<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The environment of a city is influenced by global and local climate changes, pollution load from transport, industry and local heat sources. Green spaces as part of the urban green infrastructure fulfil multiple ecosystem services and improve the environmental and residential quality of a city. The level of positive effects of green spaces depends on their area, distribution within the city and the proportion of trees. The aim of the paper was to evaluate land cover structure in a selected segment of the housing estate Klokočina in Nitra, Slovakia. The evaluation focused on the share of biologically active and inactive surfaces, as well as the parameters of woody plant structure in green spaces. Green areas account for 58.70%, while built-up areas, parking lots and roads cover in total 41.30%. Biologically inactive anthropogenic horizontal and of building envelope areas represent 67.30%. Biologically active green areas represent 32.70%. The share of areas with tree crown overlap on horizontal areas is 20.82%, other areas are paved surfaces or grassland. We calculated the indices of the quality of green spaces from the individual categories of areas: proportional green area index (PGAI), effective green area index (EGAI) and tree shade index (TSI). The tree species composition consists of 36 deciduous and 11 coniferous tree species, and 20 shrub species. We evaluated the biometric traits of trees as the tree height, crown width, stem girth and tree vitality class (TVC). The correlations between tree traits were statistically tested with a significant result. In the group of biologically active areas of greenery, we propose to increase the proportion of trees, to establish more natural lawns and xerophyte flower beds. In the category of inactive areas, we propose the reconstruction of parking lots to grass paved surfaces.</p></abstract>

The environment of a city is influenced by global and local climate changes, pollution load from transport, industry and local heat sources. Green spaces as part of the urban green infrastructure fulfil multiple ecosystem services and improve the environmental and residential quality of a city. The level of positive effects of green spaces depends on their area, distribution within the city and the proportion of trees. The aim of the paper was to evaluate land cover structure in a selected segment of the housing estate Klokočina in Nitra, Slovakia. The evaluation focused on the share of biologically active and inactive surfaces, as well as the parameters of woody plant structure in green spaces. Green areas account for 58.70%, while built-up areas, parking lots and roads cover in total 41.30%. Biologically inactive anthropogenic horizontal and of building envelope areas represent 67.30%. Biologically active green areas represent 32.70%. The share of areas with tree crown overlap on horizontal areas is 20.82%, other areas are paved surfaces or grassland. We calculated the indices of the quality of green spaces from the individual categories of areas: proportional green area index (PGAI), effective green area index (EGAI) and tree shade index (TSI). The tree species composition consists of 36 deciduous and 11 coniferous tree species, and 20 shrub species. We evaluated the biometric traits of trees as the tree height, crown width, stem girth and tree vitality class (TVC). The correlations between tree traits were statistically tested with a significant result. In the group of biologically active areas of greenery, we propose to increase the proportion of trees, to establish more natural lawns and xerophyte flower beds. In the category of inactive areas, we propose the reconstruction of parking lots to grass paved surfaces.

Urban Green Areas and Woody Plant Composition: Dwelling Space Quality Factor in the Klokočina Housing Estate

Department of Garden and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

Department of Landscape Planning and Land Consolidation, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering

Ekológia (Bratislava)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The environment of a city is influenced by global and local climate changes, pollution load from transport, industry and local heat sources. Green spaces as...

Urban Green Areas and Woody Plant Composition: Dwelling Space Quality Factor in the Klokočina Housing Estate

Published Online: Apr 18, 2021

Page range: 80 - 90

Received: Jan 10, 2020

Accepted: Feb 19, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2021-0010

Keywords
town structure, housing estate, land cover, green spaces, tree quality traits

© 2021 Mária Bihuňová et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Urban Green Areas and Woody Plant Composition: Dwelling Space Quality Factor in the Klokočina Housing Estate

Published Online: Apr 18, 2021

Page range: 80 - 90

Received: Jan 10, 2020

Accepted: Feb 19, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2021-0010

Keywordstown structure, housing estate, land cover, green spaces, tree quality traits

© 2021 Mária Bihuňová et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
town structure, housing estate, land cover, green spaces, tree quality traits