AN EVALUATION OF PARKS USING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

This study presents results of an investigation aimed at assessing open spaces including parks in Khartoum city, Sudan. Five assessment tools were used in the study and these include BRAT- DO (Bedimo-Rung Assessment Tools Direct Observation), EAPRS (Environmental Assessment of Public Recreation Space), QREAT (Quality of Recreation Environments Assessment Tool), SAGE (Systematic Audit of Green-Space Environments) and OSAA (Open Space Audit Assessment. Selected items from these assessment tools were employed in order to fully identify set of characteristics of parks that are related to visitation and to evaluate the general conditions of these parks in the city. Two types of major variables were evaluated on six parks: accessibility and physical component. The former includes welcoming, physical access, street, parking, and the latter comprises of shelter and shade, landscape, green space and lawn, services and facilities, paths, water feature, playground. Additionally, two minor variables were also measured: aesthetic and quality and personal security. The evaluation of the open space characteristics were done by five architects whom knew or had designed the spaces. The result suggests that open spaces in Khartoum city are lacking of proper facilities and appropriate features for the residents to perform recreational activities.