Abstract
Differences in the accessibility to urban resources between different racial and socioeconomic groups have exerted pressure on effective planning and management for sustainable city development. However, few studies have examined the multiple factors that may influence the mitigation of urban green spaces (UGS) inequity. This study reports the results of a systematic mapping of access inequity research through correspondence analysis (CA) to reveal critical trends, knowledge gaps, and clusters based on a sample of 49 empirical studies screened from 563 selected papers. Our findings suggest that although the scale of cities with UGS access inequity varies between countries, large cities (more than 1,000,000 population), especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are particularly affected. Moreover, the number of cities in which high socioeconomic status (high-SES) groups (e.g., young, rich, or employed) are at an advantage concerning access to UGS is substantially higher than the number of cities showing better accessibility for low-SES groups. Across the reviewed papers, analyses on mitigating interventions are sparse, and among the few studies that touch upon this, we found different central issues in local mitigating strategies between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs. An explanatory framework is offered, explaining the interaction between UGS access inequity and local mitigating measures.
Highlights
Over half of the world’s population live in urban areas, and this proportion is projected to increase to about 75% by 2050 [1]
We found very few studies in large areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the possible reasons that most of the empirical studies on Urban green spaces (UGS) equity are located in western Europe, China, Australia, and the US might be local urbanization processes and the high demand of UGS for public health [58,60]
We reported a systematic mapping of access inequity research based on a sample of 49 empirical studies screened from 563 selected papers
Summary
Over half of the world’s population live in urban areas, and this proportion is projected to increase to about 75% by 2050 [1]. Urban green spaces (UGS), as the critical connection between the natural environment and human beings in cities, can deliver a variety of ecosystem services that increase both the life quality and resilience of urban dwellers [2,3,4]. UGS have been linked to increased physical and mental well-being, reduced psychological morbidity, and enhanced social cohesion [5,6]. Urban residents might be vulnerable to the disparity between green, blue, and built infrastructures under the complicated circumstances of the multiple interacting ecological, social, and technological drivers of urban expansion. Disparities in access to UGS have been found among groups with different socioeconomic statuses (SES, often measured by income, education, and occupation), and this inequity has been investigated in different geographical settings. Access to UGS has been further conceptualized by Rigolon [7] in the light of three aspects—proximity, quantity, and quality—to compare
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