Possibilities of ICT application in development of public parks programmes

Name: 
Kinga Kimic
Dates: 
02.09.2016 to 19.06.2016
Abstract: 

This STSM investigates the application of ICT in development of existing public parks and gardens programmes making them CyberParks – places not only for users coming there for rest and recreation using typical physical facilities and features of public greenery, but also for users of different mobile devices. The research involved site visits to 32 selected public parks and gardens in Barcelona (Spain) and focused on observations of users’ activities. The analysis of completing data give answers to the research questions related to the scope of ICT application to existing public parks and gardens.
The results show that the relation between public greenery, people and technology (ICT) is different in selected public parks and gardens. The free wireless network covered only a few of them now, in some others also the system of visual information helps to gather that information from the Internet. An application of ICT mostly deals with: 1. an access to official web pages dedicated to public greenery in the city (the scope of information focused on location, access, information about possible activities and events, also history and features of parks and gardens, including their biodiversity), 2. the use of apps on smart phones, but just few of them are dedicated directly to selected parks and gardens, few others are focused more on general tourist information. Unfortunately, the scope of ICT application includes only selected public parks and gardens, and only their selected features (for example: architecture, sculptures, plants, also general information about their history and present, location and access, or planned social events). The application of ICT in the process of their programming development is pioneering, which means, that just the part of their existing attributes is used at present. At the same time, the results of research show that the application of ICT can influence the enhancement of public parks and gardens quality.