Measuring the quality of public open space using Google Earth

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Urban Planning
• Geospatial Analysis

Background:

• Public open spaces offer significant health benefits, encouraging physical activity.
• The quality of these spaces is a key factor in their utilization.
• Assessing public open space quality is crucial for urban planning and public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the correlation between a novel remote-assessment method and direct observation for measuring public open space quality.
• To compare the efficiency of remote assessment using Google Earth Pro versus the established Public Open Space Tool (POST).

Main Methods:

• Fifty parks in Sydney, Australia, were assessed using Google Earth Pro (remote method).
• Quality scores from the remote method were compared with those from direct observation using POST.
• Time efficiency for both assessment methods was recorded.

Main Results:

• A strong correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.9, p<0.0001) was found between remote and direct quality assessments.
• The remote method required 4 hours, while direct observation took 42 hours.
• The remote approach demonstrated superior speed and resource efficiency.

Conclusions:

• The remote-assessment method enables rapid, large-scale quality audits of public open spaces.
• This technique eliminates the need for in-person visits, significantly reducing audit time.
• It offers a scalable solution for environmental audits of green spaces.