Mapping the Quality of Public Open Spaces in Alfredo Freire Neighborhood in Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The spatial organization of cities is divided into three categories: built spaces, road systems integration and open spaces. Knowing the proportion of the distribution of these spaces in a city will provide important elements for assessing both life and urban environment quality. The quality of public open spaces can tell a lot about urban environmental quality. Since the importance of these spaces, this article aimed to map and analyze the public open spaces in the Alfredo Freire neighborhood, from objective and subjective methods. On the one hand, the quality of open spaces was evaluated through the researcher technical visits, when it was possible to register the existence and quality of the structure necessary to fulfill the social, ecological and recreational function of these spaces. In another front of work, it was considered important to evaluate the resident Perception of Environmental. The main challenge was to represent qualitative information quantitatively. It was necessary to compose a primary database taken from the tabulation of questionnaires that were applied to a sample of households in the mentioned neighborhood. The data were processed in spreadsheets and Geographic Information System SPRING, where it was possible to create the cartographic representation products. The dialogue between the two ways of doing research revealed converging results that complement themselves and provide greater approximation of reality. The two methodological approaches have shed light on the negative trend in the quality of the urban environment of the mentioned neighborhood.