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Cited by 351Urban Green Space and HealthEnvironmental Justice and Health DisparitiesHealth disparities and outcomes

Do low-income neighbourhoods have the least green space? A cross-sectional study of Australia’s most populous cities

Open access
Astell-Burt, Thomas, Feng, Xiaoqi, Mavoa, Suzanne, Badland, Hannah M, Giles-Corti, Billie·2014·BMC Public Health
DOI 10.1186/1471-2458-14-292PMC PMC4005631
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: An inequitable distribution of parks and other 'green spaces' could exacerbate health inequalities if people on lower incomes, who are already at greater risk of preventable diseases, have poorer access. METHODS: The availability of green space within 1 kilometre of a Statistical Area 1 (SA1) was linked to data from the 2011 Australian census for Sydney (n = 4.6 M residents); Melbourne (n = 4.2 M); Brisbane (n = 2.2 M); Perth (n = 1.8 M); and Adelaide (n = 1.3 M). Socioeconomic circumstances were measured via the percentage population of each SA1 living on < $21,000 per annum. Negative binomial and logit regression models were used to investigate association between the availability of green space in relation to neighbourhood socioeconomic circumstances, adjusting for city and population density. RESULTS: Green space availability was substantively lower in SA1s with a higher percentage of low income residents (e.g. an incidence rate ratio of 0.82 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.75, 0.89) was observed for SA1s containing ≥20% versus 0-1% low income residents). This association varied between cities (p < 0.001). Adelaide reported the least equitable distribution of green space, with approximately 20% greenery in the most affluent areas versus 12% availability in the least affluent. Although Melbourne had a smaller proportion of SA1s in the top quintile of green space availability (13.8%), the distribution of greenery was the most equitable of all the cities, with only a 0.5% difference in the availability of green space between SA1s containing 0-1% low income households versus those with ≥20%. Inequity of access, however, was reported across all cities when using logit regression to examine the availability of at least 20% (odds ratio 0.74, 95% CI 0.59, 0.93) or 40% (0.45, 0.29, 0.69) green space availability in the more disadvantaged versus affluent neighbourhoods. CONCLUSION: Affirmative action on green space planning is required to redress the socioeconomic inequity of access to this important public health resource.

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  • This may be particularly important for children and adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who typically engage in greater amounts of screen time and are also less likely to live in green neighbourhoods.

    “This may be particularly important for children and adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who typically engage in greater amounts of ST [48–51] and are also less likely to live in green neighbourhoods [52].”

    From Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as [52]

    The citation is attached to the green-neighbourhood clause, not the screen-time clause. The Discussion (page unavailable) reports less green space in low-income neighbourhoods across Australia’s most populous cities, but the study does not establish that children and adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds specifically are less likely to live in green neighbourhoods. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
Astell-Burt, T., Feng, X., Mavoa, S., Badland, H. M., & Giles-Corti, B.
Affiliations
  • Western Sydney University (AU)
  • The University of Melbourne (AU)
ORCID
Venue
BMC Public Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2014-03-31
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
292-292
ISSN
1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1471-2458-14-292
PMC
PMC4005631
OpenAlex
W2149511701
Cited by
351
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 1
FWCI
7.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
  • RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion)
  • St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Heart Foundation of Australia
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (1004900)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Urban Green Space and Health
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
green spaces, parks, low-income neighbourhoods, green space accessibility, health disparities, urban vegetation, green space planning, Australian cities, population density
MeSH terms
Australia, Cities, Cross-Sectional Studies, Environment Design, Plants, Poverty Areas, Residence Characteristics, Socioeconomic Factors, Urban Population, Logistic Models

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