Exploring Options for Public Green Space Development: Research by Design and GIS-Based Scenario Modelling

Philip Stessens, Frank Canters and Ahmed Z. Khan
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Philip Stessens: Building, Architecture & Town Planning Department, Université libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Frank Canters: Cartography & GIS Research Group, Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Ahmed Z. Khan: Building, Architecture & Town Planning Department, Université libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-52

Abstract: Green spaces have a positive influence on human well-being. Therefore, an accurate evaluation of public green space provision is crucial for administrations to achieve decent urban environmental quality for all. Whereas inequalities in green space access have been studied in relation to income, the relation between neighbourhood affluence and remediation difficulty remains insufficiently investigated. A methodology is proposed for co-creating scenarios for green space development through green space proximity modelling. For Brussels, a detailed analysis of potential interventions allows for classification according to relative investment scales. This resulted in three scenarios of increasing ambition. Results of scenario modelling are combined with socio-economic data to analyse the relation between average income and green space proximity. The analysis confirms the generally accepted hypothesis that non-affluent neighbourhoods are on average underserved. The proposed scenarios reveal that the possibility of reaching a very high standard in green space proximity throughout the study area if authorities would be willing to allocate budgets for green space development that go beyond the regular construction costs of urban green spaces, and that the types of interventions require a higher financial investment per area of realised green space in non-affluent neighbourhoods.

Keywords: public green space; urban green; proximity; accessibility; scenario; GIS; decision support tool; sustainable urban development; environmental justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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