J. Parks, Volume 1, Issue 3 (September 2026) – 3 articles

Urban parks provide recreation, cultural ecosystem services, microclimate regulation, and benefits for well-being, but their realized value may vary with air pollution and heat. This exploratory study linked 2947 Google Maps reviews posted in 2024–2025 to daily PM2.5, temperature, humidity, and precipitation and assessed a BERT-based workflow for classifying star-linked sentiment and dominant emotion text labels. Star-linked sentiment classifications were highly favorable (mean score of 4.86/5; 88.39% very positive). Independent weighting of the rounded air-quality and heat-stress subgroup summaries yielded consistent approximate overall shares for provisional joy (28.9%) and anger (32.5%), but the full seven-class distribution could not be reconstructed from the archive. All emotion-label analyses remain provisional. All 25 tested environmental correlations were negligible (absolute Spearman ρ ≤ 0.049), and none met the Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold (α = 0.002). Posting dates classified as heat-stress days showed descriptive differences in provisional anger and joy labels, but posting date is an uncertain proxy for the visit date. The findings do not establish individual-level exposure associations. They instead illustrate the methodological safeguards needed before user-generated park feedback and environmental monitoring can support climate-responsive management. Full article

The Ifrane National Park (INP), situated in the Middle Atlas Mountains in Morocco, is renowned for its unique bioecological attributes and rich biodiversity. The park provides key ecosystem services, notably climate regulation, with its Atlas cedar forests serving as an important carbon reservoir. Despite its importance, the park faces challenges associated with Land Use Land Cover Changes (LULCCs). These dynamics, driven by population settlement in mountain areas, intensify pressure on forest resources and accelerate the conversion of rangelands into croplands. Our study aims to examine the carbon sequestration service (CSS) in INP and its changes in response to land use dynamics before and after the park’s creation. We first use Google Earth Engine platform to map Land Use Land Cover (LULC) over three decades (1992/2022). Then, we quantify and map CSS using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST 3.10.2) model. Finally, we assess the economic value of this service over time using the social cost of carbon, adjusted by an appropriate discount rate. Our findings show that CSS declined by −217,738.4 tC/year (1992–2002) and −177,903.2 tC/year (2002–2012) prior to the park’s establishment, before rising to +61,786.8 tC/year during 2012–2022, following the park’s establishment and subsequent forest restoration, increasing its economic value from a net loss to +12,340,544 USD/year. By addressing a significant knowledge gap regarding CSS dynamics and economic value within a protected area, this study highlights the effectiveness of conservation measures and offers a practical tool for managers to inform decision makers, promote conservation and restoration investments, and engage local communities in sustainable development initiatives. Full article

Urban public parks are vital for recreation, public health, environmental quality, and sustainable urban growth. Yet access to these parks remains uneven across many cities, disproportionately affecting low-income, marginalised, and spatially segregated communities. This study systematically examines socio-spatial disparities in park access and their implications for spatial justice. Using the PRISMA 2020 framework, 108 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2025 were analysed through thematic narrative synthesis. The results identify key factors shaping accessibility disparities, including socio-economic status, residential location, race and ethnicity, transport infrastructure, urban form, governance, and demographic vulnerability. The most common determinants were socio-economic status (24%), residential location and spatial distribution (20%), race and ethnicity (18%), and urban form and transport systems (17%). Limited park access exacerbates socio-economic inequality, worsens environmental injustice, contributes to health gaps, reinforces spatial segregation, hampers urban sustainability, and marginalises vulnerable populations. The review integrates Spatial Justice Theory, Environmental Justice Theory, and Urban Political Ecology into a comprehensive analytical framework and introduces a conceptual model linking accessibility factors to spatial justice outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of equitable green infrastructure planning, inclusive governance, and improved access in underserved urban areas. Full article