Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Urban Forestry & Urban Greening journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ufug Attractiveness of urban parks for visitors versus their potential allergenic hazard: A case study in Rzeszów, Poland Agata Ćwik a, ⁎ , Idalia Kasprzyk b , Tomasz Wójcik c , Katarzyna Borycka b , Paloma Cariñanos d,e a Department of Agrobiology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, University of Rzeszów, ul. Zelwerowicza 4, 35–601, Rzeszów, Poland b Department of Ecology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, University of Rzeszów, ul. Zelwerowicza 4, 35–601, Rzeszów, Poland c Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Rzeszów, ul. Cicha 2A, 35–326, Rzeszów, Poland d Department of Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus de Cartuja, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain e IISTA-CEAMA, Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research, University of Granada, Granada, Spain ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Allergenicity index Allergy hazard Green infrastructure Park users Urban parks Visitors’ activity ABSTRACT The political and social changes that have taken place in Central Europe after the collapse of the communist regimes in the 1990s, followed by the accession of some countries to the European Union, have initiated the intense development of cities. The development is manifested, among other features, in the renovation of old parks and establishment of new ones. These actions, however, require studies on the role of parks depending on their location in the city, the activities undertaken by park visitors, and the allergenic risks of park vegetation. Taking into account the above assumptions, comprehensive studies of this type were conducted in four urban parks in Rzeszów (Poland) in order to develop recommendations for the city authorities on their spatial man- agement. Harmful impact of parks’ vegetation was described by allergenicity index. Park visitors were counted during eight scans in each park. Types of visitors’ activities were grouped into five main categories: resting, using playgrounds, cycling, other sports, others. Three categories of the parks land cover were studied: canopy, lawns and paths as well as location of the parks. We concluded that the type of activity undertaken in the park was primarily associated with the land cover structure of the park and its location within the city. A comparison with the use of statistical methods and an evaluation of the parks also showed that diversification of the character and functions of parks in the city is a desirable feature. We have identified three major types of parks using results of studies on the role of parks depending on their location in a city, the activities undertaken by park visitors, and the allergenic potential of their vegetation: downtown parks, open parks, and peripheral parks – requiring different spatial development recommendations to ensure their attractiveness for visitors while simultaneously mitigating their allergy hazard impact. 1. Introduction Green infrastructure is one of the factors most strongly affecting the quality of human life in cities (Shackleton et al., 2017). It consists of many elements, but well-designed urban parks eagerly visited by city dwellers usually form its core. Due to the very high social acceptance of the establishment of new parks and the prevention of diseases of af- fluence through physical activity undertaken in parks (Orsega-Smith et al., 2000; Bedimo-Rung et al., 2005; Mowen et al., 2007) or to the benefits manifested in an increased value of properties located in green areas (Jim and Chen, 2010), but also on account of the important en- vironmental functions of such parks (Sadeghian and Vandanyan, 2013), they are one of the most desired forms of urban land management consistent with the idea of sustainable development. It turns out, however, that in spite of the unquestionable benefits that parks bring for the entire urban system and the people themselves (Mowen et al., 2007; Adinolfi et al., 2014), by, for example, reducing the deposition of harmful pollutants (Escobedo and Nowak, 2009; Janhäll, 2015), they can pose real risks to human health due to their excessive production of plant allergens (Cariñanos et al., 2016). They emit also Biogenic Vo- latile Organic Compounds and pose a threat from the fallen branches, toxic or thorny plants side, as well as fear of wild animals or dogs running without a leash or fear of aggressive behaviour of other people (Cariñanos et al., 2017a). Therefore, the challenge of designing new parks and transforming already-existing parks in such a way as to minimize their negative effects, while at the same time not diminishing https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.09.009 Received 21 February 2018; Received in revised form 20 July 2018; Accepted 16 September 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: acwik@ur.edu.pl (A. Ćwik), idalia@ur.edu.pl (I. Kasprzyk), antomi7@wp.pl (T. Wójcik), kasienka.borycka@gmail.com (K. Borycka), palomacg@ugr.es (P. Cariñanos). Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 35 (2018) 221–229 Available online 18 September 2018 1618-8667/ © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. T