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Urban Green Infrastructure Accessibility: Investigating Environmental Justice in a European and Global Green Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Borja Ruiz-Apilánez

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Building, School of Architecture, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain)

  • Estitxu Ormaetxea

    (Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archeology, Faculty of Arts, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)

  • Itziar Aguado-Moralejo

    (Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archeology, Faculty of Arts, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)

Abstract

Access to green spaces offers numerous benefits to citizens and is key to achieving environmental justice. This article explores accessibility to green infrastructure (GI) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, the European and Global Green Capital in 2012 and 2019. Vitoria-Gasteiz was selected as a case study because it combines actions aimed at promoting green infrastructure in the city along with an urban model that in recent years has favored more expansive urbanism. Manhattan distance and configurational analysis is used to investigate accessibility to the most relevant elements of the GI system and their integration in the urban tissue. Considering the actual pedestrian mobility network, configurational accessibility is examined globally and locally with 1 km and 300 m radii. The analysis reveals great differences both in global and local configurational accessibility across fifty components of the GI system that are greater than 0.5 ha and open for public use. It also shows that, while almost all inhabitants (97.9%) reside within 1 km from these green areas, 27.7% of the population live more than 300 m away. The investigation demonstrates the need to improve the city’s GI to provide universal accessibility to green spaces. It offers useful methods that planning professionals and local administrations can use to assess residents’ access to green areas and guide future GI transformation and development towards environmental justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Borja Ruiz-Apilánez & Estitxu Ormaetxea & Itziar Aguado-Moralejo, 2023. "Urban Green Infrastructure Accessibility: Investigating Environmental Justice in a European and Global Green Capital," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-30, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:8:p:1534-:d:1209250
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Catarina De Sousa Silva & Inês Viegas & Τhomas Panagopoulos & Simon Bell, 2018. "Environmental Justice in Accessibility to Green Infrastructure in Two European Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Kayvan Karimi, 2018. "Space syntax: consolidation and transformation of an urban research field," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 1-4, January.
    3. Isabelle Anguelovski & James Connolly & Anna Livia Brand, 2018. "From landscapes of utopia to the margins of the green urban life," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 417-436, May.
    4. Christopher Coutts & Micah Hahn, 2015. "Green Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services, and Human Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-31, August.
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