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Abstract Urban landscape combines built-up areas with strongly altered natural (green and blue) and other open spaces. Voluminous literature examines urban socio-environmental interactions in tropical and temperate cities, whereas high-latitude cities are rarely considered. Here, we create a historical perspective on urban green (vegetation) and blue (water) spaces in a sub-Arctic city of Nadym in Russia. Our study explores a novel way to combine quantitative information from satellite imagery and biometric studies with qualitative information from interviews with stakeholders and residents. Such a joint analysis helps to understand dynamics of the urban green and blue space as well as its value for society. Furthermore, we propose objective indicators reflecting societal values of spaces in connection with recreational and ecological services. By contrast to temperate city studies, we found that green space is less used in summer, but still highly valued, deep lakes are used and valued more than warmer shallow lakes, and winter white space do not shrink but enhance the urban public space. Satellite images reveal inevitable loss of green space to urban construction and its remediation by artificial plantings (almost by 30% at present), whereas less valued blue space decreased almost three-fold. Interviews reveal that shallow lakes have reduced recreational values due to ice bottom and algae bloom. High values are attributed to deep artificial lakes, which are more than ten times deeper than natural lakes and do not freeze throughout in winter. Our biometric studies show that trees in urban environment are significantly taller than in the corresponding undisturbed areas. Since majority of the Arctic cities are built using very similar planning ideas and technologies, our findings shall help objective appreciation of green and blue spaces in other settlements.
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Open Public Spaces Usage in Fairbanks, Alaska, 2023-2025
This dataset includes shapefiles and maps representing the usage of open public spaces (OPS) in Fairbanks, Alaska, with attention to green, blue, and white spaces. It documents patterns of OPS usage across demographic categories—including gender, race, and age—and highlights the social and cultural value of these spaces as elements of Arctic biocultural heritage. The dataset is the outcome of two collaborative research initiatives: - “Building Socio-Ecological Resilience through Urban Green, Blue and White Space (SERUS)” (NSF Award #2024166), which focuses on enhancing urban environmental resilience; and - “Biocultural Heritage in Arctic Cities as a Potential Resource for Climate Adaptation (ARCA)” (NSF Award #2420616), which examines how cultural and ecological knowledge embedded in urban spaces can support climate adaptation. Spatial boundaries of OPS were derived from the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) Geographic Information System (GIS) database. Usage data were generated through qualitative interviews conducted between 2023 and 2024. Maps were created in 2025 to visualize spatial trends, patterns of inclusion or avoidance, and demographic differences in OPS engagement. This dataset contributes to understanding spatial justice, environmental equity, and the biocultural significance of public spaces in Arctic cities.
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- PAR ID:
- 10639429
- Publisher / Repository:
- NSF Arctic Data Center
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- open public spaces Fairbanks Alaska map spatial justice urban planning SERUS biocultural heritage ARCA
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Other: text/xml
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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