Identifying and Assessing Uses of Public Parks: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This research aims to identify the various ways public parks are used, which are assessed using multiple tools and methods used in extant literature. In this endeavor, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of research papers published in the last two decades was conducted. Public parks are mainly used for recreational, social, physical, economic, and ecological purposes. It is observed that various researchers have assessed the recreational, physical, and social uses of parks through direct observations surveys, and mixed-methods approaches. Further, the researchers have assessed the economic and ecological uses by studying the changes in the city dwellers’ quality of life, and their surrounding environment. Interestingly, both the ecological and economical uses of parks seem to have an indirect impact on the users, while recreational, social, and physical uses have a direct impact. The findings also suggest that observations, surveys and mixed methods were indeed the appropriate ways to assess the parks’ usage. The goal is to find an appropriate research direction and strategy for the assessment of uses of parks that may help the city planners/ policy makers to optimize the park uses.