Investigating the spatial distribution of urban parks from the perspective of equity-efficiency: Evidence from Chengdu,China

Urban parks play a crucial role in urban public green infrastructure, providing recreational places for urban residents while carrying values of aesthetics, ecology, humanities, economy, life, and society. However, achieving an equitable and efficient spatial layout of urban parks is a challenging task due to limited urban space resources, which requires further exploration. This study employed multisource big data and GIS technology to constructed an indicator system for evaluating the equity-efficiency of urban park spatial distribution. We examined the spatial distribution of 85 parks across 62 sub-districts in the main urban area of Chengdu, the largest city in western China and the first Park City of China. The results demonstrated that equity was polarized, with an indicator value ranging from 0 to 0.77 and an average value of 0.32. The sub-district of Sansheng had the highest equity, while Wenjia and Kanghe had the lowest equity. Twenty-one sub-districts had no parks, and the equity of park spatial distribution in these areas was low. The efficiency indicator ranged from 0.20 to 0.62, with an average value of 0.40. The efficiency of the main urban area was high in the southwest and low in the northeast. The sub-district of Huangtianba had the highest efficiency, while Jinguanyi had the lowest efficiency. In the two-dimensional quadrant of equity-efficiency, 24 sub-districts had high equity and high efficiency, 13 sub-districts had high equity and low efficiency, 4 sub-districts had low equity and high efficiency, and 21 sub-districts had low equity and low efficiency. At the district level, only Chenghua District’s park was spatial equitable and efficient, surpassing the average level of the main urban area. Finally, we discussed the findings in the context of planning policies for Chengdu in recent years. We proposed that strengthening the construction of small urban parks and green spaces, improving park facilities to meet the diverse social needs of people, and enhancing the quality and attractiveness of the parks are crucial for the future development of park green spaces in the main urban areas of Chengdu.     

How does enclosed private residential green space impact accessibility equity in urban regions? A case study in Shenzhen,China

Compared with public parks, residential quarter green space (RQGS) is a type of enclosed private green space that is located in residential areas and has higher visit frequency. Generally, in China residential areas with high housing prices have higher quality and more quantity of RQGS. Therefore, the differences in RQGS between residents with different socio-economic status may influence the equity of urban green space accessibility. However, due to the lack of data sources, few existing studies have taken RQGS into account as a part of urban green space supply resources. Based on multi-source geographic big data, this paper takes Shenzhen as the research area to explore the impact of RQGS on the spatial pattern and fair distribution of green space accessibility. The total green space accessibility (TGSA), which includes the accessibility of RQGS, and the public park accessibility (PPA) were calculated using the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method (2SFCA). Using housing prices to indicate the income level of dwellers, bivariate Moran’s I and multiple regression were adopted to explore equity of urban green space accessibility. The main conclusions were: (1) The accessibility of green space increased by 27.97% on average after considering RQGS and ignoring RQGS could underestimate the accessibility of green space, particularly in the residential quarter with high housing prices near the city center. (2) The regression coefficients of housing prices with PPA and TGSA were 0.042 (p < 0.01) and 0.160 (p < 0.001), respectively, indicating that the advantages of high-income groups in RQGS may further exacerbate the inequity of urban green space accessibility. The research conclusions may provide a scientific basis for optimizing the spatial structure of green space in urban areas and ensuring the equitable distribution of green space.     

Managing municipal green space for ecosystem services

Cities are the dominant form of human settlement. As centers of economic growth and population they are focal points of both ecological disturbance (through resource consumption and land conversion) and the provision of public goods. Ecosystem services provided by municipal forests and green space are positioned to address both these arenas. While technical means to mainstreaming this approach have grown, the importance municipal foresters’ departments place on pursuing this objective and their department's engagement in actions necessary for its realization is under-researched. I surveyed the membership of the Society for Municipal Arborists to address this gap. I found that municipal foresters perceived the management of municipal green space to enhance ecosystem services to be increasingly significant to the goals and actions of their departments. Survey respondents expected this role to grow in importance, matching or exceeding some traditional objectives of their profession. While most perceived traditional services such as tree planting and maintenance, and social outputs like beautification and enhancing public health to remain high departmental priorities; respondents rated managing municipal green space to produce ecosystem services such as enhanced energy and climate management, water quality and habitat and biodiversity as more important to their department than traditional objectives such as maintenance of property values and protection of power lines. As responsibility for the management of urban green space resides predominantly at the municipal level, the importance municipal foresters’ departments place on managing for ecosystem services is fundamental to advancing this strategy for the delivery of public goods in urban centers.     

Integrating community gardens into public parks: An innovative approach for providing ecosystem services in urban areas

When planned coherently, urban green spaces have the potential to provide cities with a range of unique ecosystem services that support ecosystem and human health. This paper draws on existing green space planning literature to argue that the integration of community gardens into standardised and previously under-utilised public park landscapes represents an innovative approach to providing ecosystem services. Particular focus is given to the challenges facing green space planning in Perth, Western Australia. At an individual level, community gardens provide a venue for an alternative and more accessible form of physical activity – gardening – and a restorative park environment that is a more attractive destination for neighbourhood walking. At the community level, gardens can facilitate bridging interactions between different social groups, whilst providing opportunities for local residents to participate actively in green space planning processes. Perhaps most importantly, community gardens can provide unique opportunities for environmental education that lead to enhanced local ecological outcomes. The paper concludes with a brief overview of the main challenges likely to be faced with this integration, and some strategies that may allow them to be overcome. It is hoped this paper will provide a background for future case studies, and a catalyst for increasing integration between formal green space planning and community garden development.     

The social and economic value of cultural ecosystem services provided by urban forests in North America: A review and suggestions for future research

With the majority of the world’s human population now living in cities, urban forests provide an increasingly important range of ecosystem services, from improved air quality and climate change adaptation to better public health outcomes and increased tourism revenues. The importance of these ecosystem services in urban environments, and the central role that cities play in the lives of people around the world, have motivated various attempts to quantify the value of ecosystem services provided by urban forests. This paper reviews existing research in the fields of urban forestry, economics, sociology, and health on the value of urban ecosystem services, with a focus on cultural services, a category of ecosystem services that is of key importance to human well-being but that has suffered from a lack of empirical research. The review identified 38 studies that examined the value of mixed vegetation, 31 studies that examined the value of trees, and 43 studies that examined the value of green spaces. Psychological health is the most-studied ecosystem service category, with most research in this area focusing on the services of mixed vegetation. Social health, community economic development, and tourism are the least-studied, with most research in these areas focusing on mixed vegetation and trees. Multiple metrics were used to quantify the value of urban greenery within each ecosystem service category but only 11 metrics were assigned a monetary value. Gaps in the literature that present strong opportunities for future research include: the value of urban forests for improving social health, equitable access to ecosystem services, the impact of urban forests on community economic development, and economic valuation and green exposure metrics. We hope that this review stimulates future research in the areas highlighted and that municipalities consider including evaluations of a broad range of ecosystem services during land use planning and budgeting processes.     

Supplying urban ecosystem services through multifunctional green infrastructure in the United States

This paper summarizes a strategy for supplying ecosystem services in urban areas through a participatory planning process targeting multifunctional green infrastructure. We draw from the literature on landscape multifunctionality, which has primarily been applied to agricultural settings, and propose opportunities to develop urban green infrastructure that could contribute to the sustainable social and ecological health of the city. Thinking in terms of system resilience, strategies might focus on the potential for green infrastructure to allow for adaptation and even transformation in the face of future challenges such as climate change, food insecurity, and limited resources. Because planning for multiple functions can be difficult when many diverse stakeholders are involved, we explored decision support tools that could be applied to green infrastructure planning in the early stages, to engage the public and encourage action toward implementing a preferred solution. Several specific ecosystem services that could be relevant for evaluating current and future urban green spaces include: plant biodiversity, food production, microclimate control, soil infiltration, carbon sequestration, visual quality, recreation, and social capital. Integrating such ecosystem services into small-scale greening projects could allow for creativity and local empowerment that would inspire broader transformation of green infrastructure at the city level. Those cities committing to such an approach by supporting greening projects are likely to benefit in the long run through the value of ecosystem services for urban residents and the broader public.     

The relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals: A scoping review

Urban green space is an important resource to effectively improve the urban environment and human health. A growing body of evidence highlights their positive impact on physical, mental and social health. Less focus has been paid to the social health benefits of urban green space. Designing urban green space to improve the social health of various groups has become a crucial problem, given the lack of uniformity in defining and measuring social health, as well as the varying social health needs of different individuals. This review aims to explore the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals, which is defined as how one gets along with other people, how other people react to him/her, and how one reacts with the social institutions and societal mores. According to the PRISMA extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, 60 articles published between 1998 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results demonstrated that different types of urban green space significantly influenced the social health of individuals. The dimensions of social health of individuals based on urban green space could be divided into four groups: social contacts, social relations, social support and social connections, which were mainly affected by the physical characteristics, perceptions, and usages of urban green space to varying degrees. Socio-demographic characteristics could moderate the strength and orientation of the relationship between urban green space and social health of individuals. As the first scoping review to analyze the relationship between urban green space and individual social health, this study not only provides evidence for the social health benefits of urban green space, but also offers information and tools for future research and policymakers.     

Public green spaces and human wellbeing: Mapping the spatial inequity and mismatching status of public green space in the Central City of Shanghai

Public green spaces are fundamental and indispensable to urban settlements, given the diverse social, economic and environmental benefits that they can provide. However, the absence of knowledge regarding the allocation and access status quo consistently hinders the suitability and rationality of follow-up green space planning, which could eventually impair the livability and sustainability of cities. This study evaluates disparities in access to public green space for urban residents and the spatial mismatches among public green space provision, residents’ visits and the demands of socially vulnerable groups within the Central City of Shanghai. The results show that disparities in public green space accessibility exist pertaining to social status and household composition status. Sub-districts with higher social status or larger proportions of family households composed by children and married inhabitants tend to have better public green space access. In contrast, sub-districts with larger proportions of aged or unemployed populations unexpectedly show worse public green space access. To a certain degree, this reduced access can be considered to be an environmental injustice. Additionally, the mismatches among public green space provision, residents’ visits and the demands of socially vulnerable groups are observed to vary in space, indicating potential problems of resource shortage, supply-demand mismatch, underuse and congestion. The findings could offer urban planners and policy-makers insights into optimizing public green space resources and equitably providing proximal public green space to urban residents, especially vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly and the unemployed.     

Towards an integrated understanding of green space in the European built environment

In recent years social, economic and environmental considerations have led to a reevaluation of the factors that contribute to sustainable urban environments. Increasingly, urban green space is seen as an integral part of cities providing a range of services to both the people and the wildlife living in urban areas. With this recognition and resulting from the simultaneous provision of different services, there is a real need to identify a research framework in which to develop multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research on urban green space. In order to address these needs, an iterative process based on the delphi technique was developed, which comprised email-mediated discussions and a two-day symposium involving experts from various disciplines. The two outputs of this iterative process were (i) an integrated framework for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and (ii) a catalogue of key research questions in urban green space research. The integrated framework presented here includes relevant research areas (i.e. ecosystem services, drivers of change, pressures on urban green space, human processes and goals of provision of urban green space) and emergent research themes in urban green space studies (i.e. physicality, experience, valuation, management and governance). Collectively these two outputs have the potential to establish an international research agenda for urban green space, which can contribute to the better understanding of people's relationship with cities.     

Urban green space qualities reframed toward a public value management paradigm: The case of the Nordic Green Space Award

The change toward a public value management (PVM) paradigm in the public sector has challenged urban green space managers to rethink how they define and assess their services. In the Nordic countries, the challenge has resulted in the development of the Nordic Green Space Award (NSGA), as a new shared standard. This article reviews the NGSA scheme and its development. The development of the scheme embodies a methodology for how the question of ‘what makes for a good urban green space' collectively can be addressed within a particular regional context. The resulting scheme relies on ‘structure and general aspects', 'functionality and experience', and ‘management and organisation', as three principal themes and provides an easily manageable, unified and affordable approach to assessment of a variety of urban green spaces. Conceptually, the scheme resembles other comparable assessment schemes; however, its credibility rests on its regional grounding in the Nordic context.     

Evaluating geographic and social inequity of urban parks in Shanghai through mobile phone-derived human activities

The equity of urban park access has received great attention from studies on public service provision. However, individuals’ growing demands for recreational activities have brought diversity and complexity to park usages, drawing doubts on traditional measurements of park accessibility. To fill the gap, this study explores park equity issues with a dataset containing 12.03 million mobile phone users who accessed one of the 332 parks in Shanghai. We measured community-level park accessibility with two traditional place-based indicators – park area proportion and Gaussian-based 2SFCA accessibility, and three innovative activity-based indicators – park activity frequency, park activity trip length, and park activity duration. We then explored the geographic and social inequity by calculating Gini index and conducting correlation analysis. The results show that place-based and activity-based indicators presented citywide differences, indicating a significant impact of human activities on urban park accessibility. The geographic inequality of park distribution was undermined by people’s actual park usages. However, residents in communities with higher quality of built-environment had higher park activity frequency while shorter trip length, and social inequity of park access among the total population was more obvious than the low-recreation-demand population. Therefore, policy-makers should rethink how to provide park resources to address the inequity issues brought by human activities. Our study contributes to the existing literature in the following ways: (1) compared place-based park accessibility and activity-based park accessibility in the same context, and (2) identified low-recreation-demand population as a comparison group to explore impacts of recreation demand on park equity.     

Willingness of residents to pay and motives for conservation of urban green spaces in the compact city of Hong Kong

People attach multiple values to urban green spaces which play varied roles in cities. Properly designed monetary valuation surveys can ascertain their non-market value and underlying motives. This study investigates Hong Kong residents’ recreational use of urban green spaces and assesses the monetary value of these areas. A total of 495 urban residents from different neighbourhoods and socio-economic groups were interviewed. About 70% of the respondents visited urban green spaces at least weekly. Major companions during patronage were family members and then children. Exercises and clean air topped the list of visit purposes. The recreational pattern is associated with the cramped private living condition that pushes people to public open areas which are construed as extension of home space. The valuation question solicited overwhelming support, with over 80% of the respondents willing to pay to recover a possible loss of urban green spaces area by 20%. It yielded a monthly average payment of HK$77.43 (approx. 9.90 USD) per household for five years. Non-instrumental aspects played some role in the respondents’ bidding decision. The findings could assist green space planning and nature conservation, and hinted the need to consider the pluralistic community views and expectations in relevant public policies.     

The effects of naturalness,gender, and age on how urban green space is perceived and used

Neighbourhood green space serves an important function for the urban population, and provides valuable ecosystem services for human well-being. In this article, we investigate the effects of naturalness, gender, and age on the activities, aesthetics, and self-reported well-being associated with urban green space. Our findings are based on a postal survey of residents living in close proximity to six different green spaces in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is shown that higher perceived naturalness generated more activities and higher aesthetic values and self-reported well-being for residents living close to urban green spaces. The results also indicated that, regardless of the type of naturalness, women were more active in urban green spaces than were men. Women also saw greater aesthetic value in green spaces than men did, and had higher self-reported well-being associated with the urban green spaces. Finally, older residents were shown to participate in a greater number of nature-related activities than younger residents. Older residents also saw greater aesthetic values and had higher self-reported well-being associated with urban green spaces than younger people did. Seemingly, this poses a considerable planning challenge if areas of perceived naturalness are to be retained in cities, since the present trend is for reduced green spaces in cities and a ‘parkification’ of surviving natural areas. Further, because of the importance of perceived natural areas to the elderly, and in particularly women, distances to urban green areas should not be too great.     

Green infrastructure inequality in the context of COVID-19: Taking parks and trails as examples

Urban green infrastructures play a critical role in enhancing the well-being of residents, yet their equitable access remains a concern, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak. There is a lack of knowledge on how people respond to the pandemic regarding the usage of green infrastructure in cities. This paper explores the shifts in visitation to parks and trails, two popular types of green infrastructures in Salt Lake County, Utah, by analyzing the results of a survey conducted during the pandemic. Our conceptualization considers personal and neighborhood level factors, including personal socioeconomic status, existing inequalities of green infrastructures, urban form, and neighborhood conditions. People who reside close to the city center tend to go to parks more often, while those living in urban edges use trails more. Visiting green infrastructures less often is more likely in areas with higher COVID-19 infection rates. The regression results confirm the importance of neighborhood level factors and illustrate the intricate elements influencing people's decisions to visit different green infrastructures during the pandemic, which shows non-linear relationships. Wealthier, white, and younger people seem to enjoy green infrastructures more often, leading to the concern of amplified inequality. Higher COVID-19 cases result in higher demands for green infrastructures, which are not fulfilled during the pandemic, especially for vulnerable communities, leading to spatial exclusion. The findings highlight the importance of smart growth, including compact development, public transit, and pocket parks, in promoting the urban resilience of park and trail visits, as they may provide more opportunities for access and alternatives to green infrastructures even in the context of the pandemic.     

Private trees contribute uniquely to urban forest diversity,structure and service-based traits

The urban forest provides our communities with a host of benefits through the delivery of ecosystem services. To properly quantify and sustain these benefits, we require a strong baseline understanding of forest structure and diversity. To date, fine-scale work considering urban forest diversity and ecosystem services has often been limited to trees on public land, considering only one or two green space types. However, the governance of urban green spaces means tree species composition is influenced by management decisions at various levels, including by institutions, municipalities, and individual landowners responsible for their care. Using a mixed-method approach combining a traditional field-inventory and community science project, we inventoried urban trees in the residential neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grȃce, Montreal. We assessed how tree diversity, composition and structure varies across multiple green space types in the public and private domain (parks, institutions, street rights of way and private yards) at multiple scales. We assessed how service-based traits – traits capturing aspects of plant form and functions that urban residents find beneficial – differed across green space types, with implications for the distribution of ecosystem services across the urban landscape. Green space types displayed meaningful differences in tree diversity, structure, and service-based traits. For example, the inclusion of private trees contributed an additional 52 species (>30% of total species) not found in the local public tree inventory. Trees on private land also tended to be smaller than those in the public domain. Beyond patterns of tree richness, size, and abundance we also observed differences in the composition of tree species and service-based traits at site-scales, particularly between street rights-of way and private yards. While species composition varied considerably across street blocks, blocks were very similar to one another in terms of mean service-based traits. Contrastingly, while species composition was similar from yard to yard, yards differed significantly in mean service-based trait values. Our work emphasises that public tree inventories are unlikely to be fully representative of urban forest composition, structure, and benefits, with implications for urban forest management at larger spatial scales.     

Does pattern matter? Exploring the pathways and effects of urban green space on promoting life satisfaction through reducing air pollution

Urban green space is widely acknowledged to promote public health through multiple pathways. However, there is limited understanding of how the spatial patterns of green space might play different roles in such a process. This study examined potential pathways through which spatial patterns of green space improved people’s life satisfaction (LS) by reducing air pollution. A partial least squares structural equation model was adopted to explore these pathways in sampled urban areas (township) of China (n = 60). Green space spatial patterns were measured using landscape metrics of size, aggregation, fragmentation, and diversity. The results did not show that green space spatial pattern promoted LS by reducing air pollution. However, green space size and fragmentation were negatively associated with air pollution (mainly PM 2.5, PM 10, and NO 2). The pattern of highly densely distributed small green spaces was related to higher LS, as was high diversity of green space type. Simply adopting a fragmented green space pattern to reduce air pollution might be simultaneously associated with reduced LS. This alerts decision-makers and planners to the potential “double-edged sword” effect of optimizing green space structures to improve air quality, which may not yield strongly favorable results due to the impacts that hinder LS.     

Challenges of urban green space management in the face of using inadequate data

Effective urban planning, and urban green space management in particular, require proper data on urban green spaces. The potential of urban green spaces to provide benefits to urban inhabitants (ecosystem services) depends on whether they are managed as a comprehensive system of urban green infrastructure, or as isolated islands falling under the responsibility of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, different urban green space datasets are based on different definitions, data sources, sampling techniques, time periods and scales, which poses important challenges to urban green infrastructure planning, management and research. Using the case study of Lodz, the third largest city in Poland, and an additional analysis of 17 other Polish cities, we compare data from five publicly available sources: 1) public statistics, 2) the national land surveying agency, 3) satellite imagery (Landsat data), 4) the Urban Atlas, 5) the Open Street Map. The results reveal large differences in the total amount of urban green spaces in the cities as depicted in different datasets. In Lodz, the narrowly interpreted public statistics data, which are aspatial, suggest that green spaces account for only 12.8% of city area, while the most comprehensive dataset from the national land surveying agency reveals the figure of 61.2%. The former dataset, which excludes many types of green spaces (such as arable land, private and informal green spaces), is still the most commonly used. The analysis of the 17 other cities confirms the same pattern. This results in broader institutional failures related to urban green infrastructure planning, management, and research, including a lack of awareness of green space quality (e.g. connectivity) and benefits (ecosystem services), and the related political disregard for urban green spaces. Our comparison suggests that a better understanding of green space data sources is necessary in urban planning, and especially when planning urban green infrastructure.     

Vegetation color exposure differences at the community and individual levels: An explanatory framework based on the neighborhood effect averaging problem

Urban green spaces have multiple benefits, yet their distribution is often uneven. Studies on green inequality frequently adopt static exposure assessments, disregarding exposure during individual mobility, resulting in potential biases known as the neighborhood effect bias. Neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) shows that exposure based on personal mobility tends to be average for all participants, compared to exposure based on residence. This study examines the NEAP in the context of green inequality by considering the ornamental value of green space, specifically vegetation color diversity. Considering that vegetation color can attract attention and has health benefits, we hypothesized that it is a key feature related to NEAP, as residents may compensate for poor residential environment by accessing better environmental quality during daily mobility. To investigate this, we compared vegetation color exposure at community and individual levels, assessing whether NEAP exists. Our findings suggest that while communities with high economic levels had significantly higher exposure to vegetation color diversity, the exposure at the individual level tended to be average. Moreover, NEAP appears to be more of an issue when considering vegetation color diversity compared to a measure of total green space such as green view index. We acknowledge that due to the responsiveness of survey, the survey sample includes a higher proportion of the well-educated and employed individuals with potentially higher mobility, which may influence the results. Overall, this study provides supporting evidence for NEAP in the context of vegetation color exposure, but not green view index, emphasizing the critical role of enhancing the ornamental value of green space and strengthening the quality of green space in improving green inequality.     

The potential of school green areas to improve urban green connectivity and multifunctionality

Urban green infrastructure supports resilience in cities and promotes sustainable resource management. Small green areas, including school green areas (SGAs), are an important component of urban green infrastructure, playing a key role in supplying cities with educational services. This article describes how SGAs can amplify an urban green area's connectivity and multifunctionality. The analysis was performed in Bucharest as a case study. A survey based on questionnaires was used to obtain data regarding green spaces within public schools. A total of 411 administrators from 461 public schools participated in the survey for a response rate of 89.1%. Information from the questionnaires was augmented with spatial data of SGAs and public green spaces, i.e., parks and city gardens. Using parametric and nonparametric statistical analysis, we first identified the variables that determine an SGA's presence and size. Potential connectivity assessment results showed that most of the schools that lack or have small-sized SGAs have the possibility to cover their green space deficit by developing activities within nearby public green spaces. A structural connectivity assessment of SGAs toward other public urban green areas revealed that SGAs are an important element of the urban environment by serving as stepping stones to species flow. The multifunctionality of the SGAs was emphasized through the educational services they provide, being involved in pupils’ daily activities. The increased connectivity and multifunctionality of urban green infrastructure through small, specialized green areas, such as SGAs, is an indicator of the fact that such areas can be used to ameliorate the deficit of green space in major urban areas.     

城市公园绿地边缘效应及其影响研究

城市公园绿地与城市其他景观系统的交界处存在着边缘区,边缘区特殊的位置形成了不同于绿地内部的小环境,产生了边缘效应。边缘效应不仅影响公共绿地园林植物群落的稳定性,同时破坏了公共绿地景观的美观,边缘效应对城市公共绿地的作用还没有引起足够重视。通过对成都市东湖公园绿地边缘的植物调查,初步探讨了城市公园绿地的边缘效应及其产生的影响,并对抑制城市公园绿地边缘效应的影响提出了建议。