Urban Development and Population Pressure: The Case of Młynówka Królewska Park in Krakow, Poland

Transformations in hydrological resilience: Unraveling the impact of landscape hydric potential on flood dynamics: A case study, Drwinka catchment (Poland)

Flooding remains a critical issue in urban catchments, driven by complex interactions between land use changes, hydrological dynamics, and environmental factors. This study aims to investigate how modifications in Landscape Hydric Potential (LHP) affect flood behavior in the Drwinka River catchment in Krakow, Poland. Given the rapid urbanization and its impacts on hydrological systems, understanding these changes is essential for effective flood management and mitigation. The research involved a comprehensive analysis of land use changes, river network alterations, LHP variations, and net rainfall across several historical periods: 1785, 1864, 1900, 1936, 1965, 1997, and 2023. By examining these periods and considering two observed rainfall events (case 1 and case 2) alongside a design rainfall scenario (case 3), the study revealed significant shifts in land use and catchment physiography. Specifically, the transition from agricultural to urbanized areas, a reduction in catchment size, and a decline in retention capacity were observed throughout the study period. The analysis uncovered a strong correlation between LHP values and net rainfall, with notable impacts on the volume of water discharged into receiving waters. Additionally, changes in flood hydrograph patterns were evident, with increases in LHP values leading to reductions in peak flows and flood volumes. For instance, peak flows and volumes ranged from 35 to 51 m3 s-1 and 0.335 to 0.462 million m3 for rainfall case 1, from 51 to 65 m3 s-1 and 0.814 to 0.992 million m3 for rainfall case 2, and from 51 to 76 m3 s-1 and 0.642 to 0.806 million m3 for rainfall case 3. These findings underscore the potential of LHP as a crucial tool in flood management, offering insights that could enhance catchment management strategies and improve flood hazard mitigation efforts.

Current methods for evaluating people's exposure to green space: A scoping review

People's exposure to green space is a critical link between urban green space and urban residents' health. Since green space may affect human health through multiple pathways regarding diverse human health outcomes, the measurement of people's exposure to green space must be tailored to concrete study contexts and research questions. In this scoping review, we systematically categorized the available green space representations and metrics in the last two decades that can be used to derive people's exposure to green space regarding different research topics. A three-phase systematic review was conducted after a generalized search of relevant research articles from the three most-used publication databases, namely Scopus, the Web of Science, and PubMed. We identified 260 research articles that particularly discuss green space representations and metrics. We further developed a multi-pathway framework to articulate the complicated context issues in green space studies. We categorized the most relevant green space representations and metrics into five groups, including green space indices, the delineation, inventory, and usage of green space, the spatiotemporal evolution of green space, the attributes and components of green space, and the green space landscape and fragmentation. Finally, we discussed the inter-conversion between different green space representations and metrics, the "mobility-turn" in green space studies and how it may affect the derivation of people's exposure to green space, and other potential methodological issues in measuring people's exposure to green space. Our scoping review provides the most comprehensive framework and categories for deriving people's exposure to green space to date, which may strongly support a broad range of studies that concern green space's health effects.

The 15-Minute City—The Geographical Proximity of Services in Krakow

The discussion about 15-minute cities (also referred to as cities of short distances) has gained considerable momentum in the last decade. Thanks to the optimal spatial layout of these urban areas, their residents can meet most or all of their day-to-day needs within a short walk or a bicycle ride from their place of residence. This is especially important in the context of problems currently faced by most large agglomerations worldwide, the negative externalities caused by predominantly motorised transport and inappropriate spatial planning policies that entail substantial environmental and technical infrastructure outlays. The concept of spatial proximity to services played a key role in the empirical part of the present study, where Krakow’s layout was analysed in detail from the perspective of a 15-minute city. Krakow is a resident-friendly, inclusive city created primarily with local communities in mind. However, certain design flaws in terms of spatial proximity to services prompted us to reconsider how its specific spatial components operate. To achieve the study’s goal—a comprehensive assessment of Krakow as a 15-minute city—we proposed several solutions that can be made universally adaptable for other urban areas striving to meet the short distance criteria.

Natural Environment and Cultural Heritage in the City, a Sustainability Perspective

The 21st century urges us to analyze urban problems and revise its components [...]

Multi-Attribute Analysis of Contemporary Cultural Buildings in the Historic Urban Fabric as Sustainable Spaces—Krakow Case Study

This study concerns contemporary cultural buildings in the historic city centre of Krakow, Poland, and their assessment in terms of sustainability. The paper aims to bridge a research gap in previous studies on pluralistic values and the impact of cultural heritage on sustainability. The comparative case study conducted in Krakow aims to evaluate the functioning and potential of the space towards achieving the following five goals: accessibility, conservation, mix of functions, aesthetics, comfort and sociability. The perception of these buildings and the public space around them by the city residents, as well as their operation during unexpected circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, were also evaluated. The author combined an on-site analysis, behavioural mapping and a survey. The results correlate the liveability and aesthetics of public spaces along with the amount and quality of greenery found there with the comfort of users and the popularity of particular places. This paper highlights how important it is to create cultural spaces in a historic city to develop a range of their activities linked to the surrounding public spaces and green areas. Activating cultural spaces and connecting them to sustainability goals is especially important when faced with declining tourism.

Evaluation and Monitoring of Urban Public Greenspace Planning Using Landscape Metrics in Kunming

Urban greenspace planning plays a crucial role in improving the quality of human settlements and the living standard of citizens. Urban public greenspace (UPGS) is an important part of urban greenspaces. Existing literature rarely includes a scientific evaluation of greenspace plans (including of UPGS) and plan implementation effects. To bridge this gap, this study evaluated and monitored the UPGS plan enacted in 2010 in Kunming, China. Object-based image classification and visual interpretation of satellite images and Google Earth imagery were used to quantify the different periods of UPGS implementation. Six indicators and monitoring at four classic sites were applied to explore the change at two scales (overall scale and district scale) for monitoring the UPGS plan execution. The results showed that UPGS structure greatly improved after plan implementation. However, UPGS provision per capita has not reached the level of greenspace planning and the connectivity was poor. Significant implementation inequalities existed in each district and implementation has lagged behind schedule. This study contributes to a better understanding of greenspace planning and urban planning in general, which can help improve future planning and planning decisions.