IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i6p1183-d1668460.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Green Space More Equitable in High-Income Areas? A Case Study of Hangzhou, China

Author

Listed:
  • Shuqi Du

    (School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Yangyang Sun

    (Zhejiang Neusense Smart Science and Technology Ltd., Hangzhou 310012, China)

  • Hao Yang

    (School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Miaoyan Liu

    (Zhejiang Neusense Smart Science and Technology Ltd., Hangzhou 310012, China)

  • Jianuan Tang

    (School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Guang Hu

    (School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Yuan Tian

    (Zhejiang Neusense Smart Science and Technology Ltd., Hangzhou 310012, China)

Abstract

Urban green spaces are essential for public health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of their equitable distribution in urban development. Despite efforts to expand green spaces, however, significant disparities persist between their spatial and social allocation. This study classified urban green spaces into community parks, urban parks, and country parks, and examined the relationship of their green coverage and park accessibility to neighborhood property prices in Hangzhou. We then assessed the urban green space equity using Gini coefficients. We found that (1) urban green space inequities occurred in both green coverage and accessibility; (2) high-priced neighborhoods occupied more green resources, especially green coverage and community park accessibility, but exhibited less green equity; and (3) low-priced neighborhoods and urban villages had the lowest green resources but more equity for country parks. This study highlights the relationship between property price (as a proxy for income) and urban green space equity at the neighborhood scale. The results offer guidance for policymakers and planners aiming to promote green equity and sustainable development in cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuqi Du & Yangyang Sun & Hao Yang & Miaoyan Liu & Jianuan Tang & Guang Hu & Yuan Tian, 2025. "Is Green Space More Equitable in High-Income Areas? A Case Study of Hangzhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1183-:d:1668460
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1183/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1183/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xia, Nan & Cheng, Liang & Chen, Song & Wei, XiaoYan & Zong, WenWen & Li, ManChun, 2018. "Accessibility based on Gravity-Radiation model and Google Maps API: A case study in Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 178-190.
    2. Bin Chen & Shengbiao Wu & Yimeng Song & Chris Webster & Bing Xu & Peng Gong, 2022. "Contrasting inequality in human exposure to greenspace between cities of Global North and Global South," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Jiayu Wu & Qingsong He & Yunwen Chen & Jian Lin & Shantong Wang, 2020. "Dismantling the fence for social justice? Evidence based on the inequity of urban green space accessibility in the central urban area of Beijing," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(4), pages 626-644, May.
    4. Qidi Dong & Heng Lu & Xiaohong Luo & Pengman He & Di Li & Linjia Wu & Yundi Wei & Xuli Chen, 2023. "Evaluation and Optimization of Green Space Fairness in Urban Built-Up Areas Based on an Improved Supply and Demand Model: A Case Study of Chengdu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    5. Li Shang & Xiaoling Zhang & Decai Tang & Xiaoxue Ma & Chunfeng Lu, 2023. "The Impact of Housing Support Expenditure on Urban Residents’ Consumption—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Jong-Won Lee & Sang-Woo Lee & Hai Gyong Kim & Hyun-Kil Jo & Se-Rin Park, 2023. "Green Space and Apartment Prices: Exploring the Effects of the Green Space Ratio and Visual Greenery," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-13, November.
    7. Siqi Chen & Martin Knöll, 2024. "Environmental Justice in the Context of Access to Urban Green Spaces for Refugee Children," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Yan Sun & Somidh Saha & Heike Tost & Xiangqi Kong & Chengyang Xu, 2022. "Literature Review Reveals a Global Access Inequity to Urban Green Spaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kelei Li & Wenpeng Du & Zhiqi Yang & Huimin Yan & Yutong Mu, 2024. "Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Urban Green Space in Chengdu Urban Center under Rapid Urbanization: From the Policy-Oriented Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Jianwei Li & Yun Chen & Dan Zhao & Jiagang Zhai, 2024. "The Impact of Built Environment on Mixed Land Use: Evidence from Xi’an," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Siqi Lai & Brian Deal, 2022. "Parks, Green Space, and Happiness: A Spatially Specific Sentiment Analysis Using Microblogs in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. König, Christian & Salomo, Katja & Helbig, Marcel, 2024. "Understanding Variation in Neighbourhood Environmental Inequalities: The Influence of Residential Segregation, Gentrification, and other City-Level Factors," SocArXiv j4tf2, Center for Open Science.
    5. Ina Falfán & Luis Zambrano, 2023. "Lacustrine Urban Blue Spaces: Low Availability and Inequitable Distribution in the Most Populated Cities in Mexico," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Yuxiang Li & Jens-Christian Svenning & Weiqi Zhou & Kai Zhu & Jesse F. Abrams & Timothy M. Lenton & William J. Ripple & Zhaowu Yu & Shuqing N. Teng & Robert R. Dunn & Chi Xu, 2024. "Green spaces provide substantial but unequal urban cooling globally," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Benjamin Guinaudeau & Mark Brink & Beat Schäffer & Martin A. Schlaepfer, 2023. "A Methodology for Quantifying the Spatial Distribution and Social Equity of Urban Green and Blue Spaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Bangyu Liu & Ning Qiu & Tianjie Zhang, 2023. "Accessibility of Elderly Care Facilities Based on Social Stratification: A Case Study in Tianjin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, January.
    9. Yuanyuan Zhu & Rui Zhang & Jiaxing Cui, 2022. "Spatial Differentiation and Influencing Factors in the Ecological Well-Being Performance of Urban Agglomerations in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River: A Hierarchical Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, October.
    10. Wajeeha Raza & Laura Bojke & Peter A. Coventry & Peter James Murphy & Helen Fulbright & Piran C. L. White, 2024. "A Systematic Review of the Impact of Changes to Urban Green Spaces on Health and Education Outcomes, and a Critique of Their Applicability to Inform Economic Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(11), pages 1-16, October.
    11. Wang, Ruoyu & Cao, Mengqiu & Yao, Yao & Wu, Wenjie, 2022. "The inequalities of different dimensions of visible street urban green space provision: A machine learning approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    12. Zhen Yin & Lifei Wang & Zhen Xu, 2025. "Retrofit-Oriented Large Parks’ Walking-Shed Evaluation—A Case Study of Rizhao, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-22, February.
    13. Zelin Zhang & Xiaomin Tang & Yun Wang, 2023. "Evaluation of the Intergenerational Equity of Public Open Space in Old Communities: A Case Study of Caoyang New Village in Shanghai," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-26, July.
    14. Juliana Melo & Ana Isabel Ribeiro & Susana Aznar & Andreia Pizarro & Maria Paula Santos, 2021. "Urban Green Spaces, Greenness Exposure and Species Richness in Residential Environments and Relations with Physical Activity and BMI in Portuguese Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-14, June.
    15. Bin Xu & Qingxia Shi & Yaping Zhang, 2022. "Evaluation of the Health Promotion Capabilities of Greenway Trails: A Case Study in Hangzhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-21, April.
    16. Jan Cudzik & Michał Nessel, 2024. "Computational Approach towards Repetitive Design Tasks: The Case Study of Parking Lot Automated Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.
    17. Yi-Ya Hsu & Zih-Hong Lin & Chong-En Li, 2023. "Realising the Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 in the post-pandemic era – A case study of Taiwan," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(1), pages 162-181, January.
    18. Cheng, Long & Chen, Yuheng & He, Shengyu & Wang, Zheyuan & Jin, Tanhua & Yang, Min, 2025. "Comparing accessibility to high-speed rail stations by public transit and cars: A national-scale analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    19. Sławomir Goliszek, 2021. "GIS tools and programming languages for creating models of public and private transport potential accessibility in Szczecin, Poland," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 115-137, January.
    20. Eivind Tveter, 2023. "The value of travel time: a revealed preferences approach using exogenous variation in travel costs and automatic traffic count data," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 2273-2297, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1183-:d:1668460. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.