Reframing the index system of urban green space planning toward public health in China: problems and solutions

Although substantial epidemiological studies have demonstrated positive correlations between urban green space and health, it is still common to see such land being used for other purposes in China. As a result, public health issues have deteriorated, imposing a pressing demand for urban green space. A health-oriented index system of urban green space planning could serve not only to protect such zones from being encroached upon, but also as a metric to assess its effectiveness in promoting public health. In this paper, we focus on the characteristics of urban green space that can generate health-related benefits through cultural ecosystem services (such as increasing outdoor physical activities). According to the literature review, the factors that describe these characteristics can be summarized under three categories: (1) accessibility, (2) availability, and (3) self-features. By referring to this, we compare our tool with China’s current index system (generalized from four case cities) of urban green space planning to identify the ignored and overlooked indicators. Then, we discuss the underlying causes from two angles: (1) value-orientation and (2) a planning framework. In the end, we propose a health-oriented index system, followed by a ‘5W2H1E’ framework to support its practical application.