Relationship Between Form and Structure of Green Spaces and Uses: The Case of Parks in Buenos Aires City, Argentina

The size and design of green spaces, their landscaping, accessibility, facilities, and the distance to visitors’ homes may influence their use. In this chapter, we aim to describe the impact of form, presence of green and gray infrastructure as well as the surrounding urban complexity on the diverse use of the space in various typologies of green areas in the metropolis Buenos Aires, Argentina. For this purpose, we summarize outcomes from the research we have been carrying out between 2011 and 2018 in reserves, parks, plazas, and linear and pocket parks. Field inventories assessed infrastructure, diversity of land uses in the surroundings, uses and activities performed in the urban green space, as well as people´s perceptions. Results showed that usage was linked to particular characteristics of forms, structures, and sizes. Plazas and parks were characterized by livable surroundings as proved by the higher values of the urban complexity indicator. Natural reserves, linear parks, and parks were ideal places for active physical actions, contrary to pocket parks and plazas preferred for relaxing, reading, or eating/drinking.