Access to urban green areas and green equity: a study in Campo Grande, MS

Abstract

Green areas provide key ecosystem services for cities. Such benefits, however, need to be distributed in the urban fabric so that they are equally accessible to all citizens, a principle called Green Equity. This study analyzed the distribution of green areas in the eleven neighborhoods of the urban region of Prosa, in the city of Campo Grande, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, through vector data provided by the Municipal System of Indicators (SISGRAN) of the Municipality of Campo Grande (PMCG). The region’s green areas and road transport network were analyzed using the Space Syntax plugin and thematic maps generated in QGis and then compared with data on the income distribution of the region’s residents. The results made it possible to point out the occurrence of spatial segregation in the region in relation to access to green areas by residents. It was observed that most of the green areas are located in the neighborhoods with higher income and with privileges of displacement and access by the main roads of the region. The opposite occurred in part of the neighborhoods with lower per capita income, with variation in occurrence and access to vegetated areas. This research could, therefore, verify the positive correlation between income and access to green areas in 72% of the analyzed neighborhoods, validating the analysis methodology.

Keywords
Green Equity; social and environmental vulnerability; Space Syntax; environmental justice; urban forest