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. 2017 Dec 10;14(12):1546.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph14121546.

Race, Ethnicity, Income Concentration and 10-Year Change in Urban Greenness in the United States

Joan A Casey  1 , Peter James  2 , Lara Cushing  3 , Bill M Jesdale  4 , Rachel Morello-Frosch  5
Affiliations

Race, Ethnicity, Income Concentration and 10-Year Change in Urban Greenness in the United States

Joan A Casey et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Cross-sectional studies suggest urban greenness is unequally distributed by neighborhood demographics. However, the extent to which inequalities in greenness have changed over time remains unknown. Methods: We estimated 2001 and 2011 greenness using Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite-derived normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) in 59,483 urban census tracts in the contiguous U.S. We fit spatial error models to estimate the association between baseline census tract demographic composition in 2000 and (1) 2001 greenness and (2) change in greenness between 2001 and 2011. Results: In models adjusted for population density, climatic factors, housing tenure, and Index of Concentration at the Extremes for income (ICE), an SD increase in percent White residents (a 30% increase) in 2000 was associated with 0.021 (95% CI: 0.018, 0.023) higher 2001 NDVI. We observed a stepwise reduction in 2001 NDVI with increased concentration of poverty. Tracts with a higher proportion of Hispanic residents in 2000 lost a small, statistically significant amount of greenness between 2001 and 2011 while tracts with higher proportions of Whites experienced a small, statistically significant increase in greenness over the same period. Conclusions: Census tracts with a higher proportion of racial/ethnic minorities, compared to a higher proportion of White residents, had less greenness in 2001 and lost more greenness between 2001 and 2011. Policies are needed to increase greenness, a health-promoting neighborhood asset, in disadvantaged communities.

Keywords: environment; ethnicity; neighborhood; residence characteristics; socioeconomic factors; urban greenspace.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of greenness at the census tract level across the contiguous United States. (A) 2001 distribution of greenness (July 2001 NDVI satellite imagery); (B) Change in greenness (quartiles) between 2001 and 2011 (July 2001 and 2011 NDVI satellite imagery).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average neighborhood composition by level of greenness in urban census tracts in the contiguous U.S. (A) 2000 race/ethnicity (2000 U.S. Census data) and 2001 greenness (2001 NDVI satellite imagery); (B) 2000 race/ethnicity (2000 U.S. Census data) and change in greenness from 2001 to 2011 (2001 and 2011 satellite imagery).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Odds ratios and 95% CIs for living in (A) a green census tract (2001 NDVI > 0.4) and (B) a census tract that became greener between 2001 and 2011 (Δ NDVI > 0) by race/ethnicity and income Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) quintile (2000 U.S. Census data). The number of census tracts included in each quintile were: 1st, 10,045; 2nd, 9269; 3rd, 9229; 4th, 9211; and 5th, 9569. Models were stratified by 2000 income Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) quintile, adjusted for ecoregion, precipitation (January–July 2001 for (A) and the difference between January–July 2011 and 2001 for (B)), 2000 population density, and 2000 percentage renter-occupied homes, and employed robust standard errors clustered at the county level. Native Americans were excluded from this analysis due to small numbers.
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