Assessing the social equity of urban parks: An improved index integrating multiple quality dimensions and service accessibility

Urban parks are important social resources that can promote the physical and mental health of visitors. Concerns over adverse effects brought by the inequitable distribution of park resources are increasing worldwide. Many studies have used park accessibility to address this environmental inequity issue by focusing on populations with varying socioeconomic statuses and racial/ethnic compositions across regions. However, the inequities caused by differences in park quality are under-represented in these studies, especially for minority groups such as elderly individuals, children and unemployed individuals. Thus, this study proposes an improved environmental equity assessment that integrates park accessibility and multidimensional park quality, which includes aesthetic features (AFs), facilities for recreation (FRs), facilities for convenience (FCs), and a total score (TS). The results indicate that FCs related to people's basic needs are the most accessible service in Shanghai's urban parks, followed by AFs and FRs. According to the improved index, as with high socio-economic groups, areas with more elderly and unemployed people have easier access to better-quality urban parks; unfortunately, the opposite is true for children. Our findings also suggest that the priority of urban park planning and management is supply and demand balance, followed by improvements and adjustments of park quality. The proposed index could be used as a useful tool to facilitate the enhancement of social equity in urban park planning and management. •An environmental equity assessment that integrates park accessibility and multidimensional park quality is proposed.•Where accessibility is good, improvements to park quality are important to create an equitable park environment.•In Shanghai's central city, children may be a vulnerable group in terms of access to good urban park resources.