**3. Results**

#### **3.1 Green spaces of the district**

According to the previous classification, **Table 2** below shows the provision of the three green-space types in the district.

Altstetten–Albisrieden relies on its natural geographic conditions and furnishes rich green spaces following the concept of a "Garden City" that has been promoted since the 1930s [18]. In addition to the large surfaces for closed-off forests, woods, farming fields, and restored green spaces along the Limmat River, green spaces coat approximately 20% of the urban area, more than 40 m2 per capita. These green spaces sustain daily outdoor activities across a range of accessibility.

Public green spaces disperse evenly regardless of space size, and their 800-m service areas cover the whole district. District dwellers can reach at least one public green space within a 10-minute walk. Public green spaces in the middle of the district have more connections than the others (**Figure 2**), which shape a public green-space corridor 400 m wide across the district (**Figure 5**).

*Urban Greenery as a Tool to Enhance Social Integration? A Case Study of Altstetten-Albisrieden... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109736*


*1 The number of residents referred to the publications of City of Zürich: Quartierspiegel 091: Albisrieden 2022 and Quartierspiegel 092: Altstetten 2022.*

#### **Table 2.**

*Green spaces provision in Altstetten–Albisrieden.*

#### **3.2 Green spaces in subsite cases**

Green spaces in the **subsite Grünau** (**Figure 6a**) consist of the community green space of Grünau, a cooperative housing project, and some public green spaces surrounding a football field. The former supports daily activities in the community; and the latter buffers heavy traffic area, Europabrück and the A1H Motorway, away from the housing area. There are very few private green spaces in the area.

**Subsite Lindenplatz** (**Figure 6b**) has been a cultural and commercial landmark of Altstetten for more than a century. Public green spaces in the area are composed of a public square with trees and a large meadow in front of the Altstetten church. Private gardens and a sizable, reserved field for flower picking attached to the old community hall contribute two-thirds of the greenery in the area. Some community green spaces, such as introverted courtyards, are scattered at the subsite's periphery.

#### **Figure 5.**

*A green corridor in the middle of Altstetten-Albisrieden shaped by the 400-m service areas of the public green spaces with most connections in the district.*

**Figure 6.**

*Green-space structure of the four selected subsites.*

**Subsite Bachwiesen** (**Figure 6c**), contains one of the significant city parks, Bachwiesenpark, in the middle. The park collects some meadow patches, two playgrounds, a community zoo and the Albisrieden community club. One of the most significant residential developments, named Freilager, some private urban farming areas and a care centre are adjacent to the park. One-third of the ground surface is exploited for private use.

**Süsslerenanlage**, as the fourth subsite (**Figure 6d**), is in the middle of Albisrieden. As the building typologies here are mainly single-family houses, detached houses and low-rise multi-family buildings, private gardens are most of the green spaces. A small public green space squeezes in the centre next to the Neue Kirche of Albisrieden. Community green spaces, in this case, emerge as gated courtyards with obvious "Do not enter" or "Do not pass through" signs.

The structure of green spaces and other areas (grey and built areas) in four subsite cases is shown in **Table 3**.

#### **3.3 Space use observation**

The un-participatory observation obtained more than 1100 valid activities over the four selected subsites, as summarised in **Table 4**.

People generally spent 80 minutes in the public green spaces. Male users were more than female users, and adults and children younger than 10 were the major space users. People preferred to use the green spaces with their families or group; only one-tenth of visitors came alone. People typically came for rest or to play with their children. More than two-thirds of space visitors were Swiss citizens, while the rest had very diverse cultural backgrounds.

The space use varied among the four cases. Much more people visited the green spaces in Bachwiesen and Lindenplatz than those in Grünau and Süsslerenanlage. Nevertheless, people stayed much longer in the cases of Grünau and Bachwiesen,

*Urban Greenery as a Tool to Enhance Social Integration? A Case Study of Altstetten-Albisrieden... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109736*


#### **Table 3.**

*Green-space structure of the four selected subsites.*

more than one and a half hours, than in Lindenplatz and Süsslerenanlage. Space use heat maps (**Figure 7**) indicate each subsite's most frequently visited areas.

Space use in the **Grünau** (**Figure 7a**) subsite was concentrated in the green area next to a high-rise residential tower and a small square equipped with barbecue and


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#### **Table 4.**

*Results of the onsite un-participatory observation in the four selected subsites.*

#### **Figure 7.**

*Heat maps of green space use in the four subsites. Space use durations and activity types played roles as weights and scales, respectively, in the heat map calculations.*

party facilities. People came to meet their neighbours and played with their children in the afternoon. The green space use peaked around 16:30–18:30. Informal football games between children attracted more than 30 people of various ages during each observation period. Due to its adjacency to a nursing house and well-organised facilities, residents gathered for birthday parties and family events during observation afternoons (**Figure 8b**). Some short, scattered activities occurred in the other playgrounds (**Figure 8a**). Similar situations happened in the two large patches of public green spaces next to the Europabrück and the A1H Motorway. Only three teenagers stayed briefly during the observation to finish their drinks before heading to the tram stop.

**Subsite Lindenplatz** (**Figure 7b**) benefited from its central role in the district and hosted many leisure and commercial activities (**Figure 9b**) during the observation. People started to enjoy fresh coffee and bread early in the morning. As stores opened,

*Urban Greenery as a Tool to Enhance Social Integration? A Case Study of Altstetten-Albisrieden... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109736*

#### **Figure 8.** *Activities in Grünau.*

#### **Figure 9.** *Activities in Lindenplatz.*

families and friends gathered in the Platz. They met and greeted each other briefly and headed to shopping centres or restaurants nearby. In the afternoon, the pace in the Platz slowed down. People rested on the benches next to the water fountains (**Figure 9a**) or in front of the church. Youths preferred to sit on the lawn next to the church. They could read, chat and practice music for the whole afternoon without spending much. However, the relaxed, peaceful atmosphere did not keep people long, an hour on average.

**Subsite Bachwiesen** (**Figure 7c**, left) was full of activities during the observations. It supported more daily green-space use than it would be anticipated for its 800-m service radius. Many families came with bicycles and scooters and spent more than one and a half hours onsite. More people used the Bachwiesenpark green space on weekdays than on Sundays. Most people came with their families. Plenty of playgrounds for different ages and a small community zoo (**Figure 10a**) attracted children and young parents. Football matches, badminton and frisbees always engaged several families together in the large lawn area in the south part. Calmer activities took place in the north part – reading, chatting, yoga and suntanning (**Figure 10b**). Some simple furniture under the trees also allowed people for big family gatherings on a sunny afternoon. Birthday parties with more than 20 people occurred in every observation period. Activity peaked twice in the afternoon, once around 14:00 and again at 17:00. The Freilager development next to Bachwiesenpark has a few community green spaces but large concrete or pebble surface. Some organised groups practised cycling

**Figure 10.** *Activities in Bachwiesenpark.*

around the Freilager and rested several times in the shaded areas in the neighbourhood. Residents appeared to move to other activities after 17:00 when buildings began blocking the sunlight. A small grocery shop, some handicraft stories, a café, and a fine restaurant drew pedestrian flows from different directions through the neighbourhood.

**Subsite Süsslerenanlage** (**Figure 7c**, right) also has a public green space in the heart of a residential neighbourhood but exhibits a very different space use pattern. As the area features many low-rise residential buildings or single-family houses with gardens, people did not often appear in the public areas in this subsite. The whole area was calm and quiet. The fewest people used the public green spaces among the four subsites, and they spent less than an hour in the spaces averagely. Space users in this area demonstrated a strongly unified social background. Many were acquainted with each other and always chatted and played jointly. Young children used public green spaces more than adults. They played in the equipped playground, observed insects on the lawn, and gathered around table tennis set for some special event. A teenage group regularly met in the public green space or the garden next to the neighbourhood chapel. A few residents did daily exercises in the public green space on weekdays. A few residents did daily exercises in the public green space on weekdays (**Figure 11**).

**Figure 11.** *Activities in Süsslerenanlage.*

*Urban Greenery as a Tool to Enhance Social Integration? A Case Study of Altstetten-Albisrieden... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109736*
