The spatial optimization and evaluation of the economic, ecological, and social value of urban green space in Shenzhen

Urban green space (UGS) is important in urban systems, as it benefits economic development, ecological conservation, and living conditions. Many studies have evaluated the economic, ecological, and social value of UGS worldwide, and spatial optimization for UGS has been carried out to maximize its value. However, few studies have simultaneously examined these three values of UGS in one optimization system. To fill this gap, this study evaluated the economic value of UGS in terms of promoting housing prices, its ecological value through the relief of high land surface temperature (LST), and its social value through the provision of recreation spaces for residents within a 255 m distance. Subsequently, these three values were set as objectives in a genetic algorithm (GA)-based multi-objective optimization (MOP) system. Shenzhen was taken as the case study area. The results showed that the influencing distance of UGS in Shenzhen for house prices was 345 m, and the influencing distance of UGS for LST was 135 m. Using MOP, the Pareto solutions for increasing UGS were identified and presented. The results indicate that MOP can simultaneously optimize UGS’s economic, ecological, and social value.