In the upcoming period, city squares’ urban redesign will be crucial in achieving sustainable development goals. This study presents a systematic review of OTC-related studies for the urban design of city squares using the PRISMA 2020 methodology. A review included a total of 173 papers from 2001 to 2023. The results identified five study types—clusters based on four pre-defined criteria: study approach, data collection methods, time duration, and primary objectives. The clusters indicate that more than half of all studies are related to the comparison of thermal comfort and heat mitigation measures. Most of the case studies were located in one of three climate zones: temperate oceanic (Cfb) (58 studies), hot summer Mediterranean (Csa) (40 studies), or humid subtropical (Cfa) (28 studies). The most common geometry of the analyzed urban square is medium-sized, is rectangular, and has dominant axel orientation south–north. Also, based on all five clusters, several research gaps were identified, appropriate for future research: the majority of studies related to the traditionally considered climate areas, no typology of urban square geometry configuration based on OTC assessment, and the lack of a local design model for assessing and improving the thermal comfort of city squares.

Purpose: This paper interrogates the impact of spatial transformations on urban life. It explores the level of individual and group satisfaction and sense of well-being within the urban public realm; this is undertaken by reporting on the outcomes of an assessment study of three key public open spaces in Belgrade, developed from a quality of urban life (QoUL) perspective.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic multilevel assessment method is utilised, with the aim of determining the material and immaterial elements that can contribute to an individual's sense of comfort within a public space. The study places emphasis on the functional, social and perceptual attributes as they relate to the physical characteristics of three assessed spaces.Findings: The assessment study resulted in a systematic overview of the different attributes of the three assessed spaces. With various performance levels within each set of attributes, the study identifies key challenges and problems that could lead towards determining possible opportunities for future local urban interventions and developmental actions.Originality/value: With the shifts in policies and the associated governance process that redefined the outlook of previously enforced development and urban growth in the last two decades, the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, has undergone significant spatial changes. This has resulted in a certain level of fragmentation in the urban fabric, leading to a number of challenges concerning public health, well-being, safety, accessibility, comfort and urban mobility, to name a few, that need to be better addressed and understood within the local context.

This paper aims to establish a methodology for urban land use planning and management that provides an insight into the hierarchy of priorities between a large number of activities for planning actions, thus contributing to the concept of energy-efficient housing. This methodology includes three aspects of sustainable development: Economic, ecologic, and social, which serve as an overall criterion within which urban planners could make assessments of planned activities. The assessments are the core of the methodology—every aspect is assessed by concerning its costs, consequences on the urban environment, and the effects on the citizens’ quality of life. Ten experts were involved to prove the methodology’s effectiveness. As a result, a hierarchy between the activities is created, which would help an urban planner prioritize and order further activities. The applicability of the hierarchy was tested through a simulation of a reconstruction process of a collective housing area in New Belgrade, Serbia, from the view-point of land use and accessibility. This methodology contributes to the creation of the prioritized groups of activities, and a finalized hierarchy of the activities, while its application is seen in the process of making urban plans, and defining recommendations for its implementation.

COVID-19 has severely affected almost every aspect of our everyday lives, especially the use of open greenspace (OGS) in urban settings, which has proven to have a significant role in increasing overall public health and well-being. Hence, the restricted usage of these spaces should be reconsidered. This research aims to analyze the sensitive nature of OGS usage (1) during the pandemic from the perspective of users’ perceived safety and (2) after the pandemic to assess the possible long-term effects. Additionally, this research proposed that location-tracking mobile applications could lead to an increased frequency of OGS visits. The methodology contains detailed background research and two surveys. One survey was conducted during the pandemic in 2020 (sample size n = 412) and was repeated post-pandemic in 2024 (sample n = 451). The 2020 questionnaire A includes questions about the duration, frequency, and activities of OGS usage while focusing on the perceived safety and possibilities of monitoring OGS visits using mobile apps. The 2024 survey represents the continuation of the 2020 survey, focusing on the post-pandemic state of OGS. The statistical analysis is separated into a descriptive data analysis, various χ² independence tests and a machine learning safety prediction. The results indicate how COVID-19 could affect OGS usage and how app-related physical safety enhancements during the pandemic cannot be statistically distinguished from those in the post-pandemic period. Although the interest in location-tracking mobile applications has statistically decreased in 2024, the majority of the total 863 participants stated that applications could increase their feeling of perceived safety. The added value of this research is that it considers age and gender roles in analyzing OGS usage in the context of a pandemic.

The modern lifestyle, high levels of stress, and pollution negatively affect the general public health of individuals, primarily the population living in urban environments. The new health paradigm, as well as the World Health Organization, emphasizes the importance of prevention and defines health as a state of "completemental and physical well-being." The significance of health as a fundamental resource in modern times is also defined through the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 3, "Good Health." The ecological aspect of sustainability is closely linked to environmental preservation, and a healthy environment defines the causes of diseases or illnesses, as people absorb stimuli from their surroundings through psycho-neuro-endocrine mechanisms in the body. These causes are primarily based on stress levels, and many international studies have confirmed that natural elements from the environment, such as greenery, water, fresh air, colors, and sounds from nature, positively affect stressors in the surroundings. The spaces in cities that possess these above mentioned positive characteristics are open green spaces. In the territory of the municipality New Belgrade, various types of these space sexist, while most commonly used are linear parks along the banks of the Danube and Sava rivers, as well as small parks within the characteristic mega-blocks. This paper focuses on analyzing and researching the importance of open green spaces in New Belgrade in the context of their impact on users, particularly from the perspective of frequency and dynamic of usage, as well as users' subjective perceptions. The expected results provide the opportunity for adequate adaptation and potential improvement of the physical and functional characteristics of open green spaces, with the aim of encouraging more active usage of the sespaces in urban environments.

Public health is one of the main resources of the modern age, which is especially enhanced during emergency conditions, such as a pandemics. COVID-19 has greatly affected almost every aspect of life, work and the space usage. This paper is focused on the analysis of the significance and usage of open green spaces (OGS) in the city. OGS in urban areas play a very significant and active role in improving the overall physical and mental health and well-being of the citizens. Therefore, this research deals with the possibilities for unrestricted and safe use of these spaces in pandemic conditions. The aim of this research is to analyze the percieved safety and the possibility of applying ICT in the context of improving the management and frequency of OGS usage during and after the pandemic. The basic research methodology is based on the theoretical analysis of primary and secondary sources, as well as the systematic overview and presentation of the research conducted in OGS in Belgrade, in 2020 and 2021. The research results indicate a significant impact of the pandemic conditions on the usage of UGS in Belgrade, i.e. reduced subjective percieved safety, and users' openness to ICT and mobile applications when it comes to the controlled usage and increased safety during of the UGS .