Urban park accessibility assessment using human mobility data: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

The rise in human mobility data in recent years provides a new frontier to understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of mobility to urban parks. These human mobility data offer profound merit in the study of how accessible urban parks are through real-time analytics of individual travel patterns and locations. This study systematically reviewed 46 peer-reviewed publications from the Web of Science and Academic Search Complete databases relevant to human mobility data and urban park accessibility measures. The study aims to provide a comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of the utilization of human mobility data in the field of urban park accessibility research. This objective is pursued through a systematic examination of existing literature within this research domain. We summarize the types of mobility datasets and the modelling tasks adopted. Meanwhile, we grouped the methodological/thematic frameworks from empirical use of human mobility data in park accessibility into seven categories: 1) inequality and inequity level, 2) users’ perception and exposure level, 3) frequency and variations in park visitations, 4) park service area or effective service radius, 5) happiness and sentiment level, 6) travel mode choice and trip assignment, and 7) park characteristics. Additionally, we highlighted the obstacles in integrating human mobility data into park accessibility research and engaged in a discussion surrounding prominent ethical dilemmas related to the utilization of big data.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban park
• accessibility
• human mobility
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).