Green exposure of walking routes and residential areas using smartphone tracking data and GIS in a Mediterranean city

The aim of this study was to explore the exposure to green elements of residents in a compact and dense Mediterranean city, with a main focus on the exposure to traditional green elements such as parks and gardens and also less-explored elements such as public squares, boulevards, and beaches. Differences between walking and residential environments between morphologically distinct residential areas are also analysed. To achieve this, both residential and GPS-based exposure measures were obtained with GIS and smartphone tracking data for 129 adult individuals from Barcelona, Spain. Results have shown how using smartphone tracking data allows obtaining a higher density of green elements and the different types of these elements that residential buffers are not able to detect. Furthermore, research findings highlight the importance of urban form in the provision of green spaces in cities and that alternative greenness can be found in other types of open spaces beyond public parks.