Spatial Equity Measure on Urban Ecological Space Layout Based on Accessibility of Socially Vulnerable Groups—A Case Study of Changting, China

Abstract

Abstract:The improper layout of urban public parks leads to the difference between citizens sharing or not sharing this kind of public resource, particularly in the historical districts of mountainous cities in China. The purpose of this study is to explore the spatial equity and quantitative measures of urban public parks' layouts by building a demand index of socially vulnerable groups sharing public parks based on the accessibility evaluation model. In this paper, Changting-a famous national historical and cultural city-is taken as the empirical object, then the accessibility and social equity of public parks is quantitatively measured with the aid of the field investigation method, the spatial analysis model of geographic information system (GIS) and the SPSS statistical analysis method. The results indicate that it is feasible to measure the spatial equity of urban public parks with the accessibility and demand index of socially vulnerable groups, and it can effectively characterize the rationality and social equity of urban ecological space. It shows that a degree of spatial mismatch exists between the distribution of urban public parks and that of residents, that is to say the spatial distribution of public parks is not equitable in terms of accessibility or residents' demands. Therefore, the data suggest that the spatial patterns and accessibility levels of parks in Changting County-especially the historical districts-should be further improved and perfected to achieve high levels of accessibility and equity through urban green space system planning. The paper may be used as a scientific reference for the planning and construction of ecological urban spaces. It can also provide useful decision-making guidance for urban planners in investigating, analyzing, and adjusting the distribution of public service facilities to achieve equitable outcomes, while promoting the harmonious and sustainable development of mountainous cities.

Analyzing the Level of Accessibility of Public Urban Green Spaces to Different Socially Vulnerable Groups of People

“…Introduction to green spaces facilitates physical exercise and upgrades emotional wellness and the mental condition of elderly individuals [27][28][29]. The financial status of different groups has been examined to investigate the social value of green spaces; it was discovered that the high-income, white, and highly educated bunches living in the top networks had more access to green spaces [30,31], while socially vulnerable groups, such as working class, ethnic minority, and low-income groups [30] had less access to green space. The earlier literature has discussed the spatial equity layout of urban green public parks.…”

“…The earlier literature has discussed the spatial equity layout of urban green public parks. More consideration is given to the value of parks' openness and free market activity [31] coordinating between various networks for vulnerable groups, e.g., the elderly in China. A few studies have asserted that the objective is to have a similar openness of minority groups and non-minority bunches in the network and even to offer a larger amount of availability [31] for low-income inhabitants in spatial dispersion in Western nations [32].…”

Social-Spatial Accessibility to Urban Educational Resources under the School District System: A Case Study of Public Primary Schools in Nanjing, China

“…Indeed, research on the fairness of urban public service in developed countries has gone through three stages: spatial balance of facility distribution, fairness of opportunity availability, and social equity of resource allocation [39][40][41]. Both spatial accessibility and social accessibility should be considered in measuring urban educational resource accessibility in China.…”

Study of the Impact of a High-Speed Railway Opening on China’s Accessibility Pattern and Spatial Equality

“…Presently, the research on urban transportation accessibility includes scale, transportation methods [15,16], and modeling [17]. It also focuses on the importance of transportation networks in optimizing land use [18,19], patterns of tourism [20,21], housing prices [22], and the formation of a regional economic system [23]. Many studies have been primarily based on raster cost weighting and network analyses [24,25].…”