Green space availability and socioeconomic indicators across Southeast Asia: revealing density-driven trade-offs in urban sustainability

This study explores the relationship between green space availability which is measured as both proportional land cover and per capita values, and socio-economic indicators across 129 regions in eight Southeast Asian countries. Using a cross-sectional and quantitative approach, the research assesses correlations between green space availability and key metrics such as the Human Development Index (HDI), GDP per capita, health index, and life expectancy. Data were sourced from Global Data Lab and mined from Google Earth Engine. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, multiple linear regression, and cluster analyses were applied to identify patterns and relationships. The findings highlight considerable differences in the amount of green space available per person across regions, with more developed areas generally having less green space per capita due to population pressures. Results show significant negative correlations between green space per capita and HDI (ρ = −0.6445, p < 0.05), GDP per capita (ρ = −5,492, p < 0.05), and health index (ρ = −0.6794, p < 0.05). Green space proportion also negatively correlated with HDI (ρ = −0.1345, p < 0.05). These results suggest that the observed negative relationships between green space and development are not necessarily indicative of a direct trade-off, highlighting the need to reinterpret green space indicators within rapidly urbanising Southeast Asian contexts. When population density is introduced as a control variable, these associations remain consistent, suggesting that density-related spatial pressures, rather than the absence of green space itself, largely drive these patterns.