Assessing equality in neighbourhood availability of quality greenspace in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Abstract

In this paper, we assess the relation between neighbourhood-level deprivation and local greenspace quality in Glasgow, Scotland. There is rising interest globally in inequality in the distribution and accessibility of urban greenspace. In particular, it is increasingly realised that overarching social and political inequalities can lead to less well-off areas having less or lower-quality greenspace, and thus being less likely to draw down the social and environmental resilience benefits provided by urban greenspace. We evaluate the relationship between neighbourhood-level deprivation and greenspace quality by combining socio-economic data with assessment of neighbourhood greenspace taken from Google Street View, subjecting our observations to statistical testing. We find that on nearly all measures of greenspace quality, there is a statistically significant correlation between deprivation and greenspace quality, with more disadvantaged areas having lower-quality greenspace. This finding is consistent with much existing research. However, we make a contribution to the international literature by showing it is not only the presence or extent of greenspace, but also the characteristics within greenspaces, that vary with deprivation. As existing research suggests greenspace attributes such as tranquillity, greenness and perceived safety are important to unlock the health, wellbeing and resilience benefits that greenspace provides, this is a notable finding. We conclude by arguing that there is a need to go further than simply identifying inequalities, and instead use studies such as ours as a point of departure for imagining wider planning and social policy measures aimed at understanding and addressing underpinning inequalities.