Urban Open Spaces (UOSs) for Urban Life and Disaster Management – A Review

Abstract

Urban open spaces (UOSs) play a vital role in enhancing urban life and offer numerous benefits to urban communities. These spaces include green, blue, brown, and grey spaces, which are publicly accessible areas within populated settlements. UOSs often function as parks, public squares, sports arenas and religious, and educational facilities. In addition to these roles, UOSs can also contribute to disaster management. However, challenges such as rapid urbanization, high population density, limited land availability, rising land values, inadequate planning, financial constraints, and policy noncompliance have hindered the effective provision of UOSs in terms of size, accessibility, and multi-functionality. This research aims to define the dual roles of UOSs in both urban life and disaster management. A literature review was conducted to gather relevant information. This study revealed that UOSs contribute to urban life through four key functions: recreation, ecological benefits, aesthetic value, and positive health impacts. Meanwhile, for disaster management, UOSs play critical roles across the four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The findings suggest that UOSs serve two crucial purposes: improving the quality of urban life and supporting disaster management efforts, making them an essential component of sustainable urban planning.