Invited Perspective: Nature Is Unfairly Distributed in the United States—But That’s Only Part of the Global Green Equity Story

As we experience increased impacts of climate change and urbanization, the many benefits to health and well-being provided by green and blue spaces are becoming more important, and research has shown these health benefits to be particularly strong for lower-income populations. Given these benefits, we have seen increased societal concern about the inequitable distribution of urban green and blue spaces. Researchers have responded with studies on this topic in multiple jurisdictions, analyzing whether low-income, less-educated, or racialized—that is, those who have been marginalized owing to the societal assignment of a specific racial identity—populations are less likely to have access to urban green and blue spaces. In general, we now know that populations with higher incomes and more education have better access to green and blue spaces, especially in cities, whereas associations between greenness and racialization are variable.