Simona R. Grădinaru

Using local knowledge and sustainable transport to promote a greener city: the case of Bucharest, Romania

Abstract Cities undergoing climate change and rapid urbanization are faced with significant transformational processes that affect the environment and society, challenging them to become more sustainable and resilient. The promotion of nature‐based solutions represents an efficient approach to meet sustainability targets in cities and improve the quality of life of citizens. The association of large components of green infrastructure, such as urban parks, with physical activity can counteract the sedentary lifestyle endemic to cities and improve the overall health and well‐being of individuals (Carrus et al., 2013; Scopelliti et al., 2016). By promoting a sustainable means of transport and connecting green spaces within a highly urbanized city, bicycle lanes represent an effective tool for associating physical activity with nature in cities allowing bicycle users to benefit from the positive health effects of nature‐based solutions. Our study focuses on the potential of bicycle lanes to improve functional connectivity among green spaces. We administered 820 questionnaires in 34 green spaces (i.e., urban parks) in Bucharest, Romania, to identify the factors influencing the use of bicycle lanes connecting urban parks and to understand which planning criteria for bicycle lanes are considered as the most important by park visitors. We applied binary and ordinal logistic regressions and found that the factors affecting bicycle lane use are illegally parked cars and lack of accessibility to urban parks. The criteria preferred by park visitors for bicycle lane planning are determined by experience level and frequency of bicycle use. To develop a functional and integrated bicycle lane network that can make cities healthier and more sustainable, policy makers are advised to engage in a public participatory process and focus on the needs of bicycle users. HighlightsBicycle lane use is affected by parked cars and low accessibility to green spaces.Criteria for developing bicycle lanes are determined by user experience and needs.Public participation should play a key role for planning new bicycle lanes connecting green parks.

Visualizing Planning Intentions: From Heterogeneous Information to Maps

The future development of urban regions is frequently envisioned through strategic spatial plans. The main objectives and means of spatial development contained in these documents, called planning intentions, can be fragmented and are commonly presented throughout the planning document in text, graphs, tables, diagrams, and maps. Presentation of the information rarely allows for clear visualization of each planning intention and of how the synthesis of all planning intentions builds an overall spatial development strategy. In this paper, we present a method to translate planning intentions into maps in order to better understand their spatiality. Focusing on the case study of Copenhagen, we conduct an analysis of the content of the urban region’s latest strategic spatial plan (i.e., the Fingerplan 2013) in order to identify the main planning intentions. For each of these planning intentions, we systematically collect all information contained in the plan, such as details on location, extent, and fuzziness. We then transform the main planning intentions into pixel-based maps to visualize the planning intentions. Finally, a map of the composite planning intention is presented. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the spatiality of strategic planning.