Sistemas de espaços livres : uma avalição da qualidade ambiental das áreas verdes de Patos de Minas/MG

Abstract

The urban parks and the squares are characterized as green areas, to meet in cities, aesthetic and ecological functions of leisure; submit a predominance of arboreal vegetation, offer at least 70% permeable area and be accessible to the direct use of the population. Can contribute to physical and mental well-being of the individual to provide conditions of approaching man with natural elements, and dispose of infrastructures to facilitate the practice of physical activities and leisure. These activities bring different psychological benefits, physical and social health of individuals promoting the improvement of their quality of life. Therefore, these areas must be provided with structural conditions for the population to enjoy the benefits provided by them. In this context, this work aimed to analyze the environmental quality of green areas of the city of Patos de Minas/MG, through quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the squares and parks. In this diagnosis, the squares and parks were assessed by means of indicators of comfort, leisure/socialization, accessibility, vegetation/trees, services and maintenance. Each analyzed indicator expressed a set of information based on the aggregation of different variables, to which it was assigned a weight, which varied from 0 (worst weight) to 4 (best weight). This evaluation as well as express the offer, the quantity and quality of each of the variables, made it possible to classify the areas analyzed in two categories green areas and open spaces, and from this classification to analyse and calculate the index of environmental quality of green areas (IQAV). The results show that among the categories of spaces analyzed, 98.1% (n = 155) correspond to the open spaces and only 1.9 (n = 3) with respect to green areas. With respect to IQAV, the Recreational Park Doctor Itagiba da Silva earned a IQAV of 0.54, whose worst assessment was for maintenance. The Municipal Park JoãoLuiz Redondo obtained an IQAV of 0.53, whose worst performance was attributed to accessibility. The Municipal Park of the Mocambo presented an IQAV of 0.54; their worst rates were for comfort and leisure/socialization. The indexes obtained in the evaluation indicated in which green areas infrastructure, equipment, services, do not meet the population, both in relation to its availability, quality, demonstrating that the methodology employed for the determination of IQVA, can serve as an important tool to aid municipal planning.