Using Remote Sensing in Monitoring the Urban Green Spaces: A Case Study in Qorveh, Iran

Abstract

Urban green spaces are important to the physical activity, mental wellbeing, and health of urban residents. In medium-sized cities in Iran, urban green spaces have been ignored during the past decades. In this study, remote sensing and geographic information system was used to investigate the green space distribution in the built-up areas. Accordingly, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) were used to estimate urban green spaces distribution within the urban landscapes to measure the urban land use effect. The geospatial analysis results presented a lack of green spaces in built-up areas. Also, 16.8% of the total area of Qorveh city is considered as a dysfunctional urban fabric that 39.4% of the city’s population live in this area. This study highlighted the usage of green space index with geospatial analyses in illustrating the urban green spaces’ importance for planning. For the future urban land development scenarios, this approach could be used linking with regional planning approaches.