Assessing Green Space Potential Accessibility through Urban Artificial Building Data in Nanjing, China

Xindong Du, Xiaoke Zhang, Huan Wang, Xiaojuan Zhi and Jianyuan Huang
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Xindong Du: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Xiaoke Zhang: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Huan Wang: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Xiaojuan Zhi: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Jianyuan Huang: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-11

Abstract: Green spaces play an important role in improving the health and quality of life of urban residents, and environmental justice has become one of the most debated topics for scholars and governments in China. The accessibility of green space has been recognized as an effective method for the assessment of environmental justice. Population and green space are the two basic elements for evaluating green space accessibility. However, high-precision population data are difficult to obtain. To address this issue, we propose a straightforward method to assess green space accessibility using urban artificial building data and investigate how green space distribution is correlated with the population. Our analysis uses urban artificial building data and green space data from 2018 in Nanjing, China. The results show that the overall amount of green space, is not only very low, but also unevenly distributed. From the urban center to the city outskirts, the green space changed representing an M-shaped pattern, while the population sharply declined. Given the serious mismatch between the population and green space, only about 26.4% and 51.8% of Nanjing residents could access green space within 400 and 800 m, respectively, which was far below that in cities in developed countries. For residents’ wellbeing, governments must consider increasing green space provision and promoting equal access.

Keywords: green space; accessibility; spatial equity; environmental justice; urban artificial building data; Nanjing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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