Residents’ Perceptions of Urban Greenspace in a Shrinking City: Ecosystem Services and Environmental Justice

Sonja Wilhelm Stanis (), Emily Piontek, Shuangyu Xu, Andrew Mallinak, Charles Nilon and Damon M. Hall
Additional contact information
Sonja Wilhelm Stanis: School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Emily Piontek: School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Shuangyu Xu: School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Andrew Mallinak: School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Charles Nilon: School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Damon M. Hall: School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 01908, USA

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: Although urban greenspace enhances ecological functioning and human well-being through ecosystem services (ES), it is oftentimes inequitably distributed. Environmental justice (EJ) encompasses aspects of distributive, procedural, and interactive justice related to accessibility and allocation of environmental benefits. Vacant land in shrinking cities has the potential to address greenspace inequalities and provide ES. This study investigated the perceptions of residents regarding urban ES and EJ in their communities in St. Louis (MO, USA)—a shrinking city that was undergoing green development, through semi-structured interviews. Altogether, 27 residents were selected from socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by high levels of vacancy due to legacies of redlining and systemic racism. Interview analysis revealed four themes: green benefits (including recreation opportunities), green costs (e.g., concerns for increased crime and nuisance animals), injustice issues (e.g., access to community greenspaces), and changes in the community (e.g., higher property taxes). Results revealed that residents perceived ES as closely connected with EJ when it comes to urban greening projects in their city. This study helps inform the process of urban greening projects, particularly in shrinking cities at risk of inequities.

Keywords: urban greenspace; ecosystem services; environmental justice; residents’ perceptions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1554/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1554/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:10:p:1554-:d:1485223

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().