Abstract

GONZALES QUISPE, Sisay Gabriela  and  ORELLANA TAPIA, Máximo Juvenal. Trees as drivers of urban vitality in public spaces: case study of two urban parks in Huancayo, Perú. An. Investig. Arquit. [online]. 2024, vol.14, n.2, e209.  Epub Dec 01, 2024. ISSN 2301-1505.  https://doi.org/10.18861/ania.2024.14.2.3791.

Trees as living organisms and structures serve as habitats for wildlife and provide multiple benefits to the city and its inhabitants. Based on the theory of biophilia, they are elements that motivate the desire to walk, move, and spend more time in certain urban spaces, qualities that are present and addressed in the study of urban vitality in cities. This study hypothesizes that urban trees, under a biophilic approach, play a role in urban vitality in two parks in the city of Huancayo, Junín department, Peru. For the urban tree variable, its dimensions were studied: physical characteristics, tree cover, and wildlife habitat; while for the park vitality variable, observations of visitor movement patterns such as spatial distribution or preference, time spent, diversity of activities, and demographic data of users were considered. Multiple configurations of generalized linear models (GLM) were used to evaluate the relationship. The results show that urban trees play a significant role in the vitality of parks, with characteristics such as height and canopy being significant, although this role is expressed differently depending on the configuration characteristics of the park, for Tupac Amaru Park (χ²=28.953, df=13, p=0.007) and Grau Park (χ²=24.299, df=13, p=0.028). The study makes a direct contribution to park management and design from a biophilic approach.

Keywords : urban trees; biophilia; urban vitality; urban park; public space..

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