Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Dynamics (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Environmental Dynamics

Advisor/Mentor

Mohamed Aly

Committee Member

Alexander Hohl

Second Committee Member

Linyin Cheng

Third Committee Member

Xiao Huang

Fourth Committee Member

Xiaojiang Li

Keywords

Urban development; Urban green spaces; Public and urban planning; Viewshed greenness visibility index; Eye-level urban greenness

Abstract

This dissertation delves into the multifaceted dynamics of urban greenness, addressing critical aspects of sustainable urban development. Providing urban green spaces has been widely acknowledged to offer numerous benefits to individuals and communities. Recently, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of evaluating urban greenness from a human-centered perspective, partly due to the rapid development of eye-level greenness measurement. First, to provide a comprehensive overview of measurement approaches and topics related to eye-level urban greenness, a systematic review of 77 papers was conducted in this research. This review revealed that street view images are the primarily utilized data source to quantify eye-level urban greenness in urban analysis. Additionally, simulated eye-level urban greenness represents a new frontier for the general public and urban planners, offering the potential to acquire universally applicable quantitative greenness data. The findings further suggest that eye-level urban greenness has been explored across various domains, including physical behavior, public health, urban planning, human perception, and inequity. Such exploration has highlighted a significant association between eye-level urban greenness and individuals and communities. This review generates new insights on integrating urban greenness into urban planning and design, encouraging a greater focus on eye-level urban greenness as a critical component of urban environmental quality. According to the systematic review, simulated urban greenness shows great potential to be involved in the human-centric urban sciences. However, the performance or representative of this method is still unknown. A recently proposed simulation of the viewshed greenness visibility index (VGVI) adopted both viewshed analysis and distant decay function has brought wide attention but has not been comprehensively assessed. Therefore, in the second Chapter, VGVI was evaluated in urban landscapes in a typical midsize U.S. city. By conducting a field trip to collect 360-degree imageries and applying deep learning semantic segmentation technology on these imageries, the ground truth eye-level urban greenness was calculated. Based on the TOST (Two One-side tests) equivalence test, this chapter revealed that the performance of the simulated model is robust enough to mimic the urban greenness obtained from the human eye view. The evaluation contributes to refining tools and methodologies essential for effective urban planning by offering insights into the practical implications of simulated green infrastructure. These findings bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and actionable strategies, emphasizing the importance of precision in planning and implementing urban green spaces for resilient and livable cities. Eye-level urban greenness can have significant implications for public health, willingness of physical activities, and urban attractiveness. However, the benefits of eye-level urban greenness may not be equally distributed across communities. Under the complex and diverse composition of societies in eight big cities in the U.S.A., the inequalities of eye-level urban greenness provision urgently need a comprehensive estimation, especially in the background of rapid Urbanization. Simulating eye-level urban greenness from a modeling way can better mimic the human-eye view in a 3D city model in every location with a robust performance. In the third chapter, the VGVI model was employed to assess eye-level urban greenness in eight major U.S. cities, aiming to quantify disparities in green space provision. The population-weighted Gini coefficient of VGVI highlighted existing inequalities in eye-level urban greenness distribution. Findings revealed that downtown or central business districts exhibited low VGVI and high GINI, indicating both reduced greenery and heightened provision inequality in these areas. This study delves into the correlation between VGVI and various socioeconomic factors, including income, race, age, education, gender, and employment rate. The results illustrate varying degrees of inequality in eye-level urban greenness provision among different socioeconomic groups across the eight major U.S. cities. This disparity is closely tied to city-specific characteristics such as historical context, planning strategies, and development concepts. In conclusion, these studies collectively emphasize the crucial role of eye-level urban greenness in influencing individual and community well-being. The integration of simulated green indices, such as VGVI, offers a valuable tool for assessing and addressing inequalities in eye-level urban greenery provision, with implications for urban planning and design aimed at creating more sustainable and equitable cities. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for formulating targeted interventions to ensure equitable access to eye-level urban greenery, fostering a healthier and more inclusive urban environment. Future research endeavors are encouraged to explore the potential applications of these findings in urban development and the optimization of green spaces.

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