Green Spaces and Minority Communities
In a previous article, Paris, AC, and Climate Control, I introduced the idea of lack of access to green space and the impact on minority and low-income communities. Here, I want to briefly expand on that idea and offer materials for those of you who wish to dive deeper.
During my time in Paris last year, I was greatly impacted by the large amount of brown around me. The city is filled with earth tones because it is lacking in the wild-growing green spaces I’m used to in the USA. I come from a fairly green area with forests, battlefield parks, and walking trails. It’s so common to see trees growing everywhere. So, Paris was just a surprise for me. But, I quickly noticed the adaptations the French made to integrate green spaces into their communities. From roof gardens to parks that span several blocks, to historic gardens, green spaces abound in the city. Though, you might have to travel a bit to access them.
I remember one of my last days in Paris. My Historic Preservation Abroad professor gave our class a scavenger hunt. We formed groups and traveled around the city searching for architectural items on her list. There were things like examples of hostile architecture or adaptive reuse in a building. My group struggled to find a few things and we ended up wandering around for hours in the sweltering heat. At last, we completed the scavenger hunt, but it wasn’t very fun. It was tiring. The others in my group went on about their day but I was too hot to do anything. I just sat there at the Louvre in the heat, melting. Also, I had a blister on my foot that hurt terribly.
Image from Paris.fr
Finally, I gathered myself and walked toward the annual amusement park which sets up shop near the Jardin des Tuileries. Yes, that site is in French. You can tell your laptop to translate it for you.
Image from Paris.fr
On the way to the amusement park, I passed under a canopy of trees that lined the road. There, people were laying, standing, resting, and playing. It was a full 10 degrees cooler there than on the sunbaked street. It was a welcome relief and it gave me the will to continue on with my journey. This experience also brought to mind an article about the negative impacts faced by minority communities who lack access to public parks and green spaces.
Image from Paris.fr. A hot walk with little tree cover.
Image from Secrets of Paris. The tree canopies offer much shade and are cooler than the surrounding streets.
Image from Hotels.com. The ferris wheel is a beautiful backdrop to the garden in July.
To read an interesting article on the Regreening of the Tuileries, click here. To be a garden, it is one of the least green places I’ve been!
When thinking about city planning in the USA, a major consideration is the location of parks. A tree canopy lowers the temperature around it as much as “2 to 9 degrees” (Harress 2021). Areas not in direct sunlight can be up to “45 degrees cooler” than those in direct sunlight (Harress 2021). And, “parks can have a cooling effect up [to] a half a mile away from their borders, while also helping cut emissions from inner-city pollution” (Harress 2021). Trees are nature’s air-conditioners! So having more trees creates cooler neighborhoods. Some areas in the US don’t have an issue with this. But others really need to think about it. Especially when we consider the impacts to minority communities which notoriously have fewer parks and trees. Their neighborhoods are actually hotter, leading to more heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke.
Image from National Geographic.
This is a deep topic about racial disparities in the U.S. To learn more, see the links below.
Approaching Environmental Health Disparities and Green Spaces: An Ecosystem Services Perspective
National Library of Medicine
“Health disparities occur when adverse health conditions are unequal across populations due in part to gaps in wealth. These disparities continue to plague global health. Decades of research suggests that the natural environment can play a key role in sustaining the health of the public. However, the influence of the natural environment on health disparities is not well-articulated. Green spaces provide ecosystem services that are vital to public health. This paper discusses the link between green spaces and some of the nation’s leading health issues such as obesity, cardiovascular health, heat-related illness, and psychological health. These associations are discussed in terms of key demographic variables—race, ethnicity, and income. The authors also identify research gaps and recommendations for future research.”
-Viniece Jennings and Cassandra Johnson Gaither
Racial and socioeconomic disparities in heat-related health effects and their mechanisms: a review (This is presented as an overview only.)
National Library of Medicine
“Adaptation to increasing extreme heat in a changing climate requires a precise understanding of who is most vulnerable to the health effects of extreme heat. The evidence for race, ethnicity, income, education, and occupation at both the individual and area levels as indicators of vulnerability is reviewed. The evidence for the social, behavioral, and technological mechanisms by which racial and socioeconomic disparities in vulnerability exist is also reviewed. These characteristics include cardiorespiratory, renal and endocrine comorbidities; cognitive, mental, or physical disabilities; medication use; housing characteristics; neighborhood characteristics such as urban heat islands, crime, and safety; social isolation; and individual behaviors such as air conditioning use, opening windows, using fans, and use of cooler public spaces.”
-Carina J. Gronlund
Public Green Spaces: Racism, Heat, and Barriers to Access
WeAct.org
“Low-income communities and communities of color face many barriers to accessing public green spaces. These barriers, created largely by systemic racism, have a long history in New York City (NYC). Over time, they have manifested in many forms, yet when examined together they reveal a clear pattern of environmental injustice.”
- Emma Urofsky & Robbie M Parks
Access to Green Spaces Directly Linked to Health Outcomes
The Observer
“Access to vegetation is vital to our health as humans. Accessible green spaces increases physical activity, which in turn decreases the risk of heart disease and can reduce the risk of mortality. Green spaces also greatly impact mental health, leading to lower rates of depression, reduced stress and healthier cortisol profiles.“
-Chris Murray
And this is why I’m minoring in urban studies. It’s also important to understand how something so normal as access to green space is used to create racial disparities which negatively impact minority communities. Environmental inequity is literally killing us! This is why it is extremely important for minorities and low income people to work in the positions of local government, park planning and design, city/urban planning, and historic preservation. Knowledge is the beginning of power!
Sources (other than those listed above)
Harress, Christopher. "Why Black communities’ lack of parks is an environmental justice issue.” Reckon (blog), Advanced Local Media LLC, 21 October 2021, https://www.reckon.news/news/2021/10/why-black-communities-lack-of-parks-is-an-environmental-justice-issue.html
