Can smaller parks limit green gentrification? Insights from Hangzhou, China

•Cumulatively congested and polluted cities call for green space.•Conflict appears between appreciable green value and green gentrification.•Large green space is more likely to generate gentrification than small ones.•Suggest replacing large green space with scattered small ones in urban planning. Urban green spaces can improve residents’ health and well-being. However, international research shows that urban greening can produce gentrification effects. A dilemma for planners is determining whether the scale of greening or the characteristics of green spaces is driving gentrification. In this article, Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and field investigations are used to assess the potential gentrification effects of a new public green space in the urban central area of Hangzhou, China. Hangzhou is one of China’s ‘garden cities’, but rapid urbanization and climate change are increasing urban heat-island impacts, requiring large-scale urban greening. The two-stage CCA not only confirms the green gentrification phenomenon within the study area but suggests that large green spaces appear to foster gentrification due to their functional benefits, favorable policy support, elaborate embellishments, and strict management and maintenance regimes. Appropriate policy responses may include using a ‘just green enough’ approach: whereby distributed smaller green spaces, with less stringent maintenance could resolve the green gentrification paradox.