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

studies which became more specific since the publications of THUY in 1985, which
resulted from scientific collaboration with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
LAN’s study (2009) finds out reasonable radius (R) for of multi-functional park for urban
people in Vietnam are:
for daily use after working: R ≤ 1km
for weekend relaxation: R ≤ 40km
for holiday in several days: R ≤ 100km.
2.3 Definitions & categories of UGA
On the one hand the terms „park“ and „garden“ are easy to understand as both words
belong to everyday language. On the other hand there are many very different forms of both
parks and gardens. To conduct research systematically, it is important to first classify
gardens and parks into groups and hierarchies.
2.3.1 Terms & definitions
In literature, the term ‘urban green areas’ (UGAs) is sometimes known as ‘urban green
space’, ‘public parks’ or ‘parks and gardens’. Because “space is homogeneous and
unbounded” (GORDON/GERTER 2000: 103), while the meaning of ‘area’ is more
concrete, with ground border, in this study the term “urban green area” (UGA) will be used.
The terms ‘urban green areas/space” and ‘parks and gardens’ will be used synonymously.
To indicate that parks and gardens often cannot be distinguished both words will be
connected here by the ampersand: parks & gardens.
There are several different definitions of UGA in the literatures. They have in common that
UGAs “are understood as open spaces within the urban fabric which are dominated by
vegetation. They can be relics of the original natural landscape or deliberately planned and
designed green space in public or private use and/or responsibility (for example gardens,
urban parks, allotments)” (LANGNER/ENDLICHER 2007: 118).
2.3.2 Typologies
Many sets of definition for UGA exist (e.g., THUY, 1985; EVERT, 2001; LAN, 2009). The
reasons for these multiple definitions can be found in the many different functions and
features (e.g. meadows, large trees, flower beds, and lakes, etc.) of UGAs. Those features
and functions can be used to distinguish different types of UGAs.
“Classification or the grouping of phenomena into classes is a basic step in most sciences
and highly prevalent in geography which uses an enormous range of classificatory systems”
(BURKE 2007: 23). Because of this it is necessary to be clear about how UGAs are
classified or typed. UGAs may be characterized by size, features, usage, and by the
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