Assessment of Spatial Equity of Public Urban Parks Distribution in Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

To flourish, cities must have enough open green space and parks. Public urban parks distribution, their size, accessibility and equity are the key elements in fostering the city sustainability. Peshawar a provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is one of the rapidly expanding urban centers of Pakistan. To cater the needs of growing population large numbers of residential colonies are emerging on the cost of open spaces and green patches. This study is aimed to analyze the distribution and spatial equity of existing parks of Peshawar using field surveys, visual observations, mapping and buffering satellite imageries through computer added design methods. The results revealed that presently 209.89 ha land is covered by parks which is only 1.89% of the total urban area. The study also explored the inequitable distribution of parks in city and emphasizing the development of new accessible parks on equity basis especially in the deprived areas.