User Satisfaction in Urban Parks: Ankara Kugulu Park Case

Abstract

Urban open spaces and green areas, particularly urban parks, are the most critical areas for meeting people's physical and psychological needs, as well as improving the users' quality of life in urban areas by creating places for people to escape from the artificially built environment. The user density is defined by the activity opportunities that are served by urban parks and the location and accessibility of the parks. Moreover, these factors are also effective for defining the level of user satisfaction. Within the scope of the present study Kugulu Park, which caters to different social groups and is well known to urban inhabitants, is studied. This park is an important example for the city, considering it is used densely yearlong despite limited activity opportunities owing to its limited area. While querying user satisfaction, the constraints and user expectations are introduced in this study. The findings indicate that user satisfaction is more related to the quality and density of green areas, the quality of the provided services, and the cleanness and maintenance level of the park in comparison to the size of the park and activities provided. Thus, the results support the importance of small, high-quality, functional green urban spaces at remote locations compared to easy-to-access, largescale leisure areas downtown.