Chiang Mai Journal of Science

With ongoing urban expansion driving the relocation of airports, urban planners are increasingly challenged to evaluate and redesign former airport sites to achieve optimal efficiency and sustainability. Conventional approaches for assessing large-scale environmental systems are often time-consuming and labor-intensive, limiting their applicability in fast-paced planning contexts. However, recent technological advancements have significantly improved the speed and accuracy of environmental evaluations. In particular, the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with tools such as the InVEST model for carbon storage assessment and the CA-Markov model for predicting future land-use changes provides a robust and efficient analytical framework. This study presents a case analysis of a former military airfield in Taichung City that has been transformed into a multifunctional green space over an eight-year period. The results clearly demonstrate the environmental benefits of this transition, with total carbon storage increasing substantially from 380 Mg in 2015, when the site was largely decommissioned, to 10,056 Mg in 2022 following its redevelopment into an urban park. This significant increase underscores the critical role of land use and land cover change (LUCC) in enhancing urban carbon sequestration. The findings offer a valuable reference for future urban public construction and redevelopment projects, particularly in the context of greyfield regeneration. By demonstrating how advanced spatial modeling tools can support efficient and data-driven decision-making, this study highlights the importance of incorporating carbon storage assessments into early planning stages. Ultimately, it reinforces the need for integrating environmental performance metrics into urban planning processes to support more sustainable and climate-resilient city development.