Development of Urban Green Spaces for Achieving Ecological and Social Benefits of Urban Areas in Sri Lanka

Green spaces create a link between human beings and the environment around them to enhance the quality of human life and benefits for both. But the reductions of green spaces in urban areas lead to several environmental and social problems world-wide. This study focused to find the required sites for Urban Green Space (UGS) development to gain ecological and social benefits in Rathnapura Municipal Council. Six Grama Niladhari Divisions were selected for the study. Accordingly, digitized Google Earth Pro satellite images in 2019 and population data in 2018 were used for analysing existing UGS. According to that geometric calculation, buffer, near, and weighted sum tools in ArcMap 10.4 were used to analyses data. Green Space Per Capita Index (GSPCI) was calculated to find whether the existing UGS is enough or not for the healthy living of the residents based on recommendation scales of World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) as 9m² and 30m² green spaces per person respectively. It has been found the study area is exceeding both recommended levels. Whatever the GSPCI, the study has found Mihindugama, Rathnapura Town North and West have required approximately 114624, 8474, and 38617 square meters of additional UGS respectively according to buffer analysis based on GSPCI regard to UN recommendations. Weighted sum analysis has found that approximately 18% of land highly required UGS. Meanwhile, the study has revealed Mihindugama, Kospelawinna, and New Town have a shortage of UGS near the residential areas. Moreover, the study shows there is a potential to develop UGS in the area by approaching existing re-sources. As consequences of this study will provide ideas for mitigating urban issues and guide to fulfil the additionally required UGS to better development.by the above findings for the benefit of future online learning and to carry out such educational activities without interruption.