The current planning and design of affordable housing settlements are of no difference to general urban residential areas, and the demands of target residents on public space are not being concerned. According to the data from interviews and questionnaires on the local residents of seven typical affordable housing settlements in Guangzhou, it’ s found that there exists a remarkable difference between age group, income and outdoor recreation of residents from affordable housing settlements and those from general urban residential areas. The planning and design on public space of affordable housing settlements is supposed to be oriented to the real needs of the residents, which should be based on an analysis on behaviors of different human groups. The key issues to improve the public space quality of affordable housing settlements include improving the pedestrian traffic, optimizing the recreation area, and expanding the function of overhead layer, etc.