Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering (Oct 2023)
Towards a Fairer Green city: measuring unfairness in daily accessible greenery in Chengdu’s central city
Abstract
Urban green spaces exert beneficial effects on both individuals and communities. However, as urban sprawl intensifies, socioeconomic disparities widen, and populations burgeon, the concepts of green fairness and environmental justice confront substantial hurdles. The daily exposure to greenery emerges as a crucial determinant of these factors, yet no comprehensive methodologies currently exist to gauge the levels of daily accessible urban greenery or to probe the distribution of green inequities. In this research, we harness the capabilities of Spatial Design Network Analysis (sDNA) to scrutinize spatial choice and integration, using the metropolis of Chengdu as a case study. Three indicators representing daily accessed urban greenery are utilized, including the Green View Index (GVI) at the street level, the assessment of green spaces based on the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the level of greenery within the visible range of buildings. Green Accessibility Index (GAI) was further proposed and calculated for three states of commuting, recreation, and work to synthesize the accessibility and greenness levels. The distribution of green unfairness in the study area are evaluated using bivariate local spatial autocorrelation. Our findings reveal that (1) frequent expressway commuting and existing greenery does not satisfy urban fairness needs. (2) Significant differences in unfair areas of building visible greenery (3) Unfair areas are concentrated in high-income neighborhoods (4) Severe unfairness between greenery and population in large cities, where most people do not enjoy the benefits of adequate greenery. We provide recommendations based on these findings, thereby offering actionable insights to optimize the spatial distribution of green unfairness through enhanced accessibility of urban greenery.
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