green spaces

urban new district

ecosystem services

supply-demand mismatch

Sustainable development

Policies for socially sustainable development

Policies for environmentally sustainable development

Building new districts has become one of the most important urbanization methods of the past few decades in China. The planning scheme for new districts pursues the government’s and citizens’ idea of sustainable development coupled with a livable environment. Green spaces, which connect residents with a natural environment, can provide various kinds of ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being. However, there exists an imbalance of ecosystem services supply and residents’ demands, bringing about green inequity in many cities; is the same true in planning-first new districts? This paper proposes a conceptual framework to match the supply and demand of ecosystem services provided by green spaces, by analyzing the ecosystem services sources, the benefiting areas, and residents’ distribution and activities. The supply and demand of culture services by public parks in Jinan Western New District was selected to examine the framework. The results show that the supplydemand mismatch exists in every sub-district of the research area. Newly built areas have more supply surplus and supply-demand balanced blocks; over-demand blocks are mainly distributed in old towns, followed by peripheral urban areas. The methods in this study can be used to examine green space distribution in new districts. The findings can then be used to optimize the green space system, which can improve the urban living environment and help achieve social equity.