated the percentages of each open space that can be accessed within a ten-minute walk to measure how accessible these spaces are on campus from parking spaces. The analysis is visualized in the map below.

In this project and study, I was able to observe and visualize green and open spaces on campus, as well as analyze pedestrian accessibility to those open spaces. There is a variety of green and open spaces on campus for faculty and students. A majority of open spaces are within an acceptable time of a ten-minute walk from each parking space.

Further analysis on accessibility to green and open spaces from buildings on campus would be an ideal project to observe whether faculty and students who reside on campus can access these spaces easily through the pedestrian network on campus.