Are There Relationships Among Racial Segregation, Economic Isolation, and Proximity to Green Space?

Abstract

Prior research has investigated differences in exposure to green space between racial and economic groups across the United States. Results have generally shown that people of color and lower-income groups tend to live in neighborhoods with less green space than their more-advantaged counterparts. Our research extends existing studies by measuring the association between racial and economic differences in exposure to green space and racial or economic segregation across neighborhoods within cities. Findings show that cities with lower levels of racial segregation exhibit smaller racial disparities in exposure to green space. By contrast, in cities with greater racial segregation, white people tend to live in neighborhoods with more green space than do people of color. This difference is more pronounced between white and Hispanic people. Finally, there is a strong association between segregation among different income groups and differences in exposure to green space between lower-and higher-income people. Consistent with much of the literature on racial and economic segregation-and studies of environment (in)justice-we find that lower-income people and members of minority groups live in neighborhoods with much less vegetation than their wealthier, white counterparts and these differences are exacerbated in racially and economically segregated cities.

The Demographics of Public Participation Access When Communicating Environmental Risk

“…The message from these findings is that it is important for city and county municipal environmental risk managers to organize community meetings in many local communities in their jurisdiction to capture all demographically diverse sectors. Other studies showed that racially segregated minority communities receive significantly fewer benefits associated with high-quality environmental planning (Glaeser & Glaser, 2010;Saporito & Casey, 2015). This study shows that racially segregated minority communities were interested in environmental issuesdemonstrated by their equal participation in flood risk management meetingscompared to racially segregated majority communities.…”

Seeing Green and Feeling Blue: The Effect of Natural Environment Exposure on Mental Health

“…Past research largely argues that exposure to natural environments does improve mental health and well-being, making possible limitations especially important to examine, as this study finds no significant relationship (Atuoye et al 2019;Bingley 2013;Francis et al 2012;Gesler 1992;Kaplan 2001;Saporito and Casey 2015;Volker and Kistemann 2013). The first area to consider is how this study is different than past studies.…”

“…Considering why white people report worse mental health is crucial to untangling these findings. Past research shows that functionality and quality of amenities lead to better well-being or mental health, and that these features are more likely to be located in largely white areas (Downey and van Willigen 2005;Fitzpatrick and LaGory 2003;Saporito and Casey 2015). Therefore, it is unlikely that residential features could explain the racial difference in mental health found in the multivariate regression.…”

“…Another area that stands out within this study is which characteristics increase the likelihood of having access to or views of natural environments. Whether or not exposure to natural environments has an effect on mental health, there is still significant evidence from previous studies showing that spending time in, or doing activities in natural environments can boost well-being or social cohesion (de Vries et al 2013;Francis et al 2012;Hogan et al 2016;Kaplan 2001;Litt et al 2015;Maas et al 2009;Saporito and Casey 2015;van den Berg et al 2010). Considering the general agreement that spending time in natural environments has some form of beneficial mental result, it is important to note the positive correlations between access Running Head = GREEN SPACE EXPOSURE 24 to and views of natural environments with being white and having a higher family income.…”

“…Saporito and Casey (2015) add depth to the discussion of natural environment effects by explaining that green spaces are disproportionally present and functional across areas with different demographics. White, upper class people are the most likely to live near high quality natural environments, especially when analyzing green space distribution in metropolitan areas.…”