Green space justice amid COVID-19: Unequal access to public green space across American neighborhoods

Abstract

Countries around the world have resorted to issuing stay-at-home orders to slow viral transmission since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, access to public park plays a central role in the public health of surrounding communities. However, we know little about how such an unprecedented policy may exacerbate the preexisting unequal access to green space (i.e., green space justice). To address this research void, we used difference-in-difference models to examine socioeconomic disparities, urban-rural disparities, and mobility disparities in terms of public park access in the United States. Our national analysis using the weekly mobile phone movement data robustly suggests the following three key findings during COVID-19: (1) The elderly, non-college-educated people, poor people, and blacks are less likely to visit public parks frequently, while unemployed people appear to be the opposite. (2) Compared to rural areas, populations in urban neighborhoods appear to visit public parks more frequently and they generally go to larger parks to minimize the risk of infection. (3) Populations in neighborhoods with higher private vehicle ownership or those with a higher density of transit stops would more frequently visit and travel a longer distance to public parks during the stay-at-home order. Our results imply that conventional inequality in green space access may still exist and even become worse during COVID-19, which could negatively impact people's health during isolation. We suggest that special attention should be paid to park-poor neighborhoods during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic recovery phase.

The impact of urban spatial environment on COVID-19: a case study in Beijing

“…Therefore, attention should be given to spatial justice issues regarding green infrastructure, as well as the planning, design, and utilization of informal blue-green spaces outside of parks. By narrowing the inequalities in urban greening, it is possible to ensure equal opportunities for urban residents to enjoy green resources and establish a balanced, inclusive, hierarchically classified, highly accessible, and efficient blue-green space system ( 50 ).…”

Navigating spatial inequalities: The micro-politics of migrant dwelling practices during COVID-19 in Antwerp

“…Whilst research has delved into the impact of the pandemic and spatial inequalities on vulnerable residents (Beeckmans et al, 2022;Gao et al, 2023), limited attention has been paid to the individual choices made by residents to deal with their unfavourable housing and living situations.…”

“…It has been well-documented that socially disadvantaged populations, including lower-income groups, ethnic minorities, migrants and the elderly, often have less access to public spaces (Gao et al, 2023). In their study, Malone and Hasluck (2018) emphasise the significance of the built environment as a symbolic representation of control where as a result, many young people opt to remain 'invisible' in public, effectively withdrawing from such spaces.…”

The Effect of Built Environment on Urban Park Visits during the Early Outbreak of COVID-19

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