Áreas verdes de acesso restrito e impacto no índice de áreas verdes

Abstract

Green spaces are free areas in cities, which enable leisure and contact of human with nature, besides may be an area for fauna preservation and maintenance. Based on the analyses of green spaces, indexes such as the Green Spaces Index (GSI) and the Green Spaces Percentage (GSP) can be ascertained, and are accounted only for the Public Green Spaces (PGS) disregarding private green spaces (PrGS). However, the PrGS can perform the same functions as the PGS, and, when it comes to their total area, they may even be larger than many parks and squares of some cities, constituting the LAGS - Limited Access Green Spaces (LAGS). Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the impact of the inclusion of LAGS (a type of PrGS with access control) in the calculation of the GSI and GSP, using the city of Lavras-MG as model. We also sought to understand the profile of users and the importance played by LAGS, by performing a survey. In this sense, squares and private gardened fields were identified through geoprocessing, defining their permeable area and their aesthetic, ecological and/or leasure functions. The PGS that present all the functions were inserted into the index calculation. For the LAGS, besides the functions, the criterion of having at least 50% of permeability should be observed. The analyses through the questionnaires took place in 17 sites, divided into four groups (leisure groups, residential condominium, institutional and school areas), resulting in 957 responses. As for the PGS, the calculated indexes were: PGSI = 0,49 m²/inhabitant and PGSP = 0,25%. Considering LAGS, these indexes are: LAGSI=3,76m²/inhabitant and LAGSP=1,92%, expanding the values of green spaces indexes in 867% and 856%, respectively. It was perceived that the analyzed places are frequented by a diverse group, which varies according to the clusters analyzed. In addition, some of such spaces perform activities that should be developed in PGS, but are not due to the lack of quantity or quality, such as limitation of safety and structure. It was also observed that the LAGS can be, depending on the type of audience using them, the longest contact with nature by part of users, being capable of promoting a socio-environmental compensation. It is concluded that the LAGS contributes significantly to the increase of the indexes used to characterize green spaces, and must be included in the calculation of such indexes. In an overview, it is noted that there is some comprehension about the importance performed and attributed to the LAGS. The conclusion of the inclusion of such spaces to the index calculation is based on the increments resulting from the indexes’ values and through the importance the LAGS perform, therefore creating a new concept of urban green spaces.