How do mini-parks serve in groups? A visit analysis of mini-park groups in the neighbourhoods of Nanjing

Abstract

The smaller size of mini-parks in relation to conventional parks makes them a flexible and adaptable greening option for high-density neighbourhoods, despite limiting their individual service capacity. Consequently, some densely populated cities have developed clusters of mini-parks to meet intense recreational demands. We endeavoured to study the factors that support visits to mini-park groups, rather than to individual parks, taking 106 mini-park groups within Nanjing as samples. We utilised Tencent user density (TUD) data to trace the visit intensity of these groups and integrated multi-source data to measure their internal and external features. By establishing a regression model series, we investigated how the mini-park groups' internal amenities, proximity to surrounding recreation-related facilities, neighbourhood features, and layout affected their visit intensity over time (day/night, week/weekend). The results showed that larger open sites, proximate restaurants, higher density of commerce, offices and residents, and higher housing prices promoted visits, whereas greater neighbourhood green coverage discouraged visits. We also found that the service provision of most mini-park groups in Nanjing was inefficient or unbalanced, and that most mini-parks within a group worked competitively rather than complementarily. These findings can inform future decision making and mini-park planning in Nanjing and similar cities.