A new study from researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health found that urban parks in less privileged neighborhoods across the United States tend to be smaller, hotter and more polluted than those in wealthier areas, highlighting persistent environmental inequities.
The study analyzed park access and environmental conditions across the 24 most populous U.S. urban areas using data from the Trust for Public Land’s ParkServe database, the U.S. Census and satellite imagery.
Urban parks are linked to better physical and mental health. They can reduce exposure to air pollution and extreme heat, while also supporting physical activity and reducing stress. However, this study shows that these benefits are not distributed equally.
“Urban parks are often seen as equalizers for public health, but our findings show that the quality of those parks varies significantly depending on where you live,” said researcher Kelvin Fong, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiologist at Milken Institute SPH. “Communities that could benefit the most from cleaner air and cooler environments are often the least likely to have access to high-quality parks.”
The disparities are rooted in longstanding structural inequities, including historic redlining and urban development patterns that placed highways and industrial infrastructure closer to lower-income and minority communities.
Parks in less privileged areas had notably higher pollution in the areas of New York City (which also includes Jersey City and Newark, N.J.) San Francisco-Oakland, Chicago and Los Angeles (which also includes Long Beach and Anaheim).
The researchers found major differences in park access between states, with park space ranging from less than 1% in Indianapolis to 37.5% in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.
Unlike most other metro areas, park size in the Washington, D.C. area, which also includes Arlington and Alexandria, Va.., was similar across neighborhoods..
“Simply adding more parks is not enough,” said lead author Greta Martin, a postdoctoral associate at Milken Institute SPH. “Improving park quality—including reducing pollution exposure, increasing tree cover and expanding park size—is critical to closing health gaps.”
“Parks can play a powerful role in improving health equity,” Fong said. “But to do that, investments need to prioritize both access and environmental quality in underserved communities.”
Potential solutions include expanding green space in underserved neighborhoods, planting more trees to reduce heat and pollution, and replacing or redesigning urban infrastructure—such as highways—that contribute to environmental burdens.
The study, “Neighborhood privilege and environmental conditions in urban parks: an analysis across the 24 most populated urban areas in the United States,” was published in Environmental Research Letters.