Modelling use displacement of urban park users

One main function of urban recreation areas is to provide counter-spaces to the many types of over-stimulation so characteristic of urban life, and as such to offer recreation opportunities for urban residents. However, high-use levels, visitor conflicts, unwanted visitor behaviour, and safety concerns diminish the recreation experience. Coping behaviours of visitors due to exceeded social carrying capacities lead to temporal and/or spatial changes in the use patterns as well as to user composition and visitor behaviour. Sometimes, social conditions may be so intolerable that some user groups are effectively excluded from park use, either completely, or at least temporally. Knowledge about social carrying capacity and use displacement of park visitors is highly relevant to the planning and management of urban parks and urban development. The main goal of the study is to model intra-area and inter-area use displacement and the substitution processes between urban recreation areas using an image-based stated choice method. The photos will be manipulated systematically by following a statistical design plan of relevant social factors potentially influencing use displacement behaviour such as the number of visitors, the number and size of dogs, whether dogs are on or not on a leash, user types, the amount of litter, signs of vandalism, and environmental attributes such as the amount and closeness of trees and bushes to the trail and the width of trails. Visitors to selected urban parks of Vienna will be interviewed on site. Use displacement behaviour will be assessed by asking the visitors to identify the intolerable recreational scenarios, if any; and then to indicate if there are other recreational scenarios that they would shift their use to instead. Based on visitor choices the proportion of respondents with use displacement behaviour can be calculated and the combination of attributes can be modelle to identify the optimal scenarios. One further goal of the research project is to compare urban park use between Japanese Cities and Vienna. The project will contribute to a better understanding of displacement behaviour in urban recreation settings, and to new insights in recreational crowding and safety theory in the urban context. This knowledge can be applied in planning and management processes of urban parks, thus increasing the societal benefits accruing from these urban recreation areas. A Decision Support System will assist park planners, park managers and decision makers in the planning process.

One main function of urban recreation areas is to provide counter-spaces to the many types of over-stimulation so characteristic of urban life, and as such to offer recreation opportunities for urban residents. However, high-use levels, visitor conflicts, unwanted visitor behaviour, and safety concerns diminish the recreation experience. Coping behaviours of visitors due to exceeded social carrying capacities lead to temporal and/or spatial changes in the use patterns as well as to user composition and visitor behaviour. Sometimes, social conditions may be so intolerable that some user groups are effectively excluded from park use, either completely, or at least temporally. Knowledge about social carrying capacity and use displacement of park visitors is highly relevant to the planning and management of urban parks and urban development. The main goal of the study is to model intra-area and inter-area use displacement and the substitution processes between urban recreation areas using an image-based stated choice method. The photos will be manipulated systematically by following a statistical design plan of relevant social factors potentially influencing use displacement behaviour such as the number of visitors, the number and size of dogs, whether dogs are on or not on a leash, user types, the amount of litter, signs of vandalism, and environmental attributes such as the amount and closeness of trees and bushes to the trail and the width of trails. Visitors to selected urban parks of Vienna will be interviewed on site. Use displacement behaviour will be assessed by asking the visitors to identify the intolerable recreational scenarios, if any; and then to indicate if there are other recreational scenarios that they would shift their use to instead. Based on visitor choices the proportion of respondents with use displacement behaviour can be calculated and the combination of attributes can be modelle to identify the optimal scenarios. One further goal of the research project is to compare urban park use between Japanese Cities and Vienna. The project will contribute to a better understanding of displacement behaviour in urban recreation settings, and to new insights in recreational crowding and safety theory in the urban context. This knowledge can be applied in planning and management processes of urban parks, thus increasing the societal benefits accruing from these urban recreation areas. A Decision Support System will assist park planners, park managers and decision makers in the planning process.