Novel Methods for Measuring Urban Greenspace Access

Urban greenspaces are human-made or naturally occurring areas that predominantly feature vegetation. Living near or time spent in greenspace is associated with improved health. Common methods used to assess greenspace access have limitations. The research team will develop and test a novel Urban Greenspace Access Score and examine greenspace inequities within Minneapolis/St. Paul, an urban region with growing environmental and social justice concerns. This study has the potential to be a major methodological and research contribution by producing a robust reproducible measurement that can be applied to other regions, and being the first to examine greenspace inequities by neighborhood deprivation and historical redlining. This project supports outcomes tied to SDGs #3, #11, and #15 through human health benefits, carbon and urban heat sink reductions, and protection of biodiversity conferred by greenspaces.