IN-PERSON London. Section A

Abstract

Urban green spaces are essential for the liveability of cities, due to their multi-functionality and the benefits they provide to the residents as ecosystem services. Their potential as nature based solutions also provide an important opportunity to tackle and mitigate socio-economic and spatial inequalities that exist in the territories, at various scales. Therefore, location and quality of greenspaces must be planned considering equity in the access by resident population, regardless of socio-economic context. The purpose of this research is to develop and present a methodology that evaluates such equity in accessibility to quality greenspaces, tested in two case-studies, namely the two major Portuguese cities of Porto and Lisbon. The methodology considers location of each greenspace, plus a set of indicators that help quantify their quality as size, amenities and vegetation density. Concomitantly, it defines areas of proximity, based on walking accessibility up to 15 minutes, for which socio-economic, morphological and urban profiles are devised – at the census block level – based on indicators related to census population data, land-use, buildings, crime densities, population income, among others. Our results somewhat follow previous research, showing that areas of greater environmental deprivation tend to coincide with more vulnerable socioeconomic profiles. This conclusion reinforces the importance of urban planning to mitigate environmental injustices, including at the micro-scale in the 15-minute city, and the interest of involving the local community, particularly the most vulnerable, to avoid the consequences of green gentrification.