Kirkuk University Journal for Agricultural Sciences (KUJAS)

Landscape Design within Green Spaces: A case study of Salahaddin University ,Erbil

10.58928/ku26.17314
Volume 17, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Page 126-144
Kirkuk University Journal for Agricultural Sciences (KUJAS)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Triska Dlshad Bakr 1
Kardo Nooruldeen Kareem 2

1 1Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design, college of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University-Erbil, Kurdistan region, Iraq 2Department of Community Health and Food security, Khabat Technical Institute, Erbil

2 1Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design, college of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University-Erbil, Kurdistan region, Iraq

Abstract
Urban university environments often suffer from insufficient and poorly designed green spaces, which negatively affect users’ psychological well-being, comfort, and overall campus experience. At Salahaddin University-Erbil, the presidency area lacks functional and well-planned greenery, limiting its effectiveness as a restorative and social space. This study aims to assess the current landscape conditions and develop a sustainable landscape design proposal for the presidency of Salahaddin University-Erbil. The research adopts a case study approach combining site analysis, field measurements, and direct observation with an online survey conducted among 70 students and employees to evaluate user needs and perceptions. A basic draft has been developed, with the assortment of plants clearly defined within it. Aside from a broad list of trees and shrubs; however, plants have also been designed for the current project. This initiative is to create a sustainable, contemporary and as tidally pleasing landscape that benefits both (academic staff, employees, and students) and the local system.
The findings indicate a significant deficiency in greenery quality, accessibility, and supporting facilities such as shading and seating areas. Based on these results, a comprehensive design proposal was developed, integrating both softscape and hardscape elements. The proposed design increases tree coverage by 56% and shrub coverage by 99%, while incorporating functional features including pathways, shaded seating areas, and water elements to enhance environmental performance and user experience. The study concludes that integrating sustainable landscape principles with user-oriented design can substantially improve the ecological, functional, and visual quality of university spaces. It is recommended that the proposed design be adopted and implemented with professional maintenance strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and effectiveness.
This proposal protects the green environment, which is beneficial, relaxing, and visually appealing to students and other users.

Keywords

Green University
Open space
landscape
Environmental sustainability
Salahaddin University -Erbil
Crossmark
Subjects
[1].   U. K. Priya and R. Senthil, "Framework for enhancing urban living through sustainable plant selection in residential green spaces," Urban Science, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 235, 2024.https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8040235
[2].   C. A.-M. Tudorie, M. Vallés-Planells, E. Gielen, R. Arroyo, and F. Galiana, "Towards a greener university: Perceptions of landscape services in campus open space," Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 15, p. 6047, 2020.https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156047
[3].   Y. H. Hwang and A. Jain, "Landscape design approaches to enhance human–wildlife interactions in a compact tropical city," Journal of Urban Ecology, vol. 7, no. 1, p. juab007, 2021.https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juab007
[4].   K. A. Pearce et al., "Expanding Sustainability to Include Our Non-Human Partners: College Campuses as Models of Wildlife Habitat," in North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education: Springer, Cham, 2025, pp. 455-479.
[5].   J. Ha and H. J. Kim, "The restorative effects of campus landscape biodiversity: Assessing visual and auditory perceptions among university students," Urban forestry & urban greening, vol. 64, p. 127259, 2021.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127259
[6].   F. Aram, E. H. García, E. Solgi, and S. Mansournia, "Urban green space cooling effect in cities," Heliyon, vol. 5, no. 4, 2019.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01339
[7].   N. Kabisch, S. Qureshi, and D. Haase, "Human–environment interactions in urban green spaces—A systematic review of contemporary issues and prospects for future research," Environmental Impact assessment review, vol. 50, pp. 25-34, 2015.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2014.08.007
[8].   X. Song, Z. Wang, X. Meng, and M. Liu, "A qualitative study on university students’ restorative experience of the Library Space Environment," Buildings, vol. 14, no. 6, p. 1641, 2024.https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061641
[9].   Ö. F. Uzun and A. Ad, "Sakarya Atatürk Park’s landscape design: an evaluation based on universal design principles," Artvin Çoruh Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 177-190, 2025.https://doi.org/10.17474/artvinofd.1631548
[10].    M. Carmona, Public places urban spaces: The dimensions of urban design, 1st ed. Routledge, 2021.
[11].    H.-M. Park and H.-K. Jo, "Ecological design and construction strategies through life cycle assessment of carbon budget for urban parks in Korea," Forests, vol. 12, no. 10, p. 1399, 2021.https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101399
[12].    A. H. Ahmad Hami, B. M. S. Bin Maulan Suhardi, M. M. Mariapan Manohar, and M. M. Muhammad Malekizadeh, "The relationship between landscape planting patterns and perceived safety in urban parks in Tabriz, Iran," African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 107-113, 2014.https://doi.org/10.5897/AJEST2013.1486
[13].    I. Saeedi, K. Shayesteh, and T. Faraji, "Urban green infrastructure and safety: Examining the relative effects of socio-economic and environmental factors on perceived safety of users," Security Journal, vol. 38, no. 1, p. 6, 2025.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-024-00456-y
[14].    S. Mogra and R. Furlan, "Public Realm at Qatar University Campus: Perception and sustainability of Open Green Spaces," Architecture & Urban Planning, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 80-94, 2017.https://doi.org/10.21276/SJHSS.2017.2.1.13
[15].    D. Gheibi, F. MIRAKI, S. FIJANI, and F. MIRAKI, "Evaluating the effective factors on social interactions enhancement in university spaces: a case study in Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan branch," Cumhuriyet Science Science Journal (CSJ), vol. 36, no. 4 Special Issue, 2015.
[16].    I. A. Emmanuel and A. V. Olufemi, "Impact of quality and usage of outdoor spaces on sustainable campus environment in Akure, Nigeria," American Journal of Environmental Protection, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 105-111, 2017.https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20170605.11
[17].    A. Biswas, J. A. Ferdousi, and B. D. Gupta, "Integrated approach to achieving campus sustainability through landscaping: A case study on Pabna University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh," International journal for research and development in technology, vol. 5, no. 5, 2016.
[18].    M. Ferat, "Exploratory Analysis for the Definition of A Management Model for A Sustainable Project Company-University-Community," in North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education: Springer, Cham, 2025, pp. 1149-1172.
[19].    R. Dagiliūtė, G. Liobikienė, and A. Minelgaitė, "Sustainability at universities: Students’ perceptions from Green and Non-Green universities," Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 181, pp. 473-482, 2018.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.213
[20].    J. A. Martínez-Villa, A. Paquette, K. J. Feeley, P. A. Morales-Morales, C. Messier, and S. M. Durán, "Changes in morphological and physiological traits of urban trees in response to elevated temperatures within an Urban Heat Island," Tree physiology, vol. 44, no. 12, p. tpae145, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpae145
[21].    F. A. Mustafa and M. G. Danoon, "Effect of common outdoor spaces on social interaction: The case of college of engineering campus at Salahaddin university–Erbil, Iraq," Journal of University of Babylon for Engineering Sciences, pp. 229-238, 2020.
[22].    P. Anthopoulos and N. Tzortzi, "Research employer’s preferences for landscape design of grounds and spaces surrounding hospitals. Case study University Hospital of Alexandroupolis," in Proceedings of the International Congress of Landscape Architecture, 2010, pp. 317-326.
[23].    H. Hamarash, A. Rasul, and R. Hamad, "A Novel Index for Agricultural Drought Measurement: Soil Moisture and Evapotranspiration Revealed Drought Index (SERDI)," Climate, vol. 12, no. 12, p. 209, 2024.https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12120209
[24].    S. J. Jirjees, "Climatic Parameters Use for Evaluating Water Budget and Drought Analysis in Erbil Sub-basin, Kurdistan Region, Northern-Iraq," Zanco Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 47-55, 2024.https://doi.org/10.21271/ZJPAS.36.5.5
[25].    F. Rasul, S. Gupta, J. J. Olas, T. Gechev, N. Sujeeth, and B. Mueller-Roeber, "Priming with a seaweed extract strongly improves drought tolerance in Arabidopsis," International journal of molecular sciences, vol. 22, no. 3, p. 1469, 2021.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22031469
[26].    M. R. Carter and E. G. Gregorich, Soil sampling and methods of analysis, 2 ed. Boca Raton: CRC press, 2007.
[27].    Cropnuts. (2026, January 16). Soil pH and Nutrient Availability.
[28].    H. Silber, T. H. Stark, A. G. Blom, and J. A. Krosnick, "Implementing a multinational study of questionnaire design," in Advances in comparative survey methods: Multinational, multiregional, and multicultural contexts (3MC): John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018, pp. 161-179.
[29].    I. Autodesk, "AutoCAD (Version 2021) [Computer software]," ed, 2025.
[30].    T. Bertauski, Plan graphics for the landscape designer: with section-elevation and computer graphics, Third Edition ed. Long Grove, Illinois, USA.: Waveland Press, Inc., 2019.
[31].    Esri, "ArcGIS Pro (Version 10.8.1 ) [Computer software]," ed, 2025.
[32].    Y. N. Hassan, S. Zhen, A. O. Sharbazhery, C. Du, and S. Jombach, "Evaluating Urban Green Space Accessibility and Per Capita Distribution in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq," in Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning, 2025, vol. 8, no. 1: University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
[33].    K. N. Kareem and B. K. Maulood, "Gardens as a Parameter of Greenery Status of Kurdistan," ZANCO Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, vol. 33, no. s1, pp. 11-18, 2021.https://doi.org/10.21271/zjpas
[34].    A. Addas, "The importance of urban green spaces in the development of smart cities," Frontiers in environmental Science, vol. 11, p. 1206372, 2023.https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1206372
[35].    K. N. Kareem, W. Bonenberg, and B. K. Maulood, "Kurdish garden as an example for Middle East botanical garden: New approach and aspect," Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 788, pp. 164-173, 2018.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94199-8_16
[36].    USDA. (2025, 17.08). 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Available: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/
[37].    M. R. M. Hussain, I. Tukiman, and I. H. Zen, "Landscape Design for Residential Area," in Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Future of ASEAN (ICoFA) 2017–Volume 2: Science and Technology, Singapore, 2018, pp. 1-154: Springer.
[38].    M. Mohammadi, P. W. Tien, and J. K. Calautit, "Numerical evaluation of the use of vegetation as a shelterbelt for enhancing the wind and thermal comfort in peripheral and lateral-type skygardens in highrise buildings," Building simulation, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 243-261, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-022-0943-7
[39].    V. V. Patel, S. Vishwakarma, and R. Gangwar, "Urban Tree Selection and Management Strategies for Climate Adaptation," in Urban Forests, Climate Change and Environmental Pollution: Physio-Biochemical and Molecular Perspectives to Enhance Urban Resilience: Springer, Cham, 2024, pp. 391-415.
[40].    A. V. Semenyutina, M. V. Tsoi, D. V. Sapronova, and V. V. Sapronov, "Research of the decorative advantages of coniferous trees and shrubs for landscaping," Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology, vol. 23, 2022.https://doi.org/10.12912/27197050/143134
[41].    G. Frank, Striking succulent gardens: plants and plans for designing your low-maintenance landscape. New York: Ten Speed Press, 2021.
[42].    P. Viola, M. Olivadese, and A. Minelli, "Turfgrass Through Time: Historical Uses, Cultural Values, and Sustainability Transitions," Agronomy, vol. 15, no. 5, p. 1095, 2025.https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15051095
[43].    M. Ignatieva, M. Hughes, A. K. Chaudhary, and F. Mofrad, "The lawn as a social and cultural phenomenon in Perth, Western Australia," Land, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 191, 2024.https://doi.org/10.3390/land13020191
[44].    A. T. Polat, Güngör, S., Demir, M., "Landscape Design Principles of University Campuses: A Case Study In Campus Of Alaeddin Keykubat, Selcuk University.," in 2nd International Conference on Engineering and Natural Sciences (ICENS 2016). Bosna-Hersek/Sarajevo. , 2016, pp. 599-606: www.icens.eu
[45].    R. A. Abdelwahab, A. A. Fekry, and R. E.-D. Hamed, "The effective landscape design parameters with high reflective hardscapes: guidelines for optimizing human thermal comfort in outdoor spaces by design-a case on hot arid climate weather," Computational Urban Science, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 28, 2025.https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-025-00186-w
[46].    . R. Hussein and K. N. Kareem, "A Preliminary Study on Landscape of Bakhi Shar Park, Erbil (Hawler), Kurdistan, Iraq," Kirkuk University Journal For Agricultural Sciences, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 238-250, 2023.https://doi.org/10.58928/ku23.14222
[47].    A. Riaz, N. Yasir, G. Badin, and Y. Mahmood, "Innovative pavement solutions: a comprehensive review from conventional asphalt to sustainable colored alternatives," Infrastructures, vol. 9, no. 10, p. 186, 2024.https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9100186
[48].    C.-H. Hsieh, J.-Y. Yang, C.-W. Huang, and W. C. B. Chin, "The effect of water sound level in virtual reality: A study of restorative benefits in young adults through immersive natural environments," Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 88, p. 102012, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102012
[49].    M. Sun and Y. Bao, "Effects of reflecting water on viewers’ visual attention, spatial perception, and emotional responses: a case study in Chinese heritage garden," npj Heritage Science, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 26, 2025.https://doi.org/10.1038/s40494-025-01650-w
[50].    R. P. Dober, Campus landscape: Functions, forms, features, 1st ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
[51].    M. J. Hill et al., "Environmental correlates of aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity in garden ponds: Implications for pond management," Insect Conservation and Diversity, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 374-385, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12698

Home

Submit Manuscript

Editorial Board

Aims and Scope

Animal and Ethical Approval

Publication Ethics

Guide for Authors

Guide for Reviewer

Indexing and Abstracting

DOI Use

Peer Review Process

The Time Period of Reviewing Process

Privacy Statement

Article Processing Charges (APC)

Reviewers

Contact Us