Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2006, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (1): 17-24.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2006.0003

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ACCESSIBILITY ANALYSIS OF URBAN GREEN SPACE IN JINAN

YIN Hai-Wei1(), KONG Fan-Hua2   

  1. 1 Department of Urban and Resources Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
    2 Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashi-hiroshima 739-8529, Japan
  • Received:2005-03-15 Accepted:2005-08-31 Online:2006-03-15 Published:2006-01-30

Abstract:

Urban green space is viewed as the last remnant of the nature in urban areas, and usually performs important ecological and socio-economic functions. In addition to protecting biodiversity, absorbing pollutants, and mitigating urban heat island, green spaces also can provide many social benefits such as amenity-recreation venues. Urban green spaces can usually play an important integrative social role if adequately designed and enhance urban livability from a social development perspective. There has been a surge in the concept of “eco-city", “garden city" and “sustainable city", and urban green spaces have become an important indicator of a city's character. Concomitantly, a series of evaluation systems were applied. However, most of these indictor systems lacked any social indicators about societal equity of urban green space. In this research, a quantitative method based on landscape accessibility of green space was put forward to improve the indictor systems.
Jinan was chosen as our case study. The basic landscape data were obtained from SPOT satellite images in the years of 1989, 1996 and 2004, and an urban green space map, a road network map and a watershed map were produced using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). Based on the concept and principle of landscape accessibility, a cost weighted distance analysis (in “Spatial Analyst" module of ARCMAP) was conducted to analyze the accessibility of urban green spaces, public parks and plaza-green space. Finally, the influencing factors for the spatio-temporal change of accessibility were explained in detail.
The results showed: 1) The methods used in this research were able to evaluate the distribution pattern and rationality of urban green space. 2) A comparison of urban green space accessibility across the three years indicated a significant overall increase. 3) The spatial pattern of accessibility also changed but still had high degrees of un-equilibrium and un-rationalization. 4) The main reasons for improved accessibility were increased urban green space area and patch numbers, a more balanced distribution pattern, and the gradually perfected road network. 5) Accessibility was an important indicator to weight the social equity of urban green space, which is an indicator of the satisfaction to all inhabitants. Accessibility is a necessary supplement to the indictor system presently used to evaluate eco-city. Recommendations for urban green space planning were put forth for government officials and planners to help optimize urban green space patterns in Jinan.

Key words: Urban green space, Accessibility, Cost weighted distance, Jinan