From Visual Enjoyment To Shared Resources

Urban green space system is an important part of the urban ecological system, the number, size, planning and design of it and how it laying out in space are related to our life, such as the quality of city environment we live in and daily leisure activities. In the past time, most research of green space was did on planning, designing and construction, estimating on eco-efficiency, analysis on landscape pattern based on the landscape ecology and aesthetic evaluation.With the urban construction going on, green space in our city is less and less. Land is used for commercial or real estate development to obtain greater value. We must reflect on the status of the green in the city. First, the population in the city is more and more and the building density is increasing a lot. In order to obtain the maximum benefit, outdoor space for public activities becomes fewer and fewer, which is unable to meet the demand of the city people and it hurts the health of the public. Second, there is misunderstanding to the construction of green space and parks. Blindly pursuing the ratio of green space, per capita public green area and large but not user-friendly scale, resulting in the greening that is almost the same, not practical and poor in accessibility. Finally, the gap between the rich and the poor becomes more and more exaggerated. The rich usually live in villas with green facilities or even built by the lakes and hills. The greening in ordinary residential area is generally simple, such as the small lawn or sports equipment in the area. Now the public resources are used by some people but not everyone. So vest-pocket parks should be constructed to satisfy the needs of city people. As the open space that is convenient to use, vest-pocket parks reflect the shared resources, fairness and justice.Vest-pocket parks are the open space that match our modern cities. They are small in size, convenient to use and can be everywhere we need. Just as the oasis in the desert, vest-pocket parks could ease the contradiction between supply and demand of green space in our cities. Vest-pocket parks are green dots and if they are lay out reasonably, the system can be the green network and play the important role in ecological, landscape and social benefits. Vest-pocket parks should be an important part of the city park system. In the past, the shape of the green space was emphasized, but now, it should be free to use.In this paper, the phenomenon in the cities is presented and the characteristics of vest-pocket parks are introduced, then the concept of vest-pocket park is defined. Specifically, the origin and development of vest-pocket parks at home and abroad are studied. The relationship besides the city, people and the parks is analyzed, the same as the application of the vest-pocket parks in different areas of the city. The principles and methods of planning and design of the vest-pocket parks are summed up. The thesis is divided into six chapters.Chapter I is the introduction. In this chapter, the background, the purpose, the significance of the research and the progress of the study at home and abroad are introduced. The technical route, the research methods and the content of the study are described briefly.Chapter Ⅱ conducts a comprehensive overview of the vest-pocket parks and the theories related to it. First of all, the concept of vest-pocket parks is defined, the types and function are elaborated over multiple perspectives. Then the related theories are described, including the theory of landscape ecology, environmental perception theory, user-friendly design theory and so on.Chapter Ⅲ is devoted to the generation of the vest-pocket parks and the development in several countries. The relationship besides the modern cities, the urban population and the vest-pocket parks is analyzed. There is small space left after the landscape planning in large scale. As a "supporter" of the urban landscape, how to become a "hero" of the city life and the value of the small parks are taped.Chapter Ⅳ presented the universal principles of planning the pocket parks in order to grasp how to lay out the parks better. Specific methods include:based on users’needs, based on accessibility and the service radius and based on the population density. Through the project of adding green space in old town of Nanjing, the possibilities and limitations of constructing vest-pocket parks are cleared.Chapter Ⅴ summarizes the methods of designing the parks. The design features of the parks in different environments are summarized, including parks at residential, commercial, cultural and educational area and official area.Chapter Ⅵ is the conclusions and outlook. It summarizes the results and ideas of the research, makes clear of the purpose and significance of the study, and puts out some recommendations of planning and implementation.