Assessing the spatial distribution of urban parks using GIS

The total area of urban parks in Seoul is approximately 158 km2 which is fairly large compared to those in other cities around the world. Although this figure may seem favorable, in actuality major portions of the parks in the city are located in outer areas so that frequent opportunities to visit them are relatively minimal. Such disparity between statistics and actual usability comes mainly from the inconvenient location of the parks.Using the network analysis method of GIS, this study analyzed pedestrian accessibility to urban parks in Seoul and the subsequent serviceability of the parks. Study results indicated that first, the total service area of the urban parks identified by network analysis was 249 km2, which was approximately half of the service area analyzed by the conventional simple buffering method. Next, the spatial distribution of parks in the five sub-regions (northwest, northeast, central, southwest, and southeast) of Seoul was then evaluated in terms of serviceability indices—i.e. service area ratio, service population ratio, and service floor area ratio. Finally, urban parks in Seoul were found to have been inadequately distributed in relation to population, land use, and development density. Park serviceability in the northern part of the city in particular was determined to be the most problematic. Considering the actual locations of parks and the corresponding local population and land use, the approach conducted in this study provided practical ways of understanding and managing spatial distribution of urban parks.