October 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 24

EQUITY
Forging Pathways to Park
and Green Space Equity
By Manal J. Aboelata, MPH, and Rachel Bennett, MPH, MURP
T
he past 20 months dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
have shown us all that parks and green spaces are essential
community infrastructure that protect public health by providing
opportunities for physical activity, time in nature, social connection
and respite (tinyurl.com/2c9ap7hr) - as well as access to lifesaving
resources, like vaccines and emergency food. In cities, parks and green spaces
also offer climate benefits: they filter air, remove pollution, buffer noise, cool
temperatures, filter stormwater and replenish groundwater (tinyurl.com/
68umjnn). Yet, not all communities have access to safe, well-maintained, and
programmed parks and green spaces. Many studies across multiple geographic
areas show that Blacks, Latinos and people who live in low-income, urban
neighborhoods have less access to green spaces than people who live in more
affluent or predominantly white communities (tinyurl.com/tw839dzx).
Green spaces should serve every
community in a fair, just, safe and
healthy manner. For more than a
century, park and green space inequities
have unfairly affected lowincome
communities throughout
the United States, especially people
living in predominantly Black and
Latino neighborhoods. These inequities
reflect historical and currentday
policies and practices. As shown
Figure 1
Redlining
Biased
Planning
Racial
Segregation
Interstate
Highway
System
Divestment
in Urban
Core
Sitting of
Hazardous
Land Uses
in Figure 1, the historical factors
contributing to park inequities include
racial segregation, biased
planning decisions, exclusionary
zoning and redlining, among others
(tinyurl.com/pxf34yww) (tinyurl.
com/8tccraf).
Present-day drivers
of park inequities include tax and
fiscal restructuring, shifting responsibility
for public services, and
reduced ability of cities with limited
tax bases and large low-income
populations to provide park and
recreation services (tinyurl.com/
r8h92sh6) (tinyurl.com/xdfusd5z).
Achieving Equitable
Outcomes
Just as green space inequities have
been produced, there are pathways
to equity. In June 2021, Prevention
Institute, a national health equityand
racial justice-focused nonprofit,
released a paper, Changing the Landscape:
People, Parks, and Power, which
lays out three key dimensions of
producing more equitable outcomes
in the park and green space arena
(tinyurl.com/4dva5557):
* Procedural
equity
processes
equitable
green
of
and just
spaces
covers
that support the
provision
services and
relates to all aspects of green
space, from placement to design,
construction and programming.
Increased
Park
Inequity
Suburban
Investment
Devolution
Anti-Tax
Movement
Selected policies, practices and procedures that have produced inequities in Parks and Green Space. Adapted from: Prevention
Institute's Countering the Production of Health Inequities: An Emerging Systems Framework to Achieve an Equitable Culture of Health.
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http://www.tinyurl.com/r8h92sh6 http://www.tinyurl.com/r8h92sh6 http://www.tinyurl.com/xdfusd5z http://www.tinyurl.com/2c9ap7hr http://www.tinyurl.com/ http://www.tinyurl.com/tw839dzx http://www.tinyurl.com/4dva5557 http://www.tinyurl.com/pxf34yww https://www.tinyurl.com/8tccraf https://www.tinyurl.com/8tccraf

October 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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