Urban Parks Quality Assessment Using Multi-Dimension Indicators in Chengdu, China

Abstract

High-quality urban parks are considered an integral part of health resources as they can deliver diverse ecosystem services. However, the quality of parks is not always similar, resulting in different levels and values of the services provided. A systematic and complete assessment frame of urban park quality is limited. From the perspective of landscape architecture and design, this study aims to propose a comprehensive assessment framework of urban park quality based on six dimensions (planning and design, cultural services, complete and various facilities, landscape planting, landscape management, and landscape ecology), consisting of 27 indicators with different weights by using the objective and subjective weighting method. Taking the city of Chengdu, China as a case study, 100 urban parks are studied via field investigation and scored using methods that consist of a category count, existence score, field measurement, experts score, and photo review and recheck (13,589 images). The results reveal the spatial distribution and differences in park quality, including six quality dimensions and five districts, and the proportion of the existing quality elements in 100 parks. Based on the results, the spatial areas (Barren area, Low-quality area, Medium-quality area, and High-quality area) are identified, which leads to the establishment of the improvement strategies of spatial equity regarding multi-quality parks. The results can help improve the assessment index system of urban parks, guide the landscape planning and design of urban parks for sustainability, as well as provide a reference for future environmental and social equity development, so as to provide insight and reference for decision-makers and designers considering the landscape planning and design of parks.

Keywords

• urban parks
• park quality
• assessment framework
• environmental equity
• landscape planning and design
• landscape architecture