Internationally Validated Open Access Indicators of Large Public Urban Green Space for Healthy and Sustainable Cities

ABSTRACT Large public urban green spaces (LPUGS) provide multiple health and environmental co‐benefits by mitigating urban heat, improving air quality and biodiversity, and promoting physical activity, social interactions, and mental wellbeing. There is a lack of accessible, evidence‐informed, and internationally validated LPUGS indicators to assist with benchmarking and monitoring progress toward healthy and sustainable cities globally. This study developed and validated internationally applicable spatial indicators of LPUGS availability and accessibility that are directly relevant to health and sustainability outcomes. For 13 cities across 10 middle‐ to high‐income countries, we identified LPUGS ≥ 1 ha by fusing OpenStreetMap and satellite‐derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data, and estimated residents' access within 500 m pedestrian network distance. We conducted a two‐step validation process with local collaborators in each city. Our indicator methods identified LPUGS with greater than 80% accuracy for 12 of the 13 cities, and comparisons against official local reference data for four cities further demonstrated validity. While some open data limitations were identified, the indicators address critical gaps in existing methods by enabling standardized and comparable measurement of LPUGS in diverse cities internationally. Our customizable open‐source global indicator tools can inform evidence‐based green space planning for urban health and sustainability.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geographical Analysis
Published
2025-09-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.70023
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Urban Green Space and Health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.40

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article

Internationally Validated Open Access Indicators of Large Public Urban Green Space for Healthy and Sustainable Cities

Melanie Lowe, Deepti Adlakha, Shiqin Liu, Vuokko Heikinheimo et al.
2 citations
Geographical Analysis
Urban Green Space and Health
2.40
article

Internationally Validated Open Access Indicators of Large Public Urban Green Space for Healthy and Sustainable Cities

Melanie Lowe, Deepti Adlakha, Shiqin Liu, Vuokko Heikinheimo, Ryan Turner, Ruth Fiona Hunter, Júlio Celso Borello Vargas, C. O. De La Garza, Geoff Boeing, Ana Queralt, Mahtab Baghaie Poor, Rossano Schifanella, Anna Puig‐Ribera, Ester Cerin, Eugen Reséndiz, Erica Hinckson, Carl Higgs, Joanna Sara Valson, Javier Molina‐García, Deborah Salvo, Ruoyu Chen, Giovani Longo Rosa, Pau Serra del Pozo, Daria Pugacheva
article en
2 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Large public urban green spaces (LPUGS) provide multiple health and environmental co‐benefits by mitigating urban heat, improving air quality and biodiversity, and promoting physical activity, social interactions, and mental wellbeing. There is a lack of accessible, evidence‐informed, and internationally validated LPUGS indicators to assist with benchmarking and monitoring progress toward healthy and sustainable cities globally. This study developed and validated internationally applicable spatial indicators of LPUGS availability and accessibility that are directly relevant to health and sustainability outcomes. For 13 cities across 10 middle‐ to high‐income countries, we identified LPUGS ≥ 1 ha by fusing OpenStreetMap and satellite‐derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data, and estimated residents' access within 500 m pedestrian network distance. We conducted a two‐step validation process with local collaborators in each city. Our indicator methods identified LPUGS with greater than 80% accuracy for 12 of the 13 cities, and comparisons against official local reference data for four cities further demonstrated validity. While some open data limitations were identified, the indicators address critical gaps in existing methods by enabling standardized and comparable measurement of LPUGS in diverse cities internationally. Our customizable open‐source global indicator tools can inform evidence‐based green space planning for urban health and sustainability.

Geographical AnalysisVol. 57(4)
Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (ES), University of Southern California (US), Queen's University Belfast (GB), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR), Minnesota Department of Transportation (US), Institute for Scientific Interchange (IT), Universitat de València (ES), Austin Community College (US), Finnish Environment Institute (FI), Auckland University of Technology (NZ), MIT University (MK), Institute for Research in Biomedicine (ES), Institute for the Future (US), Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), University of Turin (IT), Technical University of Munich (DE), RMIT University (AU), Australian Catholic University (AU), Delft University of Technology (NL), Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX)
University of Texas at Austin, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, RMIT University, AXA Research Fund, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Strategic Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Urban Green Space and Health
2.40
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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