Access to urban green space and environmental inequalities in Germany

Abstract

Although sufficient and equitable access to urban green represents a key aspect for adequate living conditions and a healthy environment in urban areas, national studies investigating the provision of urban green on household and individual level are scarce. We present a study investigating access to urban green space and environmental inequalities in German major cities by merging geo-coded household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and Census Population Data with land use data from the European Urban Atlas (EUA). The results indicate that 92.8% of the German population has access to green space within a 500m around the place of residence. On average an individual in German major cities lives in a distance of 183m to the nearest green space and has access to 4.4ha urban green within a 500m buffer and the average green space provision per capita amounts to 8.1m2. We also identify strong disparities in green space provision on city level ranging from 2.5m2 per capita (city of Schwerin) to 36.3m2 (city of Bergisch Gladbach) within 500m buffer around the place of residence. We further identify inequalities in green space provision across German major cities by applying the Gini coefficient. Statistical analysis of the socio-economic background of households and individuals shows differences in urban green provision related to income, age, education and children in household. The findings provide helpful information for policy and planning to ensure an adequate green space provision and to eliminate environmental inequalities in Germany.