The gentrification of informal urban greenspaces: the example of Szeged

Abstract

Sustainable urban development is getting increasingly important due to processes of global climate change, increasing urbanization or the COVID-19 pandemic that also contribute to the growing recognition of the values of urban green spaces. These processes resulted in wideranging discussions in urban studies about urban planning, urban space-use, urban green infrastructure. As a result, informal urban green spaces (IGS) also gain more and more attention.

The aim of the study is to underline the importance of informal urban green spaces and to introduce its typology and their transformations to the Hungarian scientific discourse based on the example of Hungary’s third largest city, Szeged. We have selected 14 informal urban green spaces as sample areas in Szeged, according to the literature, we have categorised them into nine different types of IGS to reach international comparability. With the usage of remote sensing and GIS methods, the occurrence of the different types of informal urban green spaces in Szeged was examined. Relatedly, the appearance of the sample IGSs in the national and local spatial planning databases were assessed. Furthermore, 12 field studies were performed in each sample area. Based on these information the changes in the condition and usage of IGSs and the main factors affecting these processes were analysed.

We have selected 14 informal urban green spaces as sample areas in Szeged, according to the literature, we have categorised them into nine different types of IGS to reach international comparability. With the usage of remote sensing and GIS methods, the occurrence of the different types of informal urban green spaces in Szeged was examined. Relatedly, the appearance of the sample IGSs in the national and local spatial planning databases were assessed. Furthermore, 12 field studies were performed in each sample area. Based on these information the changes in the condition and usage of IGSs and the main factors affecting these processes were analysed.

This paper identifies informal urban green spaces and analyses their occurrence in the National Spatial Plan of Hungary, local zoning plan of Szeged, the Urban Atlas and the Open Street Map. Most of the time IGSs were represented as urban built-up areas. As a conclusion it is only possible to create a comprehensive informal urban green space database by combining and synthetizing the different data sources.

Our research identified the main causal effects of informal urban green space transformations. There are four main categories of these effects, based on whether it is nature or society-based, and whether they result in a positive or negative outcome from the green space’s viewpoint. As a result of the former, the degradation of green areas can be observed, which is caused by society related effects in the majority of the cases. All effects play a significant role in the cyclical transformation of informal and formal urban green spaces, and all of the above contribute to the gentrification of IGSs. Based on the analogy of the invasion-succession model of neighbourhood change, the cyclic development model of informal urban green spaces was constructed and described. In this model, the appearance, and preferences of the three main user groups of IGSs were identified, which are the pioneers, the alternative and the mainstream green space users. Finally, the two main possible development trajectories of the informal urban green spaces were defined and described on the example of Szeged.

This paper identifies informal urban green spaces and analyses their occurrence in the National Spatial Plan of Hungary, local zoning plan of Szeged, the Urban Atlas and the Open Street Map. Most of the time IGSs were represented as urban built-up areas. As a conclusion it is only possible to create a comprehensive informal urban green space database by combining and synthetizing the different data sources.