The relationships between the quantity and structure of urban green space and the population density of conurbations: a national scale analysis from Japan

Abstract

In Japan, many previous studies on the relationships between population density and the quantity and structure of urban green space have adopted municipal boundaries as an analytical unit. While these studies can evaluate municipality-based policies, they cannot capture conurbation, which is the expansion of urban areas beyond municipal boundaries. In order to evaluate the quality and accessibility of urban green space, it is necessary to capture this conurbation. In this study, we used the Global Human Settlement Layer to investigate the relationships. As a result, it was found that the population density did not show a negative correlation with the quantity of urban green space as reported in previous studies. We also found that the structure of green space was significantly related to population density.