Potential evaluation and implementation strategy for pocket park construction in high-density urban areas: A case study in Dalian, China

As an important element of urban renewal in highly urbanized areas, pocket parks with small size, flexible layout and daily accessibility are becoming a major component of green infrastructure and the mainstay of outdoor recreation space expansion in high-density urban centers. Nevertheless, the absence of a comprehensive framework for evaluating the potential of pocket park construction (PPC), one that integrates diverse influencing factors on a macro scale, has resulted in the random installation of such spaces, often failing to optimize the utilization of urban land. Addressing this critical lacuna, we propose an approach to evaluate PPC potential from a city-scale perspective, which is used to support the determination of which land units should be prioritized for PPC. A complete and feasible workflow was also established to identify potential land units, construct an index system for PPC combining demand and supply levels, quantitatively calculate indices based on remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS), accurately evaluate PPC potential using an entropy-weighted TOPSIS model, and develop targeted renewal strategies. A case study in Dalian, China, demonstrated the applicability and implications of the workflow. The results showed that it is flexible and easy to adapt to different local contexts, allowing evaluators to introduce parameters considering the availability of local data, and will help decision makers to build pocket parks in the most effective plots, providing a strong reference for high-quality development in other high-density urban centers facing the contradiction between ecological construction and land scarcity.