Evaluation of recreational suitability of urban waterfront green spaces: A case study of Calligraphy Square in Linyi, Shandong, China

Abstract

Urban waterfront green spaces are key elements in the urban framework, enhancing city livability. Centered around water bodies, they often form the most vibrant open spaces in cities. They offer people leisure, entertainment, fitness, and other diversified activities, enriching the cultural life of citizens. In addition, developing waterfront green spaces helps enhance a city’s image and foster residents’ sense of belonging and pride. At present, there is limited research on evaluating the recreational suitability of urban waterfront green spaces. This study aims to establish an evaluation system for recreational suitability tailored for Linyi’s waterfront green spaces. The Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process were employed to screen evaluation indicators and determine their weights, constructing the evaluation system. The evaluation standards were clarified, and Linyi Calligraphy Square was evaluated as an example. Data were gathered through questionnaires, on-site surveys, and reviews. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method showed that the recreational suitability score of Linyi Calligraphy Square is 4.004, indicating a high level of recreational suitability. Among these, the evaluation results rated the facility (0.42), recreational experience (0.484), and location and transportation (0.375) as “very good,” the environment (0.503) and landscape (0.391) as “good,” and the resources (0.439) as “average.” Based on these results, suggestions were made for Linyi Calligraphy Square, including increasing children’s activity facilities and venues, strengthening safety measures for water-related recreation, and providing reasonable and effective references for future development and construction.

Keywords

Analytic hierarchy process / Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation / Linyi Calligraphy Square / Recreational suitability / Urban waterfront green spaces

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