Exploring the relationship between quality of living and green spaces in cities: Evidence from an Indian megacity region of global south

Green space (GS) provides a number of environmental and social benefits to the urban residents and these GS are very crucial for a sustainable urban environment and human well-being. However, spatial distributions of GS are rarely uniform over the space, thus creating green injustice. In this, an attempt has been made to assess the relationship between quality of living (QLI) and GS developing greenness Index (GI) across the urban centers in the Kolkata megacity region (KMR), Eastern India. Eighteen variables under three domains were selected to develop the QLI, and three remote sensing indices were used to develop the quality of GS Correlation anslysis was carried out to assess the relationship between QL and GS. Explanatory factor analysis was used to understand the association between factors affecting QL and GS. The Gini coefficient (GC) was used to measure the spatial equity of GS across urban centers. The findings showed that there was a negative correlation between QLI and GI (-0.278). The urban centers with 'very high' and 'high' QLI were characterized by 'very low' and 'low' GI. Most of the urban centers around Kolkata were characterized by 'very high' and 'high' QLI and 'very low and 'low' GI. GS results showed that there was an inequality of GS distribution across the urban centers in KMR. The findings suggest that GS in the cities should be increased and improved for GS justice by enhancing per capita availability and accessibility.