Exploring the Availability and Distribution of Public Green Spaces among Riyadh Residential Neighborhoods

Authors: Abdulwahab Alalyani, Mahbub Rashid

Abstract:

Public green space promotes community health including daily activities, but these resources may not be available enough or may not equitably be distributed. This paper measures and compares the availability of public green spaces (PGS) among low, middle, and high-income neighborhoods in the Riyadh city. Additionally, it compares the total availability of PGS to WHO standard and Dubai availability of PGS per person. All PGS were mapped using geographical information systems, and total area availability of PGS compared to WHO and Dubai standards. To evaluate the significant differences in PGS availability across low, medium, and high-income Riyadh neighborhoods, we used a One-way ANOVA analysis of covariance to test the differences. As a result, by comparing PGS of Riyadh neighborhoods to WHO and Dubai-availability, it was found that Riyadh PGS were lower than the minimum standard of WHO and as well as Dubai. Riyadh has only 1.13 m² per capita of PGS. The second finding, the availability of PGS, was significantly different among Riyadh neighborhoods based on socioeconomic status. The future development of PGS should be focused on increasing PGS availability and should be given priority to those low-income and unhealthy communities.

Keywords: Spatial equity, green space, healthy city, quality of life, income, built environment.

References:

[1] U. United Nations, “Green Spaces: An Invaluable Resource for Delivering Sustainable Urban Health,” United Nations, 2021. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/green-spaces-invaluable-resource-delivering-sustainable-urban-health (accessed Feb. 16, 2021).
[2] “Urban-green-spaces-and-health-review-evidence.pdf.” Accessed: Nov. 05, 2020. (Online). Available: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/321971/Urban-green-spaces-and-health-review-evidence.pdf?ua=1.
[3] D. E. Bowler, L. M. Buyung-Ali, T. M. Knight, and A. S. Pullin, “A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments,” BMC Public Health, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 456, Aug. 2010, doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-456.
[4] H. M. Al-Hazzaa, “Health-enhancing physical activity among Saudi adults using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ),” Public Health Nutrition, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 59–64, Jan. 2007, doi: 10.1017/S1368980007184299.
[5] “descriptive pattern of physical activity in Saudi Arabia: analysis of national survey data | International Health | Oxford Academic.” https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/article/doi/10.1093/inthealth/ihaa027/5854770 (accessed Jul. 17, 2020).
[6] R. Al-Raddadi, S. M. Bahijri, H. A. Jambi, G. Ferns, and J. Tuomilehto, “The prevalence of obesity and overweight, associated demographic and lifestyle factors, and health status in the adult population of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,” Ther Adv Chronic Dis, vol. 10, Sep. 2019, doi: 10.1177/2040622319878997.
[7] J. Byrne and N. Sipe, “Green and open space planning for urban consolidation - A review of the literature and best practice,” p. 72.
[8] “national-urban-policies-driving-public-space-led-urban-development.pdf.” Accessed: Nov. 05, 2020. (Online). Available: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/07/national-urban-policies-driving-public-space-led-urban-development.pdf.
[9] “Quantifying public spaces for better quality of urban assets.” https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/quantifying-public-spaces-better-quality-urban-assets (accessed Feb. 22, 2021).
[10] “National Urban Policies Driving Public Space Led Urban Development: A Quick Thematic Guide for Mainstreaming Safe, Inclusive and Accessible Public Spaces into National Urban Policies | UN-Habitat.” https://unhabitat.org/national-urban-policies-driving-public-space-led-urban-development-a-quick-thematic-guide-for (accessed Nov. 03, 2020).
[11] N. Kabisch and D. Haase, “Green spaces of European cities revisited for 1990–2006,” Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 110, pp. 113–122, Feb. 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.10.017.
[12] M. Rashid, “The geometry of urban layouts,” Cham: Springer, 2017.
[13] “Quality of Life Index.” https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_current.jsp (accessed Feb. 18, 2021).
[14] A. Almayouf, “Preserving the Green in Hot-arid Desert Environments: The Case of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” vol. 25, p. 11.
[15] General Authority for Statistics, “Population Estimates,” General Authority for Statistics, Dec. 17, 2019. https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/43 (accessed Nov. 18, 2020).
[16] “البوابة الالكترونية للخدمات البلدية لأمانة منطقة الرياض.” https://eservices.alriyadh.gov.sa/ (accessed Mar. 29, 2021).
[17] “البوابة المكانية لمنطقة الرياض.” https://mapservice.alriyadh.gov.sa/geoportal/login (accessed Mar. 29, 2021).
[18] “الخارطة الاقتصادية لمواقع الأعمال.” https://map.910ths.sa/riyadh-region (accessed Mar. 29, 2021).