"Parker är för sommarväder" En fallstudie om tillgänglighet i grönområden och parker vid dåligt väder

Abstract

In the City of Gothenburg, there is a constant development of the city's space and landscape in order to create the best environment for the population and its visitors. Gothenburg's goal is to develop a city that increases accessibility, inclusion and sustainability. To achieve these goals, several strategies have been written. Among others, the green-strategy, which should be a basis for each development project, including green areas and parks. The green-strategy explains how each site should be accessible and inclusive to everyone. However, there is a knowledge gap in the green-strategy, which is that when developing and building green areas and parks, it is not explained how the city considered the poor climatic weather conditions. Previous studies show how urban green areas and parks contribute to people's health and well-being. And, with inclusion of weather factors in planning, the city can be developed in a unique and promoting way. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate how people experience and interpret the accessibility in green areas and parks on days with bad weather conditions. The study has been limited to perform focus groups with young people under the age of 18 and parents with children under the age of 18. These groups were specifically chosen because there are few external studies that has been carried out earlier, with their perspective on this specific subject. The result that emerged from the focus groups with young people and parents (with children under the age of 18) shows that there exists a correlation between visiting green areas and weather factors. Especially among the young people who also express a sense of exclusion to green areas and parks. The result also shows that the young people and the parents have similar wishes and interpretations, and have stated that heat, light, protection and aesthetic aspects, are factors that would attract them to visit green areas and parks more often.