Is availability of public open space equitable across areas?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Urban Planning
• Environmental Justice

Background:

• Access to public open spaces is crucial for recreation and community well-being.
• Socio-economic disadvantage may influence the availability and distribution of these vital resources.
• Understanding spatial equity in urban amenities is essential for public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between neighbourhood socio-economic status (SES) and the availability of public open spaces for recreation.
• To determine if the density and area of various types of public open spaces (free-access, restricted-access, sporting/recreation) differ across socio-economic gradients.
• To inform urban planning and public health policies regarding equitable access to recreational facilities.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a geographic information system (GIS) to analyze the density and area of public open spaces.
• Defined neighbourhoods using postal boundaries for socio-economic status (SES) stratification.
• Stratified neighbourhood SES into quintiles to compare open space availability across different socio-economic levels, controlling for population and geographic area.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in the number or total area of free-access, restricted-access, or sporting/recreation open spaces across quintiles of neighbourhood SES.
• After accounting for neighbourhood population and geographic area, the availability of public open spaces remained consistent across all socio-economic strata.
• The study indicates that the quantitative measure of public open space is equitably distributed regardless of socio-economic disadvantage.

Conclusions:

• The quantitative availability (number and area) of public open spaces for recreation does not appear to vary by neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage.
• Future research should focus on the qualitative aspects of public open spaces, such as quality, maintenance, and perceived safety, as potential areas of disparity.
• Findings suggest that while access in terms of quantity may be equitable, disparities in the quality of recreational spaces could still exist across different socio-economic neighbourhoods.