Does urban sprawl lessen green space exposure? Evidence from Chinese cities

Maintaining universal exposure to green space is one of the crucial tasks in building livable cities. However, the prevalence of urban expansion in the past few decades worldwide has resulted in uneven exposure to green space as a spatial concomitant of disordered urban development. Previous literature has mainly focused on examining the impacts of biophysical conditions, socio-economic development, and institutional capacity in shaping green space exposure, with little attention given to the role of urban sprawl. To address the gap, we developed a conceptual framework to explore the relationships between urban sprawl and green space exposure. We then used Amap real-time accessibility model, landscape metrics, and regression models to examine whether urban sprawl can lessen green space exposure in Chinese cities. Statistically, it is clear that southern and southeastern cities, as well as those at higher administrative levels, have greater green space exposure, while eastern and smaller cities tend to exhibit urban sprawl. Furthermore, we partially confirmed that urban sprawl can lessen green space exposure, especially in dispersed and fragmented Chinese cities. This result can be attributed to planning strategies that prioritize city cores over suburban areas. However, this is not the case for complex urban forms. We speculate that this finding is linked to the universal characteristics of unsystematic growth and edge development in Chinese cities. This work may provide insights for planners and decision-makers in coordinating green space planning with urban development trajectories.