TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of irrigated parks on outdoor residential water use in a semi-arid city
AU - Halper, Eve B.
AU - Dall'erba, Sandy
AU - Bark, Rosalind H.
AU - Scott, Christopher A.
AU - Yool, Stephen R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund through the University of Arizona Water Sustainability Program, the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART Grant No. R10AP81210 and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (project SGP-CRA #005, supported by the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant No. GEO-1138881 and by NSF grant no. DEB-1010495 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014.
PY - 2015/2/1
Y1 - 2015/2/1
N2 - We investigate whether public park amenities act as a substitute for outdoor water use by single-family residential (SFR) households in semi-arid Tucson, AZ, USA. Specifically we account for the effects of a park's proximity, size, and greenness (measured by NDVI), as well as the presence of a public swimming pool. SFR households with and without home pools are analyzed separately. We control for SFR property attributes, including house size, age, yard size and property NDVI. Results suggest that SFR outdoor water use is influenced by the conditions of all parks within an 8. km (5. mile) street distance. We also find significant differences between the "with" and "without" home pool groups. Households with pools used more outdoor water per square meter of house, per year of house age and per unit of NDVI. Households without pools appeared to reduce outdoor use in response to nearby small parks and increased park NDVI. "With pool" households had the opposite response: they appeared to increase outdoor water use in response to these variables. However, "with pool" households did reduce their outdoor water use in response to nearby public pools. Medium and large parks were associated with increased outdoor water use for both groups. We conclude that public green space and pools can substitute for private versions of these amenities, and if well designed, can contribute to water demand management and urban sustainability. This may be an avenue for addressing water supply shortages in semi-arid cities and other areas where populations are growing but water supplies are finite.
AB - We investigate whether public park amenities act as a substitute for outdoor water use by single-family residential (SFR) households in semi-arid Tucson, AZ, USA. Specifically we account for the effects of a park's proximity, size, and greenness (measured by NDVI), as well as the presence of a public swimming pool. SFR households with and without home pools are analyzed separately. We control for SFR property attributes, including house size, age, yard size and property NDVI. Results suggest that SFR outdoor water use is influenced by the conditions of all parks within an 8. km (5. mile) street distance. We also find significant differences between the "with" and "without" home pool groups. Households with pools used more outdoor water per square meter of house, per year of house age and per unit of NDVI. Households without pools appeared to reduce outdoor use in response to nearby small parks and increased park NDVI. "With pool" households had the opposite response: they appeared to increase outdoor water use in response to these variables. However, "with pool" households did reduce their outdoor water use in response to nearby public pools. Medium and large parks were associated with increased outdoor water use for both groups. We conclude that public green space and pools can substitute for private versions of these amenities, and if well designed, can contribute to water demand management and urban sustainability. This may be an avenue for addressing water supply shortages in semi-arid cities and other areas where populations are growing but water supplies are finite.
KW - Green space
KW - NDVI
KW - Parks
KW - Residential
KW - Swimming pools
KW - Water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911061243&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.09.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84911061243
VL - 134
SP - 210
EP - 220
JO - Landscape and Urban Planning
JF - Landscape and Urban Planning
SN - 0169-2046
ER -