Spatial-temporal pattern and causes of the use of community parks in central city of Beijing: an empirical study based on 58 parks

Due to the influence of various factors, there are spatial and temporal variations in the use of community parks. There have been a large number of scholars who studied the usage and factors influencing the usage of community parks. Most scholars had chosen internal factors of the use of community parks as a starting point for their studies, whereas there are few studies focused on external factors. Nevertheless, external factors can make a great impact. Based on the study of 58 community parks in central Beijing, and the attendance data of travelers on "Yichuxing" APP by Tencent, using kernel density estimation together with GeoDetector methods, this study analyzes the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics, as well as the impact of external factors (accessibility on foot, accessibility by car, population density and business and office facilities) on the use of community parks. The study showed that: 1) there was an explicit and regular change over time on use of community parks; 2) the use of the community parks appeared to intensify at the central and northeastern part of the parks; 3) among the four external factors, the accessibility on foot was the most relevant to the use of community parks; influence of population density and business and office facilities on the use of community parks cannot be ignored; however, impact of accessibility by car on the use of community parks was not significant. According to the results of the study, we propose to coordinate the construction of community parks with its surroundings as well as to improve the construction of the pedestrian system.