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Research ArticlePeer-Reviewed Articles

A Framework for Urban Parks: Using Social Media Data to Assess Bryant Park, New York

Jessica Fernandez, Yang Song, Mary Padua and Pai Liu
Landscape Journal, January 2022, 41 (1) 15-29; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.41.1.15
Jessica Fernandez
Dr. Jessica Fernandez is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. Her research and teaching incorporate contemporary approaches to the creation and assessment of place through emerging applications such as big data and VR/AR. As a licensed landscape architect, she has over a decade of experience working on a variety of nationwide awardwinning projects. She owns ALPHA Design Studio, where she applies her teaching and research in the design and building industry.
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Yang Song
Dr. Yang Song is assistant professor of landscape architecture at Texas A & M University and works at the intersection of landscape architecture, community planning, and urban design. His teaching and research activities have a strong focus on the role of public placemaking to community health and resiliency. He has a long-standing interest in the application of digital technology in research and design, especially in the area of social media and the built environment. His research examines the usage of urban parks and streets through the engagement patterns depicted in Instagram, Tripadvisor, and Twitter.
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Mary Padua
Dr. Mary Padua is a licensed landscape architect with decades of experience in the public and private sectors, including running her practice, MGP Studio ART DESIGN RESEARCH. Simultaneously, she is a design educator and professor at Clemson University, where she served four years as chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. Her practice and research activities focus on human-centered outdoor restorative environments that also intersect with technology. She is internationally recognized as a thought leader, visual artist, and writer who has authored works on China’s vast urban experiment, sociocultural theory, and the meaning of place.
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Pai Liu
Dr. Pai Liu is a lecturer at Dalian University of Technology who taught previously at the University of Oklahoma and Clemson University. Dr. Liu obtained her PhD in Planning, Design, and the Built Environment from Clemson University. Her primary research interests are in health care environments, with an emphasis on design for the aging. Her current research projects include comparing elder care environments in the United States and China, investigating the application of cultural design in health care environments, and developing analytical tools for behavior mapping.
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Abstract

Parks play a critical role in the health and well-being of people in urban environments. Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the importance of public parks, particularly in cities. To maximize the benefits of these spaces, it is important to understand the social dimension of site user experiences within successful urban parks. Social media data provide a means to assess public places through the lens of large quantities of site users over time. Recent landscape research studies provide assessments of urban and nature-based locations using social media data and are predominantly quantitative in their methodologies (Havinga et al., 2021; Donahue et al., 2018; Wood et al., 2013). However, incorporating mixed methods into existing approaches can create a better understanding of site user experiences. This study uses 11,419 Tripadvisor reviews from the years 2010 to 2018 in a multi-step process, where qualitative content analysis builds upon Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) modeling topics to assess the semantic content of Bryant Park, NY. The new framework emerging from this process separates site user perceptions and sentiment positivity into categories. Site design elements are revealed as a major positive focus of site users, along with the position of the park within the urban fabric, site activity consisting of passive pastimes, and the essence of the space related to emotions. The study’s findings can provide guidance for designers and park managers for the creation of successful urban parks and provide another baseline for research on New York City’s parks.

KEYWORDS
  • Social media
  • public space
  • experiences
  • site qualities
  • Bryant Park
  • © 2022 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

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A Framework for Urban Parks: Using Social Media Data to Assess Bryant Park, New York
Jessica Fernandez, Yang Song, Mary Padua, Pai Liu
Landscape Journal Jan 2022, 41 (1) 15-29; DOI: 10.3368/lj.41.1.15

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A Framework for Urban Parks: Using Social Media Data to Assess Bryant Park, New York
Jessica Fernandez, Yang Song, Mary Padua, Pai Liu
Landscape Journal Jan 2022, 41 (1) 15-29; DOI: 10.3368/lj.41.1.15
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Keywords

  • Social media
  • Public space
  • experiences
  • site qualities
  • Bryant Park
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