Spatial Analysis of Accessibility to Urban Green Spaces in Northern Neighbourhoods of Riyadh

Access to green spaces considering urban development and urban sprawl provides people with better health conditions. In addition, the presence of green spaces for urban residents enhances well-being, public health and environmental justice. Therefore, there is a need to assess the quality of green spaces to ensure their level of accessibility. This study aims to assess the quality of green spaces in terms of accessibility in the new residential neighbourhoods north of Riyadh city. Using GIS, three distances of 300, 500, and 700 meters were chosen as a criterion for measuring accessibility as they are recommended measurements in previous studies. The proposed approach to assessing accessibility is based on spatial analysis using buffering and GIS network analysis. The results showed: that 28% of the study area within 700 meters of the spatial campus has accessibility. As for the results of using network analysis by service domain to calculate accessibility, 9.8% of the area has access. Accordingly, the study recommends further enhancing of access to green spaces in neighbourhoods that lack it by increasing the urban green spaces of the residential neighbourhood and expanding the existing spaces.