SPACE-USE-BASED ANALISYS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PATHS OF INFORMAL URBAN GREEN SPACES IN SZEGED

Abstract

Both the literature, and the main goals of the European Union emphasise the importance of sustainable urban planning and the more efficient use of urban green spaces. This also includes informal urban green spaces, which in many cases, have only been used in alternative ways, and whose important feature is the lack of regulation, which can lead to unique green space usage habits and activities. The aim of this research was to examine the main characteristics of the people using informal green spaces, their space use habits, especially the possible appearances of deviances. During the research, 14 sample areas from Szeged, Hungary were examined using pre-compiled survey data sheets with the method of field observation for 12 times between 2020.09.24. and 2021.07.16. In the years of 2022 and 2023 benchmarking follow-up participatory observations were conducted. As a result, we found that informal urban green spaces in Szeged are characterized by a strong diversity, for example in terms of the number of their users, which can be influenced by several factors. One of the most important is how large the green space is, how easily it is accessible, how diverse the available functions and ecosystem services are, and at what time and under what weather conditions the observation took place. Younger adults are the most frequent visitors of the investigated sample areas, where illegal activities also occur in many cases. However, these activities only turn into real conflicts in the case of the most visited green spaces, and to avoid them we have outlined four urban development scenarios: Laissez faire, application of soft or hard urban development tools, and the privatization of urban greenspaces.