The rapid growth of the development of urban cities such as Klang Valley adversely affects ecosystems and human social patterns among the urban residents. What is detrimental is the loss of green spaces such as parks. This study aims to find the design aspects of urban green spaces in Klang Valley and the social interaction of users. There is a close relationship between the design aspects and fostering social interactions in urban green spaces. The data was collected through a mixed-method at four chosen urban green spaces. The observation method used was noninteractive observation, and 200 complete surveys were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The users of the urban green spaces consist of 46.5% of nearby residents. Most of the respondents (52%) exercise within the park. Forty-one percent use the park for less than 1 hour, and the highest usage is weekly at 38%. The results show that Malaysians do travel to far urban green spaces but usually every week, which may be weekends. Ninety and one-half percent of users frequent the urban green spaces with acquaintances, which shows that social interactions will be fostered.
TopIntroduction
According to a United Nations report released in 2018, 55% of the world’s population currently live in cities, and this number is expected to increase to 68% by 2050, putting higher demands on urban planning and public services (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2018). Bowler (2018) defined urban green spaces include public space entities such as parks, grasslands, and forests in urban landscapes, and provide a variety of environmental and social services, such as air and water purification and entertainment opportunities while Roy et al. (2012) defined public green space includes parks and reserves, sporting fields, stream, and riverbanks, greenways and trails, community gardens, street trees, and nature conservation areas, as well as less conventional spaces such as green walls, green alleyways, and cemeteries. There are many benefits of urban green spaces including filtering the air, removing pollution, attenuating noise, cooling temperatures, infiltrating stormwater, and replenishing groundwater; moreover, it can provide food and medicine. For example, trees in urban areas may reduce air pollution by absorbing certain airborne pollutants from the atmosphere. Green cover and urban forests can also moderate temperatures by providing shade and cooling an area, thus helping reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses for city dwellers. Urban green spaces in all forms provide visitors, neighboring residents, and children with various opportunities for physical activities such as walking, jogging, and cycling as well as social interactions and viewing nature. It has been widely reported that green space improves the health and well-being of visitors through improvement in psychological, emotional, and physical health. Studies have suggested that a link between health outcomes and green space is partly due to increased levels of physical activity such as regular walking. In addition to the physical and mental benefits reported by the respondents, parks also created opportunities for children to interact. More than 80% of respondents said that visiting parks had positive effects on childhood growth and development (Nath et. al., 2018). Yeo (2021) mentioned that green spaces in a city could reduce atmospheric temperatures between 2° and 8° Celsius, stimulating community walkability, food security, job creation, and youth engagement.
Rapidly increasing rates of population growth in Klang Valley has resulted in a considerable reduction in open green space because of increased pressure for housing and related essential infrastructure. Some researchers have also highlighted those developments often encroach on green spaces and even the forest reserve. Therefore, researchers like Nor and Abdullah (2019) in their study have identified, defined, and characterized different categories of urban green spaces systematically and understood their landscape patterns as it is necessary to avoid continuous reduction of green spaces due to high developments in Kuala Lumpur city and the Klang Valley. They said that standardization of category and definition of urban green space among different strategic zones allow a quick protocol to identify urban green spaces that are critically affected by urban land use development which then can be considered a priority to prevent further encroachment by development activity. Therefore, the classification system can be used as a guide to coordinate the planning and management of urban green spaces in each strategic zone of Kuala Lumpur City and is part of the important components in implementing sustainable development strategies in Kuala Lumpur City. According to Yeo (2021), the Malaysian government needs to turn its commitments toward urban green spaces and the well-being of residents into action by working closely with local authorities, community groups, and environmental advocates to provide accessible and high-quality green spaces in Malaysia. Thus, it is important to study the interaction of park users and preferred design aspects appropriate for recreation purposes. Studies similar to this are limited in Malaysia but are vastly done in other developed countries (Oguz, 2000; Bjerke et. al., 2006; Pazhouhanfar, 2016; Haq et. al., 2021). User surveys are important sources of data to aid the planning, design, and management processes of urban parks.