Tweeting the High Line Life: A Social Media Lens on Urban Green Spaces

Jisoo Sim, Patrick Miller and Samarth Swarup
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Jisoo Sim: Korea Research Institute of Human Settlement, Urban Division, Sejong-si 30147, Korea
Patrick Miller: Landscape Architecture Program, College of Architecture and Urban Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Samarth Swarup: Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate elevated parks as urban green spaces using social media data analytics. Two popular elevated parks, the High Line Park in New York and the 606 in Chicago, were selected as the study sites. Tweets mentioning the two parks were collected from 2015 to 2019. By using text mining, social media users’ sentiments and conveyed perceptions about the elevated parks were studied. In addition, users’ activities and their satisfaction were analyzed. For the 606, users mainly enjoyed the free events at the park and worried about possible increases in housing prices and taxes because of the 606. They tended to participate in physical activities such as biking and walking. Although the 606 provides scenic observation points, users did not seem to enjoy these. Regarding the High Line, users frequently mentioned New York City, which is an important aspect of the identity of the park. The High Line users also frequently mentioned arts and relaxation. Overall, this study supports the idea that social media analytics can be used to gain an understanding of the public’s use of urban green spaces and their attitudes and concerns.

Keywords: urban green space; elevated park; big data; social media analytics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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