Exploring the impact of cultural opportunities and cultural perception on spatial equity of pocket parks in Guangzhou Liwan old town

Social equity and environmental justice are essential for achieving sustainable urbanisation in developing countries. In densely populated and land-scarce areas, pocket parks provide a practical solution for increasing green space supply. This research establishes an opportunity measurement method based on cultural coefficients and a cultural perception evaluation system combining the Semantic Differential Method (SD) and the integration of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the entropy method. Using 104 pocket parks in Liwan Old Town as case studies, the feasibility of these methods was validated. Lorenz curves, Gini coefficients, location entropy, and spatial autocorrelation analysis were employed to compare the overall spatial equity and spatial distribution patterns of cultural opportunities and cultural perception. Results indicate that the spatial equity of cultural perception is higher than that of cultural opportunities, revealing a mismatch between the spatial supply of cultural resources and their experiential realization. In the old town with distinct local characteristics, pocket parks provide abundant cultural opportunities, but their cultural perception is constrained by park construction and maintenance conditions. This research explores the role and impact of local culture in achieving green equity. The findings can be applied to similar old towns with rich local contexts to identify development potential in the early stages of pocket park planning and design, providing a reference for future decision-making.