Evaluating the disparities in urban green space provision in communities with diverse built environments: The case of a rapidly urbanizing Chinese city

Urban green space (UGS) is often unevenly distributed in cities, which raises the issue of green justice. Previous studies have focused on evaluating the disparities in UGS provision across urban-rural gradients and inequities among heterogeneous social groups. However, few studies have considered the built environments in communities despite the potential for unprecedented rates of urbanization to exacerbate the living environment disparity within cities. Here, we assessed the disparities in UGS provision in communities with diverse built environments using a systematic framework incorporating availability, proximity, and desirability metrics. Specifically, we classified communities into six levels based on their spatial features such as patterns of development, scale, population density, and 'green' assets (e.g., private garden and tree-canopy coverage). Lorenz curves and the Gini index were employed to evaluate inequity, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the significant differences among different levels of community. Yangzhou city, China, was selected as a study case, and the results indicate that: (1) UGS is unevenly distributed, and communities located in the urban periphery have lower UGS provision; (2) Serious inequities in UGS provision are demonstrated, with a small proportion of the population having the greatest level of provision; (3) Significant disparities in UGS provision among different levels of community are revealed; generally, residents living in communities with a wellmaintained 'green' assets enjoy access to more major public UGS. Our study provides a novel perspective on quantifying UGS provision inequities. It can help guide decision-makers and planners to accurately target vulnerable groups (communities) and formulate effective policies and strategies to address green injustice.