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Understanding Factors Affecting the Use of Urban Parks Through the Lens of Ecosystem Services and Blue–Green Infrastructure: The Case of Gorky Park, Moscow, Russia

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  • Diana Dushkova

    (Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Permoser Str. 18, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
    Agrarian and Technological Institute, Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia)

  • Mina Taherkhani

    (Agrarian and Technological Institute, Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia)

  • Anastasia Konstantinova

    (Agrarian and Technological Institute, Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia)

  • Viacheslav I. Vasenev

    (Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Elvira A. Dovletyarova

    (Agrarian and Technological Institute, Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

As a core and long-established part of urban blue–green infrastructure (BGI), public parks play a significant role in the sustainable development of cities. In particular, they make a major contribution to maintaining healthy ecosystems and providing multiple benefits that support human health and quality of life as a kind of nature-based solution (NBS). Still, planning, design, and management of public parks mostly rely on official standards and technical guidelines, whereas societal perspectives and the use of the ecosystem services (ES) approach (and cultural ecosystem services (CES) in particular) remain inadequately integrated. By assessing CES offered by Gorky Park in Moscow (Russia), the paper aims to bridge this gap and investigate the flow of CES and its relation to park infrastructure and the visitors’ needs. For this purpose, non-participant observation, field notes, and photographs were used in different functional park zones. By investigating visitor activities and factors affecting them, a variety of CES provided by the park have been detected. As aligned with its original idea, the park was mostly used for recreation, leisure, sports, and socializing. Moreover, the CES related to aesthetic, educational, and cultural heritage values were also partially utilized. The park was mostly attractive to the younger generation (the highest number of visitors), whereas visitors over 60 years old were hardly represented. Notably, men were more interested in sports (especially, team sports), whereas women mostly preferred walking (alone, with family, and with friends), relaxation, playing and spending time with children, picnicking, etc., which indicated certain preferences for CES among the park visitors. An interdependent relationship between the CES supply and the park infrastructure was found: the more infrastructural components were identified, the greater variety of park activities and corresponding CES were detected at certain observation points, which could ultimately lead to overcrowding and overutilization of the ES capacity. Given that the Moscow government claims integrating ES into the planning and management of urban BGI as one of the priorities in the city’s environmental policies, the related recommendations are provided. They address the recent challenges of creating integrated BGI, increasing demand for multifunctionality, and the conflicting interests of different visitor groups to maximize the benefits and diversity of CES delivered by the park.

Suggested Citation

  • Diana Dushkova & Mina Taherkhani & Anastasia Konstantinova & Viacheslav I. Vasenev & Elvira A. Dovletyarova, 2025. "Understanding Factors Affecting the Use of Urban Parks Through the Lens of Ecosystem Services and Blue–Green Infrastructure: The Case of Gorky Park, Moscow, Russia," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:237-:d:1574375
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diana Dushkova & Dagmar Haase, 2020. "Not Simply Green: Nature-Based Solutions as a Concept and Practical Approach for Sustainability Studies and Planning Agendas in Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, January.
    2. Xin Cheng & Sylvie Van Damme & Pieter Uyttenhove, 2021. "Applying the Evaluation of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Landscape Architecture Design: Challenges and Opportunities," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Xinxin Wang & Susan Rodiek, 2019. "Older Adults’ Preference for Landscape Features Along Urban Park Walkways in Nanjing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-22, October.
    4. Jieyuan Zhu & Huiting Lu & Tianchen Zheng & Yuejing Rong & Chenxing Wang & Wen Zhang & Yan Yan & Lina Tang, 2020. "Vitality of Urban Parks and Its Influencing Factors from the Perspective of Recreational Service Supply, Demand, and Spatial Links," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, March.
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