An Integrated Approach to Study Spatial Patterns and Drivers of Land Cover Within Urban Functional Units: A Multi-City Comparative Study in China

Understanding the factors that drive green space composition and richness in heterogeneous urban landscapes is critical for maintaining important ecosystem services and biodiversity. Few studies have been conducted on urban greening and plant diversity at the urban functional unit (UFU) level, although a handful of studies have explored the drivers of greening percentage and its relationships with plant richness in tropical cities. In this study, we conducted field surveys, compiled census and remote sensing data, and performed spatial analyses to investigate the interrelationship between greening percentages, plant diversity, and the socioeconomic variables of different primary and secondary UFUs in the cities of Beijing, Zhanjiang, and Haikou in China. We found that these relationships did not differ significantly between primary and secondary UFUs, and that Parks represented the largest areas of forested land, grassland, and water bodies across all three cities. Moreover, the greening percentages of all UFUs across these three cities were positively correlated with both socioeconomic variables and plant species richness. These relationships can be utilized to guide future green space planning within urban ecosystems.