Investigating environmental justice in urban green space development: a spatial and longitudinal study of Austin, TX

Abstract

Various greening programs are being adopted worldwide as research shows the benefits of urban green space. In recent years, the quest for a deeper understanding of institutional and structural conditions that have generated and sustained the unequal distribution of urban green space (UGS) has started to develop. This has sparked a research interest that looks at inequity spatially and longitudinally and centers on the obscured forms of racism quantitatively. To address these challenges, this dissertation examines the multi-faceted factors in shaping urban green space (UGS) distribution through spatial and longitudinal analyses, using Austin, TX – a rapidly growing U.S. city experiencing park expansion alongside persistent segregation legacy and potential displacement of minorities, as an example. The dissertation integrates the Environmental Justice framework to investigate how socio-political processes, urbanization and housing pressure, and civic participation collectively influence UGS development spatially and longitudinally. The first part of the dissertation conducted a cross-sectional spatial analysis to examine the association between UGS distribution and socio-demographic, socio-economic, and housing factors. It uses U.S. Census, housing, and Austin’s Park GIS data to construct the ‘UGS accessibility score’ as the dependent variable and commonly identified vulnerability factors as the independent variables at the census block group level. The initial results highlight the disparities in socioeconomic status and housing factors that impact UGS accessibility, where areas with a higher housing value are consistently associated with better access to UGS, and regions with more old housing units are consistently negatively associated with UGS accessibility. It also contradicts the hypothesis that areas with more White residents will enjoy better access to UGS, offering valuable insight into future urban planning policies. The second part of the dissertation uses mixed methods to conduct longitudinal analyses to investigate the association between UGS development, housing, and social vulnerability factors, including trends and shifts in proximity and per capita green space over time. In addition, to understand the role of procedural justice in the longitudinal development of UGS, the dissertation uses civic participation data as the key explanatory variable. It performs multiple qualitative comparative analyses (QCAs) with different periods following decadal intervals, where three sets of solution formulas for the three decades were subsequently compared using string analysis. Findings demonstrate that whiter, higher-income neighborhoods with sustained civic engagement consistently enjoy greater UGS access while evolving urban demographics amplify the complexity of socioeconomic factors. The dissertation bridges gaps between structural critiques of green inequity and institutional practices by showing how Austin’s UGS development, framed as city-wide environmental progress, intersects with increased housing pressure and inequitable participatory processes. Results show that procedural justice, represented by civic participation through public meetings, consistently influences the inequitable UGS development. By synthesizing spatial, longitudinal, and qualitative analyses, this dissertation offers a model for evaluating UGS justice that highlights the need to inform equitable urban planning by addressing the complex role of UGS development in mitigating and exacerbating socio-spatial inequality.