Abstract: Urban parks have broad benefits in promoting public health of urban residents and advancing urban sustainable development. The equity of urban park spatial allocation has a great significance for maintaining environmental justice. However, the current researches on the equity of urban park spatial allocation still focus on the quantity and geographical equality but pay less attention on the equity of quality and accessibility of spatial allocation. Based on the approach of environmental justice, with the main urban area of Nanjing as an example, we comprehensively analyzed the equity pattern of urban park spatial allocation from the three dimensions (six parameters), including park accessibility, area and quality. Integrated analysis methods were adopted, including internet map service for accessibility analysis, subjective and objective comprehensive quality evaluation, spatial autocorrelation and non-parametric test. The results showed that the spatial allocation pattern of urban parks in the study area had obvious core-edge characteristics. There was a certain degree of inequity in park accessibility, area and quality, with a relatively significant pattern of environmental injustice. There were significant differences in the inequity of six parameters in the three dimensions, with the accessibility score and accessible park area showing the most prominent inequity. The minimum time required to reach the park and the quality of the nearest urban park took the second place in inequity. The quantity of high-quality urban park and minimum time required to reach the high-quality urban park showed relatively small difference. The average values of accessibility score, total area and quality of urban parks accessible to high-income communities were 3.7, 2.7, and 1.6 times that of low-income communities, respectively. The results indicated that high-income communities enjoyed better accessibility, larger area and higher quality in terms of urban parks. Middle-income communities enjoyed the most prominent advantage of green space, while most low-income communities were unable to reach a high-quality urban park within 30 min’s walk. Our results could provide a decision-making basis and planning reference for the optimal configuration and rational planning of urban parks in China.

Key words: environmental justice, urban park, spatial equity, accessibility, park quality