Evaluation of Green Spaces in Hilla City According to Green Network Concept

Architectural Engineering Department, University of Babylon Babil, Hilla, Iraq

^a* Corresponding author ayat.najm.engh454@student.uobabylon.edu.iq
^b Eng.rasha.malik@uobabylon.edu.iq

Abstract

The study focuses on the feasibility of connecting urban green spaces at an urban scale through a network because of the population growth and land use changes at the expense of green areas, which has led to the fragmentation and destabilization of the ecosystem in the Hilla city center in Babylon province /Iraq. The methodology will be according to two stages: first, the current state assessment was used to determine the encroachment of the areas. Secondly, it uses the gravity model and the least-cost path model in GIS to determine the level of interaction between nodes. Therefore, the research hypothesis was that connecting strong nodes to a comprehensive and integrated network increases the strength of the interaction. According to the results, there is no clear hierarchy in the distribution of urban green spaces within Hilla city, with only two levels: locality and urban on the urban level, there is no possibility of establishing a network between green spaces because of three factors: encroached uses mainly the residential, distance between patches and the node weight.