Urban public spaces are an essential component of everyday life in urban communities, and micro public spaces have become an important vehicle for improving living environment quality and enhancing ecological benefits in community renewal within built-up areas. From an economic perspective, this study focuses on the quantification of carbon value generated through the renewal of micro public spaces. Four micro public spaces of comparable size but differing locational and functional characteristics, completed in Wuhan in 2023, were selected as case studies. Plant carbon sequestration was estimated using the biomass expansion factor method combined with field-based forestry surveys, while indirect emission reduction associated with residents’ outdoor activities was assessed through spatiotemporal observations of user behavior. These results were further translated into carbon value based on China’s carbon trading standards to support comparative analysis and design-oriented recommendations. The results indicate that direct sequestration significantly outweighs indirect reduction: the carbon storage density of trees ranges from 0.40 to 1.97 kg/m2, with the total storage of HRP reaching 11,587.36 kg; in contrast, annual indirect reduction from resident activities is only 1.34–141.19 kg. Carbon sequestration performance is strongly influenced by the presence of large trees, while micro public spaces located in newly developed and commercial areas exhibit substantially lower emission reduction efficiency than those in older and densely populated residential neighborhoods. In addition, the functional attributes of micro public spaces shape age-specific use patterns, thereby significantly affecting emission reduction outcomes. Based on these findings, targeted optimization strategies for micro public space renewal are proposed to support people-oriented, sustainable, and systematic low-carbon urban regeneration.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.