Abstract
Urban green space (UGS), as a form of green infrastructure, has been given increasing attention in urban planning and its policies. The quality of a UGS is fundamental for the sustainable development of the urban economy, society, environment, and quality of human life, although UGS is unevenly distributed within cities. Aiming to analyze the quality of UGS at the scale of Jiedaos in China, this paper took Haizhu district in Guangzhou as a case study based on collected data from 2010 and aerial imagery from 2012. The Urban Neighborhood Green Index (UNGI) was established by combining four weighted parameters: the green index (P1), the density of buildings (P2), proximity to green areas (P3) and building height (P4). Results from comparing with green index show that (1) the UNGI performed better for UGS planning due to its ability of uncovering impact of the built environment and its accessibility on quality of UGS; (2) the UGS has significant effects on neighbors, which underlies social inequity of UGS supply and presents rich information for urban planning and decision making; (3) a small green field attaching to a community plays a key role in fulfilling the need of neighbors for green space, fitness, and leisure in China, which is usually ignored due to the ownership of private property. It suggests recognizing UGS and improving its quality in old towns as well as improving urban villages characterized by poor quality of green space with green infrastructures. The UNGI can inform city planners regarding their consideration of UGS, and it can contribute to measurements of sustainability and the development of green infrastructure.
Highlights
Urbanization is dramatically changing the world and cities
Green infrastructure involves planning and policy, environmental and ecological focus, and social content, and it is associated with health and wellbeing, economic benefit, and urban green space (UGS) quality
To identify the current state of green infrastructure and analyze the quality of UGS at the scale of Jiedaos in China, a systematic quantitative analysis of UGS was undertaken using a set of green indices, collectively referred to as the Urban Neighborhood Green Index (UNGI)
Summary
The global urbanization rate is predicted to increase from 55% in 2018 to 68% over the 30 years, and overall growth in world population will add approximately 2.5 billion people to urban areas by the year of 2050 [1]. Urbanization in the modern age has had a huge impact on the environment, reducing green space and threatening human wellbeing. There is increased demand for urban green space (UGS) in urban areas [2,3]. Green infrastructure has been given increasing attention in urban planning and its policies, especially due to its ecological, environmental, and social contributions to planning and designing high-quality UGS. Green infrastructure provides various opportunities for improving public health and wellbeing, as well as the environment, economy, and society [5]. Green infrastructure is framed within the conceptual context of sustainability and focuses on UGS and its development [6]
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