Investigating the Serviceability of Urban Green Spaces from a Spatial Perspective: A Comparative Study Across 368 Cities on the Chinese Mainland

Assessing urban green spaces’ (UGSs) serviceability is crucial for ecosystems and well-being, but traditional approaches focus only on the quantity of UGSs while neglecting their spatial configuration or depend on region-specific data sources, significantly limiting their applicability for comprehensive assessments and comparisons of UGSs. To address this problem, we proposed a novel triangular indicator framework for evaluating UGS serviceability from a spatial perspective using public geospatial data. This framework integrated three independent indicators to capture the ecological value and residents’ utilization of UGSs and one composite indicator for the proportion of high-quality UGS services. Our approach was applied across 368 cities in mainland China, and significant geographical differences in UGS provision and usage equality were identified. Cities with similar UGS service characteristics were grouped using clustering, providing tailored improvement suggestions. Lastly, a regression analysis was conducted to compare the proposed indicator system with traditional metrics in relation to economic, demographic, and environmental satisfaction data, highlighting the advantages of our approach and its complementary role alongside traditional ones. This study offers a new method for large-scale UGS evaluation, aiding policymakers in refining UGS distribution, improving environmental equality, and formulating effective planning strategies to promote sustainable urban development.