Public transportation and the spatial inequality of urban park accessibility: New evidence from Hong Kong

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate the spatial accessibility of urban parks for residents living in large public and large private housing estates in Hong Kong. The gravity model was used to calculate the urban park accessibility for every housing estate using different transportation modes (walking, bus, mass transit railway). Google Maps API real-time travel data were used to estimate a series of regression models. We found that public transportation reduced travel time to urban parks for all residents, while it significantly increased the spatial inequality of urban park accessibility between public and private housing residents. We concluded that the spatial inequality of public park accessibility between public and private housing residents in Hong Kong did not owe to the spatial distribution of the urban parks or of the residential locations. The evidence suggested that the spatial inequality was largely attributable to differences in the accessibility and connectivity of public transportation between public housing estates and urban parks.