Assessing the contribution of urban green space landscape patterns to ozone concentration variations

The relationship between urban green space (UGS) and ozone (O₃) distributions has attracted increasing attention because of its implications for urban planning and pollution management. Despite the recognized role of UGS in regulating O₃ concentration levels, the specific influence of UGS landscape patterns on O₃ heterogeneity across different spatiotemporal scales remains unclear. This study addresses this gap by analyzing data from 53 monitoring stations across five major cities in northern China. Employing linear mixed-effects and GeoDetector models, we investigated how UGS landscape patterns influence O₃ concentrations at different scales and in different seasons. Our findings show that O₃ concentrations are positively correlated with UGS area. However, the homogeneity and aggregation of UGS landscapes can reduce the O₃-enhancing effects of UGS, and this efficiency is influenced by the season and scale. Seasonal variations have a greater impact on O₃ concentrations than scales. Moreover, the nonlinear enhancements of UGS landscape metrics on O₃ concentrations indicate that the synergistic effect of different UGS landscape patterns are crucial for understanding the spatial heterogeneity in O₃ pollution. Our results highlight that a 2 km neighborhood scale is the optimal scale of the UGS landscape patterns to regulate O₃ concentration, which was associated with a 2.98 ± 5.2 % reduction in the O₃ concentration. The primary contribution of this study is its comprehensive analysis of the multiscale effects of UGS on O₃ concentrations, providing valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers aiming to mitigate O₃ pollution through strategic planning of UGS.