Contrasting Differences in the Utility of Green Space Accessibility of Major Large-Scale Cities

One of the Sustainable Development Goals is to provide universal access to green space for urban residents. Nevertheless, whether city dwellers can readily access green space remains unanswered physically and mentally. In this study, we introduce a novel concept, the utility of green space accessibility (GSAU), which integrates three existing indices: green space accessibility (GSA), green space accessibility inequality (GSAI), and travel aversion index (TAI). These indices assess the ease with which residents of 30 major Chinese cities can access green space, considering physical and mental terms. The study identifies contrasting differences in the GSAU between Chinese northern and southern zones. When the willingness of residents to travel is not considered, the cities in the eastern zone have higher GSA and greater GSAI compared to those in the western region. However, when considering the travel willingness of residents, these cities show a clear north-south geographical distribution the number of cities in the southern region with a GSAU higher than 0.6 (including ideal, annual, summer, and winter GSAU) is approximately twice that of northern cities. These findings highlight the need to consider residents' subjective travel willingness for green space based on environmental quality justice.