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Investigating the relationship between environmental quality, socio-spatial segregation and the social dimension of sustainability in US urban areas
Citation:
Buck, K., Kevin Summers, AND L. Smith. Investigating the relationship between environmental quality, socio-spatial segregation and the social dimension of sustainability in US urban areas. Sustainable Cities and Society. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands, 67(102732):11, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102732
Impact/Purpose:
Knowing the distribution of population groups within a community is critical in the development of effective strategies for addressing social and environmental justice issues. The ever-changing social landscape and an increased need to address social and environmental outcomes across the U.S. warranted the creation of a comprehensive method for the identifying and analyzing residential disparities. The theoretical framework and multi-dimensional index developed integrate sociological and geographic concepts to assess both location and degree of residential isolation across all U.S. census tracts. The results presented can be used (1) to develop and refine measures and methods to ensure that all members of communities, including vulnerable groups, benefit from remediation, restoration and revitalization efforts; (2) to support the objective of speeding community recovery following natural disasters and sustaining public benefits over time; and (3) to inform science based tools that can be used to improve the quality of re-development decisions to maximize public benefits from site cleanup, redevelopment and revitalization efforts at the community level.
Description:
This work is intended to assess the relationship between the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) and residential segregation broadly across US urban areas. Multivariate indices of segregation and sustainability are created using data aggregated to 933 US Census Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). The relationship between segregation and sustainability (and dimensions, independently) is analyzed across the CBSAs using correlation and spatial analyses. Results show an inverse relationship between segregation and sustainability, where increasing urban segregation corresponds to decreases in sustainability. Social and economic dimensions of sustainability are negatively correlated with segregation while the environmental dimension is positively correlated. Spatial analysis reveals regional associations between the measures with most of the lower sustainability scores and higher segregation scores occuring mainly in the South. The findings demonstrate an inverse relationship between segregation and sustainability as well as between the environmental and social dimensions. These correlations indicate a need to consider inequalities, and the social dimension of sustainability more broadly, when planning urban revitalization efforts. Spatial scale is also imperative to understanding and improving the social outcomes for all members of the community.
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DOI: Investigating the relationship between environmental quality, socio-spatial segregation and the social dimension of sustainability in US urban areas