ENVIRONMENTAL COMFORT OF URBANIZED LANDSCAPES

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to establish the degree of compliance of the urbanised landscapes of Kyiv and its administrative districts to the criteria of environmental comfort of a compact and green city. Study methods. The purpose was achieved using the following algorithm: the geospatial data of OpenStreetMap and the QGIS software were used to plot the urban green spaces (UGS) and built-up Kyiv territories a cartographic base. The development of real estate for different purposes and all available UGS were grouped into separate categories using the Union geoprocessing tool. The spatial data layers were reduced to a single cartographic projection using Field calculator to calculate the geometric characteristics of each category. Results. These calculations were used to find the building coverage and the green coverage ratios, and the built-up area-to-UGS ratio within the limits of Kyiv and its ten districts. Since the comfort of an urbanised landscape depends largely on the optimal ratio of UGS and developed territories, its highly non-uniform spatial distribution within Kyiv limits was found: a dense development prevails on the Right Bank, whereas UGS prevails on the outskirts and in some districts of the Left Bank. Based on the calculated green coverage and the building coverage ratios in different Kyiv districts, they were rated by the ratio of built-up and green coverage territories. The maximum green coverage is in the Desnianskyi district, and the most built-up one is in the Solomianskyi district. In general, four city districts are almost devoid of UGS due to absence of free territories for their full-scale development. To establish the degree of compliance of urbanised landscapes to the criteria of environmental comfort in each Kyiv’s district, the Environmental Comfort Index (ECI) was calculated. Its principal indicators are the average population density, building coverage and greenery coverage ratios, and emissions into the atmosphere from stationary pollution sources. Each indicator is assigned a certain number of points, enabling to calculate the ECI by the total of points of chosen indicators. The results obtained were used to build a rating of Kyiv’s districts according to the degree of their compliance to the criteria of environmental comfort of a compact and green city. The highest ECI are in the Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts, and the lowest are in the Solomianskyi, Pecherskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts. The poor environmental comfort of these districts is largely due to their location in the centre of the city, with an almost dense development and high population density. Due to traffic congestion and concentration of sources of toxic emissions, the atmospheric air is very polluted. Due to displacement of UGS by construction sites, greenery is lacking everywhere, and it is often absent in the sanitary protection zones of industrial plants. The study novelty consists in finding the degree of conformity of Kyiv’s urbanised landscapes to the criteria of environmental comfort of a compact and green city. With this in view, the built-up area-to-UGS ratio was found for Kyiv and its ten districts, and corresponding map charts were compiled. ECI was calculated for each district to determine the ratings of Kyiv’s districts. The study results can be extrapolated to other cities in Ukraine.