Landscaped parks and open spaces

Abstract

Landscaped parks and open spaces in (sub)urban areas vary greatly in structure, extent, functions, history, and management. The size and functions of urban parks and open spaces are usually proxies for their habitat heterogeneity and make them an essential component of urban green infrastructure. Translated to urban parks, the long-term management of these complex habitats should aim to ensure they can perform multiple ecosystem services in cities. An important cultural ecosystem service provided by urban parks is recreation, including walking, sports, and relaxing. Monitoring vascular plant species is fairly common and logical, as plants determine the architecture and structural variation in urban parks. Geographical Information Systems are commonly used in planning and monitoring urban parks. Urban parks are increasingly focused on sustainability, providing a range of ecosystem and socio-cultural services to local communities. Birds integrate several values associated with urban parks.