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Open Space

Urban open space​

  • Any land that is without buildings or structure
  • Can be paved, private, parking lots
    • Many examples of open space -- think any "open space"

Public open space​

  • any open space that is accessible to public use
    • Sometimes can be private

Urban green space​

  • Anywhere in the city where there is vegetation
    • Includes private or public

Public open space is only a small amount of total open space

LARC 444/Green Networks​

All of a city's public green spaces and forest which serve multiple and ecosystem functions.

LARC 444/Urban Forest​

Greenways​

Corridors of various widths linked together in a network including ecologically significant corridors, recreational corridors, historical, or cultural corridors

City of Vancouver: Linear public corridors for pedestrians and cyclists that connect parks, nature reserves, cultural features, historic sites, neighbourhoods, and retails areas.

Categorizing Urban Greenspace:​

Why Categorize?​

  • Define the structure and functions of urban systems like park systems
  • Understand relationships of parts of systems
  • Prioritize
  • Governance and jurisdiction

Functions​

Some functions of urban green spaces?

  • Wastewater management
  • Transportation

Can be categorized as people oriented or ecosystem oriented, eg.,

people orientedecosystem oriented
Unstructured playBiodiversity

Smaller areas tend to be more human oriented, while larger areas tend to have more ecosystem-oriented usage.

Vancouver​

"Naturalness"

  • Rated from 1-5, where 5 is completely undisturbed