The availability and accessibility of green urban areas in Toruń, Poland. Towards a biophilic city

Rogatka, Krzysztof; Kowalski, Mateusz

doi:0016-7282 (print)

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Title: The availability and accessibility of green urban areas in Toruń, Poland. Towards a biophilic city

Abstract:

Cities worldwide are confronting numerous problems and challenges that affect the human-nature relationship in urban spaces. The biophilic city concept, proposed by T. Beatley, is a response to improving the quality of life in cities and creating a lasting connection between people and nature. A biophilic city is a place immersed in nature, where residents do not visit nature but live within it. It is therefore a city with good availability and accessibility to green urban areas (GUAs). The aim of the study is to identify the availability (area share) and accessibility of GUAs in Toruń (Poland). We carried out (1) geospatial analyses through which we examined the availability (% area share) of GUAs in the area of city and its 20 urban planning units – UPUs (the threshold value of the indicator was set at 30%); (2) network geospatial analyses; through which we analysed the accessibility of GUAs in Toruń – the share of the 300-metre zone in the area of the city and individual UPUs (the threshold value of the indicator was 50% after excluding the green areas themselves from the area of the city and UPUs). The analyses conducted indicate that a high level of availability does not always translate into the same level of accessibility. The research also shows that, on a citywide scale, Toruń meets the assumptions set out in the article, i.e., records indicators above the established thresholds. However, the city should take action at the individual UPU level to reduce disparities across different parts of the city. The actions should take into account local and even micro-local conditions.