Spatial Equity of Urban Park Distribution: Examining the Floating Population within Urban Park Catchment Areas in the Context of the 15-Minute City

Urban parks, as major components of green infrastructure, have contributed to natural landscape preservation, ecosystem service provision, residents’ physical and mental health enhancement, and social cohesion intensification, under the emphasis on the need for sustainable urban development. However, urban parks have been insufficiently and inappropriately created in the process of the urban space expansion and population density increase, necessitating their equitable distribution and access. This study aimed to analyze the distribution characteristics of a total of 354 urban parks in Seoul, South Korea, utilizing the estimates of floating population derived from big data and the urban park catchment areas, in the context of the 15-minute city. Its 25 districts were classified into the following four types based on the relationship between the area and the population ratios for the 600 m and 900 m catchment areas: Type 1 parks were equitably distributed with well-matched supply and demand; Type 2 parks had an uneven distribution due to insufficient supply and excessive demand; Type 3 parks were inadequately distributed with both supply and demand below average; and Type 4 parks had a mismatch between sufficient supply and unfulfilled demand. This study suggested strategies to improve the spatial equity of urban parks for each type, including qualitative improvement, quantitative increase, redistribution, and accessibility optimization tactics.