A Gap in Green Space
People of color have reduced access to green space and its benefits.
The United States has a gap in green space. Black Americans have access to substantially less outdoor recreation space than their White counterparts. This has legitimate health implications for Black Americans and other people of color.
This disparity in green space is therefore not an issue of leisure - it is an issue of rights.
The Center for American1 Progress reports that 68% of Black Americans are nature-deprived, compared to only 23% of White, non-Hispanic Americans.
An analysis from Conservation Science Partners2 found similar trends for human-developed land. Compared to the national community average, White communities have 12% less human-developed land. Meanwhile, communities of color tend to have 6-8% more human-developed land than the national average.
These comparisons paint a broad picture. There is clearly a racial difference in access to green space, but the reality of that difference may be unclear. To clarify this, the following sections will outline what the discrepancy looks like in urban spaces and on public land.
Disparities in urban green space
In an urban environment, lack of green space looks like far walks and small parks. This is shown clearly in the Pittsburgh metropolitan region below, but the breakdown is largely the same across American cities.
In Pittsburgh, neighborhoods of color have access to 54% less park space than predominately white neighborhoods.3 You can see this difference in the block group map shown here. Darker tracts represent the blocks with a larger percentage of White residents, while lighter tracts represent the blocks with a larger percentage of minority residents.4 The darker tracts tend to cluster around the green spaces in the city,5 implying that predominately White communities have improved access to green space than minority communities.
Disparities in Public Land Use
While Black Americans made up 13% of the population in 2010, they only accounted for 1% of National Park visitors in that same year.6 The same is true of both wildlife refuges7 and national forests.8
Why does the gap exist?
Lack of Access
People of color face systemic racism that results in lower incomes, reduced mobility, and minimal leisure time.9
Accessing public lands may have transportation, lodging, and food costs that may make it a costly pastime. Even if you have the money, you have to get there. If green space isn't walkable, you need a car that isn't currently being used for something else. Finally, even if you have the money and mobility, you may not have the time outside of work, caretaking, and other necessary tasks. Unfortunately, these are all burdens faced disproportionately by people of color.
Historic Segregation in Public Spaces
Prior to 1964, segregation and outright racial exclusion were the norm in public spaces.10
From the inception of "America's Best Idea," public lands were not meant for people of color. While White families enjoyed those spaces, they gained familial knowledge and traditions that could be passed down. If you grew up camping with your family, it's not unlikely that you grow up with knowledge of camping and take your own family. This wasn't the case for people of color; they were left out while White families collected these outdoor experiences. It is up to each new generation of color to pick up those traditions if they choose, and that can be hard to do if you don't have a grand opening to catalyze it.
Unease in White-Dominated Spaces
Black Americans are more than 3 times more likely to say that national parks are unsafe.11
Cases such as the murder of Ahmaud Arbery12 and the wrongful reporting of Christian Cooper13 display the violence that people of color, and particularly Black Americans, face in outdoor spaces. For so long, those spaces were meant for affluent White residents; despite the technical repeal of segregation, those dynamics continue to be visible through discrimination in public spaces.
Why does the gap matter?
Respiratory Health Benefits
In a systematic review by Mueller and colleagues (2022), significant positive associations were found between green space access and a variety of respiratory health outcomes.14 The most consistent associations were found between green space and reductions in respiratory deaths. This suggests that inequitable access to green space may be connected to inequitable access to respiratory health.
Cardiovascular Health Benefits
In a similar review of cardiovascular health benefits, Twohig-Bennett and Jones (2018) found significant positive benefits to cardiovascular health to those who lived closer to green space.15 Cardiovascular deaths were 16% less likely for those with high access to green space than for those with low access.
Mental Health Benefits
Unsurprisingly, similar trends can be seen for mental health. In a fact sheet of mental health's ties to green space. Compared to people with high, nearby access to green space, those with low access to green space experience 33% higher rates of depression, 44% higher rates of anxiety, and 50% higher rates of stress.16
What can we do?
Increase the number and size of urban green spaces
Create more inclusive environments on public land through hiring and behavior
Contribute to organizations such as Outdoor Afro
References
1. Rowland-Shea, J., Doshi, S., Edberg, S., Fanger, R. (July 21, 2020). The Nature Gap: Confronting racial and economic disparities in the destruction and protection of nature in America. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-nature-gap/
2. Landau, V., McClure, M., Dickson, B. (May 29, 2020). Analysis of the Disparities in Nature Loss and Access to Nature. Technical Report. Conservation Science Partners, Truckee, CA. https://www.csp-inc.org/public/CSP-CAP_Disparities_in_Nature_Loss_FINAL_Report_060120.pdf
3. Trust for Public Land (2022). Pittsburgh, PA. 2022 ParkScore Index. https://parkserve.tpl.org/mapping/pdfs/Pittsburgh_PA.pdf
4. U.S. Census Bureau (2010). P1 Race, 2010 DEC Redistricting Data. Retrieved from https://data.census.gov/table?q=p1&g=0500000US42003$1000000&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P1
5. City of Pittsburgh. (2022). PGHWebParks [geodata]. Pittsburgh GIS Open Data. Retrieved from https://pghgishub-pittsburghpa.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/pittsburghpa::pghwebparks/explore?location=40.430461%2C-79.974543%2C11.98
6. Vaske, J., Lyon, K. (June 2014). Linking the 2010 Census to National Park Visitors. National Park Service. https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/495294
7. Sexton, N., Dietsch, A., Don Carlos, A., Miller, H., Koontz, L., Solomon, A. (2010/2011). National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Survey /results: 2010/2011. USGS. https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/685/DS685.pdf
8. Flores, D., Falco, G., Roberts, N., Valenzuela III, F. (2018). Recreation Equity: Is the Forest Service Serving its Diverse Publics? Journal of Forestry. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvx016
9. Scott, D., Jerry Lee, K. (2018). People of Color and Their Constraints to National Parks Visitation. The George Wright Forum 35(1), 73-82. http://www.georgewright.org/351scott.pdf
10. Scott, D., Jerry Lee, K. (2018). People of Color and Their Constraints to National Parks Visitation. The George Wright Forum 35(1), 73-82. http://www.georgewright.org/351scott.pdf
11. Xiao, X., Jerry Lee, K., Larson, L. (2021). Who visits U.S. national parks (and who doesn’t)? A national study of perceived constraints and vacation preferences across diverse populations. Journal of Leisure Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2021.1899776
12. Fausset, R. (Aug. 8, 2022). What we know about the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-georgia.html
13. Maslin Nir, S. (Oct. 14, 2020). How 2 lives collided in Central Park, rattling the nation. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/nyregion/central-park-amy-cooper-christian-racism.html
14. Mueller, W., Milner, J., Loh, M., Vardoulakis, S., Wilkinson, P. (2022). Exposure to urban greenspace and pathways to respiratory health: An exploratory systematic review. Science of the Total Environment, 829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154447
15. Twohig-Bennett, C., Jones, A. (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research, 166, 628-637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154447
16. National Recreation and Park Association. Parks and Improved Mental Health and Quality of Life. NRPA. https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/Three-Pillars/health-wellness/ParksandHealth/fact-sheets/parks-improved-mental-health-quality-life/
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