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Recreational green spaces are associated with human thriving and well-being. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic a spotlight has been shed on the interconnection between access to these spaces, human well-being and social equity. Containment measures enacted in many cities effectively precluded people from reaching distant recreational areas during the pandemic and consequently, recreational areas close to home became particularly important. Urban density is often associated with building or population density with the assumption that if either parameter has a high value, the availability of open (green) space is low. Certain densities are associated with specific spatial qualities. Addressing challenges of sustainable development, a detailed evaluation of density is necessary to allow evidence-based arguments, planning and decision-making. In this study we develop a multi-scale analysis method for quantifying and assessing green infrastructures from settlement unit to building level to reach a differentiated view on density, arguing that density can be organized in different ways achieving very different qualities. For this purpose, we use geospatial-data analysis and in-depth neighborhood studies to compare two cities in Asia and Europe, revealing different ways of organizing density in the built environment and identifying a derivation of approaches for sustainable development in dense urban regions.

The METAPOLIS as the polycentric network of urban–rural settlement is undergoing constant transformation and urbanization processes. In particular, the associated imbalance of the shrinkage and growth of different settlement types in relative geographical proximity causes negative effects, such as urban sprawl and the divergence of urban–rural lifestyles with their related resource, land and energy consumption. Implicitly related to these developments, national and global sustainable development goals for the building sector lead to the question of how a region can be assessed without detailed research and surveys to identify critical areas with high potential for sustainable development. In this study, the TOPOI method is used. It classifies settlement units and their interconnections along the urban–rural gradient, in order to quantify and assess the land-uptake and global warming potential driven by residential developments. Applying standard planning parameters in combination with key data from a comprehensive life cycle assessment of the residential building stock, a detailed understanding of different settlement types and their associated resource and energy consumption is achieved.