Developing an Index for the Identification of Potential Public Open Spaces

Public Open Spaces (POS) are highly valuable urban assets that provide local communities with social, physical, psychological, and environmental benefits. Their spatial distribution is often uneven, disproportionately affecting low-income populations. This contribution proposes a multi-criteria index to identify potential locations for new POS that prioritize equity, applied to three cities in the Ecuadorian Andes. The results show that the highest index values for potential POS are found in urban peripheries, where they are currently scarce and where populations with lower socioeconomic status are located. The proposed index serves as a planning support tool for decision-makers.