Hoover_Lim_2020

Hoover F-A, Lim TC (2021) Examining privilege and power in US urban parks and open space during the double crises of antiblack racism and COVID-19. Socio Ecol Pract Res 3:55–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-020-00070-3

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Keywords: environmental justice, urban, green space

COVID and antiblack racism have had dramatic manifestations in public places, especially parks. Public spaces are and should be included in environmental justice and parks/UGS act as refuge. Parks are “lungs of the city” - alleviate public health issues while providing natural functions and improving mental health. Parks and UGS are not surveilled in a just or equitable way. Racism is embedded in our physical environments. Promote a stepwise appproach to increase antiracist consciousness in socio-ecological systems. Park area is negatively correlated with the proportion of BIPOC residents in the tract. Parks also have unequal quality - in terms of built and maintained features, greening, etc. BIPOC individuals’ access to any potential benefits is altered by authorities’ decisions about how that space can be used and accessed. Parks are unlikely to provide ES to all. Urban spaces and nature production is inherently racialized. Urban greening is intentionally used to displace Black residents from urban areas. Actions: prioritize voices and experiences of BIPOC, prioritize inclusion efforts, use inclusionary participatory practices in research