Urban Green Areas – their functions under a changing lifestyle of ...

In the early modern period, the spread of the influence of the Chinese garden and the
natural ideology from France, led to the development of the English garden and its export
to Germany.
In the modern period, the design of gardens has changed in response to social factors
particularly the recreational demands of the populace, and parks the world over are now
generally open to the public
2.2 The current situation
As a starting point from which to consider the development of UGAs in a developing
country, it is necessary to look first at how UGAs have been shaped in the developed world
since the structure of parks there influence the design of those now being built in
developing countries.
2.2.1 At the global level
Academic research of UGAs world wide are broad and concern themselves mostly with
potential benefits and increases in urban comfort. The results are published in journals
specializing in planning, urban ecology, urban geography, health care and related areas.
Their research approaches are also broad, e.g., ecology (see THOPSON 2002), planning
(see BLAKE 2010), economy (see HANLEY et al. 2003) and health care (see BERMAN et
al. 2012).
UGAs’ benefits, urban comfort (CHEN/EDWARD 2012), planning and lifestyle
(BYRNE/SIPE 2010) are the most common coalitions of the term: UGA.
UGAs are developed in terms of management, protection and development (e.g., CABE
project in UK- Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, URGE (urban
green environment) (the Team of the EU Research Project URGE - Development of Urban
Green Spaces to Improve the quality of Life in Cities and Urban Regions 2004) Parks &
Leisure in Australia), though park utilization has also attracted interest e.g., “Should
trainers be charged to use Perth parks?” (MCHALE 2011: n.p.).
Many aspects of UGAs, including their architecture, vertical green in urban areas, street
trees, and urban agriculture are discussed at international conferences (e.g., TEEB 2012,
Cities are us 2012).
In Asia, research is also concerned with the quality of life in cities and the roles that UGAs
play a crucial role, e.g., studies of MARCOTULLIO (2001); YOKOHARI et al. (2000);
CLIFT/PLUMB (2008); SOMMER (2011) and JIM/CHEN (2003).
2.2.2 In Vietnam
Little was published on UGAs in Vietnam prior to 1985 (see table Appendix 1: A-B). What
there is consists of minor historical records. The following is a roughly chronological list of
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