Identifying Green Gentrification in Chongqing Central Park Based on Price Feature Model

Abstract

As part of urban planning, urban greening plays a significant role in mediating urban development and improving quality of life for residents. However, studies have indicated that urban greening efforts may result in green gentrification, in which the creation of urban green spaces improve the quality of life of residents on the one hand, and increases the house prices in the surrounding area, thereby preventing low-income residents enjoying the ecological environment benefits. Even though, there are only a few studies that examine the connection between green gentrification and urban greenery in China. Moreover, there is a need for further investigation into the manifestations and characteristics of green gentrification and whether it always results in displacement. Therefore, we chose Chongqing Central Park as the study area. The results demonstrated that the house prices have increased exponentially over the past ten years in this area, the neighborhood is largely populated by middle- and high-income individuals, and residents who were more than 30 minutes away from the park no longer enjoyed it as often. By using a price feature model, ecological, architectural, and neighborhood features were correlated with house prices, and it was found that the distance to the park correlated more significantly with house prices. As a result, Chongqing Central Park area has witnessed a green gentrification process in the last decade, which reflects the green paradox to some extent, that is, urban greening brings high quality ecological environment but also reduce the equity of human living conditions. Therefore, we suggest taking social impacts of ecological construction into account while ensuring sustainable urban development in urban greening efforts.