Unequal Access to Cultural Ecosystem Services of Green Spaces in the City of Rome – a Spatial Social Media-Based Analysis

Access to urban green spaces (UGS) can provide multiple cultural ecosystem services (CES) that can significantly enhance people’s wellbeing. However, the accessibility to UGS is not evenly distributed, neither are the CES which UGS provide. Disadvantaged groups often face reduced accessibility to UGS and their associated CES. However, traditional methods to assess CES provided by UGS are resource and time consuming, making it difficult to evaluate their distributional equity at larger scales. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology based on semantic analysis of georeferenced social media data from Twitter, which allows us to evaluate the distribution of accessibility to CES in the city of Rome. Our results reveal disparities in both the accessibility and quality of UGS across different areas of the city. While some areas have high accessibility to UGS, the provision of CES is limited, suggesting the need for targeted intervention. Other areas lack sufficient access to UGS altogether, highlighting the need for increased green space development. Our methodology identifies disadvantaged areas and societal groups, providing valuable insights for promoting a more equitable distribution of UGS benefits in urban areas. By challenging the focus on green space availability, our approach highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of accessibility to quality green spaces. This study has broader applicability beyond Rome, and can inform urban green space planning in other contexts.