(Un)just Distribution of Visible Green Spaces? A Socio-Economic Window View Analysis on Residential Buildings: The City of Cologne as Case Study

Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis https://doi.org/10.1007/s41651-025-00214-7 (2025) 9:17 (Un)just Distribution of Visible Green Spaces? A Socio‑Economic Window View Analysis on Residential Buildings: The City of Cologne as Case Study Anna‑Maria Bolte1 · Thomas Kistemann2,3 · Youness Dehbi4 · Theo Kötter1 Accepted: 29 January 2025 © The Author(s) 2025 Abstract As urbanization processes, climate disasters such as heat waves, or pandemics such as COVID-19, increase, prioritizing visible green space is crucial to provide equitable access to green spaces for vulnerable groups with limited mobility. In the long term, this will enable sustainable and resilient urban development. In this study, we examined green window views in residential buildings to identify patterns of distributive equity for seniors and children, considering their socioeconomic status for the first time. We combined the methodology around the BGWVI and the methodological framework by Huang et al. (Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 95: 128,313:1–128,313:12, 2024) to measure the visibility potential of green spaces for approximately 160,000 residential buildings in order to geostatistically analyze the equity of the spatial distribution of visible urban green spaces. Using the Gini coefficient, the share index, and the location entropy, an evaluation of the access to visible green spaces according to socio-economic status and age group was carried out at the district level for the City of Cologne, Germany. The results show that children and the elderly have slightly higher percentages of visible green space than the social mean percentage. In addition, the influence of the mean net household income on visual green spaces is low. These findings underscore the importance of visibility as an access alternative in urban green space planning for an equitable and resilient urban environment. Keywords Urban green spaces · Visibility analysis · BGWVI · Urban structure types · Open source and open data · Socioecological justice Introduction Urban green spaces provide a range of ecosystem services to urban residents. As demonstrated by Esperon-Rodriguez et al. (2020), Semeraro et al. (2021), and Wang et al. (2022), the provision of food, improvement of air quality, regulation * Anna‑Maria Bolte 1 Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Nussallee 1, 53115 Bonn, Germany 2 Institute for Hygiene & Public Health, GeoHealth, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg‑Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany 3 Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 166, 53115 Bonn, Germany 4 Computational Methods Lab, HafenCity University Hamburg, Henning‑Voscherau‑Platz 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany of urban water and microclimate, as well as prevention of erosion are some of the key ecosystem services provided by green spaces. Moreover, accessible green spaces offer city dwellers a range of socio-cultural benefits, including enhanced urban esthetics, opportunities for relaxation and recreation, incentives for creative and artistic pursuits, and the promotion of spiritual experiences. The variety of these effects is contingent upon the spatial characteristics, location, and ecological features of green spaces. One of the principal objectives of green space planning is to facilitate sustainable and resilient urban development, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11.3 and 11.7, as well as the Sendai Framework (UNISDR 2017; United Nations 2017). The provision, maintenance, and creation of fairly available and accessible green spaces play a pivotal role in the implementation of these goals. A plethora of guidelines for planning practice define and anchor these types of access in green space planning, thus serving as a foundational point of reference for research endeavors Vol.:(0123456789) 17 Page 2 of 24 (Blum et al. 2023; Gälzer 2001, pp. 61–68; Richter 1981, pp. 73–76). In addition to existing physical limitations, climate disasters, such as heatwaves or pandemics such as the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), place a particular burden on vulnerable groups, restricting their necessary access to urban green spaces. The resulting changes in access potential highlight the need to integrate and promote visibility as an access alternative in green space planning in residential environments (Amerio et al. 2020; Basu et al. 2024; Pijpers and van Melik 2020). Prior research has demonstrated a multitude of significant effects of visible green space. In particular, the presence of visible green spaces in residential environments causes changes in auditory perception, cognition, economic use of real estate, health, and mobility behavior, as shown in Fig. 1 (Amerio et al. 2020; Bishop et al. 2004; Hartig et al. 2003; Hui and Liang 2016; Hull et al. 1996; Kley and Dovbishchuk 2021; Olszewska-Guizzo et al. 2018; Sun et al. 2018; Ugolini et al. 2021). The beneficial impact observed in the population can be attributed to the concept of biophilia, which argues that humans possess an intrinsic affinity for nature, other life forms, habitats, and ecosystems (Fromm 1973; Wilson 1984; Kalla et al. 2024). It is thus necessary to ensure that all members of society have equal access to green spaces, including visibility, in order to foster the development of sustainable and resilient urban areas. This is particularly important for vulnerable populations, who may be more affected by environmental factors. The field of environmental justice encompasses four core components (Martin et al. 2016; Schlosberg 2007; Schröder-Bäck 2012): spatial distributional equity, recognition, participation, and capabilities. Distributional equity pertains to the necessity of ensuring that all individuals have equal access to environmental resources and amenities (G. Bolte et al. 2012, pp. 15–37; Schlosberg 2007). This principle constitutes a pivotal tenet within the domain of Fig. 1  Effect of visible urban green spaces in residential environments Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis (2025) 9:17 socio-political movements advocating for environmental justice. In accordance to United Nations (2015), Robinson et al. (2022) as well as Huang et al. (2024), this study employs the term “socio-ecological equity,” which posits that the distribution and access to green spaces should be equitable and fair for all urban residents, irrespective of their financial status, gender, or age. Research on the distributive equity of green spaces has previously focused on aspects of availability and accessibility, both globally and locally (Anguelovski et al. 2022; Triguero-Mas et al. 2022; Weigand et al. 2023). Visibility analyses, with a particular focus on equity, have primarily examined visible green spaces from the perspective of the street (Dong et al. 2018; Huang et al. 2024; Lu 2019). Kley and Dovbishchuk (2024) conducted the first comprehensive examination of window views using a population survey and (...truncated)