Abstract
Human health is inextricably tied to ecosystem services (ES), including those associated with greenspace in urban communities. EnviroAtlas provides close to 100 maps of ES metrics based on high-resolution land cover data in featured communities across the contiguous United States. Using selected EnviroAtlas ES metrics, a Community EcoHealth Index (CEHI) was created based on an ecohealth framework including health promotion and hazard buffering domains. Aggregation of eight selected ES metrics in these domains entailed a weighted distance measure, where objective, data-driven weights were generated. CEHI was calculated by Census Block Group (CBG) at both the local level and the national level for 22 EnviroAtlas communities. Results were mapped to show one- to five-star CBGs or neighborhoods within and across all 22 featured communities. At the national level, CEHI favors communities in forested ecoregions. The local version of CEHI is more appropriate to inform social, economic, and environmental decision-making for improving community ES associated with human health.
Highlights
In the United States (US), inequities in human health and well-being are increasing due to historic and ongoing social, economic, and environmental determinants [1]
The Community Ecohealth Index (CEHI) index created in this study provides an example of how EnviroAtlas Ecosystem services (ES) metrics can be combined to evaluate neighborhood ecohealth
CEHI is an aspirational tool that may facilitate a richer perspective on public health
Summary
In the United States (US), inequities in human health and well-being are increasing due to historic and ongoing social, economic, and environmental determinants [1]. Ecosystem services (ES) provided by urban greenspace have been explored for promoting social equity and mitigating health disparities in the context of environmental justice [2]. Though the incorporation of ES in urban decision-making and landscape planning has been making headway [3], a broad-scale effort is needed to inform municipalities and citizens about human health-related ES in their neighborhoods. Environmental Protection Agency, two indices have already been created to relate environmental, social, and economic domains to human health and well-being at the county level [4,5].
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