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Dr. Alessandro Rigolon
Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA

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0 Environmental Justice
0 Health Equity
0 Urban Planning
0 Gentrification
0 Urban green space

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Gentrification
Environmental Justice
Urban Planning
Urban green space
Health Equity

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Articles
Published: 14 June 2021 in Journal of the American Planning Association
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Several U.S. cities have implemented vacant lot greening programs as planning strategies to address decreased tax base, crime, and other issues associated with high land vacancy in marginalized neighborhoods, yet little is known about the benefits of programs that transfer city-owned lots to private owners. Using a mixed methods approach, we studied whether and how private ownership matters for vacant lot condition-care in Chicago’s (IL) Large Lot Program, which allows property owners to purchase vacant city lots on their block for $1. We compared visual changes in vacant lot condition-care between the purchased “treatment” lots and matched “control” lots through a difference-in-differences technique. Our findings demonstrate a causal effect of private ownership: Whereas condition-care of the control lots decreased between 2014 and 2018, it significantly increased for treatment lots in the year after sale (2015) and continued to rise through 2018. Also, increases in Large Lot condition-care did not vary based on whether owners lived on the block. Focus groups with Large Lot owners showed that ownership empowers residents by reducing illicit and dangerous behaviors, expressing an ethic of care through vacant lot improvement, and continuing a legacy of land tenure tied to family and neighborhood. Further research is needed to strengthen our understanding of spatial contagion effects from treatment to nearby control lots. Our findings show that ownership-based vacant land greening initiatives like the Large Lot Program effectively improve condition-care regardless of whether lot owners live on the same block. Focus group findings suggest that such initiatives could be integrated into community-based safety programs and could be boosted by funding to create community amenities.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Debolina Banerjee; Paul Gobster; Sara Hadavi; William Stewart. Transferring Vacant Lots to Private Ownership Improves Care and Empowers Residents. Journal of the American Planning Association 2021, 1 -15.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Debolina Banerjee, Paul Gobster, Sara Hadavi, William Stewart. Transferring Vacant Lots to Private Ownership Improves Care and Empowers Residents. Journal of the American Planning Association. 2021; ():1-15.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Debolina Banerjee; Paul Gobster; Sara Hadavi; William Stewart. 2021. "Transferring Vacant Lots to Private Ownership Improves Care and Empowers Residents." Journal of the American Planning Association , no. : 1-15.

Journal article
Published: 08 April 2021 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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In many cities, high land vacancy has contributed to negative outcomes including visual blight, loss of sense of community and safety, and high crime rates. Although studies show that vacant lot greening programs reduce crime rates in high-vacancy areas, little is known about the impacts of resident-owner-based vacant lot repurposing initiatives on crime. We evaluated the impacts of one such initiative, the Chicago Large Lot Program, on crime reduction. Through this program, qualified property owners could purchase one or two nearby city-owned vacant lots for one dollar each. Focusing on two study sites on the South and West sides of Chicago, we performed difference-in-differences analyses to examine whether blocks with at least one purchased ‘large lot’ (n = 234) showed greater reductions in various types of crime compared to matched control blocks without large lots (n = 702) in the years following program implementation (2015–2018). We found that, starting in the second year of implementation, the program contributed to significant reductions in overall crime density as well as a few types of crime. We also found that visual condition and care of purchased lots was associated with reduced crime density in one of our study sites where the percentage of purchased lots and mean condition-care rating were more than twice as much as those of the other site. Our findings support the usefulness of vacant land repurposing programs that transfer ownership to residents, and suggest that greening activities encouraged by these programs help improve neighborhood safety and quality of life.

ACS Style

Sara Hadavi; Alessandro Rigolon; Paul H. Gobster; William P. Stewart. Resident-led vacant lot greening and crime: Do ownership and visual condition-care matter? Landscape and Urban Planning 2021, 211, 104096 .

AMA Style

Sara Hadavi, Alessandro Rigolon, Paul H. Gobster, William P. Stewart. Resident-led vacant lot greening and crime: Do ownership and visual condition-care matter? Landscape and Urban Planning. 2021; 211 ():104096.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sara Hadavi; Alessandro Rigolon; Paul H. Gobster; William P. Stewart. 2021. "Resident-led vacant lot greening and crime: Do ownership and visual condition-care matter?" Landscape and Urban Planning 211, no. : 104096.

Articles
Published: 25 March 2021 in Journal of Urban Affairs
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Recent research has shown that spending in urban green spaces including parks has fostered gentrification, a process known as green gentrification. But could ongoing gentrification and gentrification risk also precede local spending on new or existing parks? Focusing on the City of Los Angeles, we investigate whether park investment generated through developer fees in 2016–2018 went disproportionately to neighborhoods undergoing gentrification or at risk to gentrify. Logistic regression models show that park spending occurred disproportionately in tracts with traits of ongoing gentrification, some characteristics of gentrification risk, and higher educational attainment. Also, areas with higher proportions of Black and Asian residents saw fewer park investments. As cities around the world increasingly rely on developer fees to fund public amenities, planners and policymakers should develop strategies to ensure such investments do not accelerate existing gentrification and displacement of the most marginalized.

ACS Style

Michael Reibel; Alessandro Rigolon; Angelica Rocha. Follow the money: Do gentrifying and at-risk neighborhoods attract more park spending? Journal of Urban Affairs 2021, 1 -19.

AMA Style

Michael Reibel, Alessandro Rigolon, Angelica Rocha. Follow the money: Do gentrifying and at-risk neighborhoods attract more park spending? Journal of Urban Affairs. 2021; ():1-19.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Michael Reibel; Alessandro Rigolon; Angelica Rocha. 2021. "Follow the money: Do gentrifying and at-risk neighborhoods attract more park spending?" Journal of Urban Affairs , no. : 1-19.

Review
Published: 04 March 2021 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Disadvantaged groups worldwide, such as low-income and racially/ethnically minoritized people, experience worse health outcomes than more privileged groups, including wealthier and white people. Such health disparities are a major public health issue in several countries around the world. In this systematic review, we examine whether green space shows stronger associations with physical health for disadvantaged groups than for privileged groups. We hypothesize that disadvantaged groups have stronger protective effects from green space because of their greater dependency on proximate green space, as they tend to lack access to other health-promoting resources. We use the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method and search five databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) to look for articles that examine whether socioeconomic status (SES) or race/ethnicity modify the green space-health associations. Based on this search, we identify 90 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. We find lower-SES people show more beneficial effects than affluent people, particularly when concerning public green spaces/parks rather than green land covers/greenness. Studies in Europe show stronger protective effects for lower-SES people versus higher-SES people than do studies in North America. We find no notable differences in the protective effects of green space between racial/ethnic groups. Collectively, these results suggest green space might be a tool to advance health equity and provide ways forward for urban planners, parks managers, and public health professionals to address health disparities.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Matthew Browning; Olivia McAnirlin; Hyunseo Yoon. Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 2563 .

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Matthew Browning, Olivia McAnirlin, Hyunseo Yoon. Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18 (5):2563.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Matthew Browning; Olivia McAnirlin; Hyunseo Yoon. 2021. "Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 5: 2563.

Review
Published: 21 January 2021 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Urban greening initiatives are often linked to enhanced human health and wellbeing, but they can also be a driver of gentrification. To date, few studies have focused on how green gentrification shapes health. In this scoping review, we analyzed existing peer-reviewed research on how greening initiatives in gentrifying neighborhoods impact health, well-being, and health pathways (e.g., physical activity, affordable housing). Using a multi-step approach to scoping the literature (including searches in PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar), we identified 15 empirical studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found studies focusing on green space use, physical activity, sense of community, safety, and self-reported health. Overall, longtime, marginalized residents are negatively impacted by green gentrification as they experience a lower sense of community, feel that they do not belong in green space, and, in many studies, use green space less often than newcomers. Overall, the research in this area is limited, and more studies on mental health and cardiovascular health markers could advance this literature. Based on the limited available evidence, we suggest that public health, urban planning, and parks professionals could collaborate to enhance the use of green space for marginalized residents and their feelings of inclusion in gentrifying areas.

ACS Style

Na’Taki Jelks; Viniece Jennings; Alessandro Rigolon. Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 907 .

AMA Style

Na’Taki Jelks, Viniece Jennings, Alessandro Rigolon. Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18 (3):907.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Na’Taki Jelks; Viniece Jennings; Alessandro Rigolon. 2021. "Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 3: 907.

Journal article
Published: 01 October 2020 in Cities
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Many post-industrial U.S. cities have developed programs to promote the greening of publicly-owned vacant lots, including initiatives in which homeowners can purchase nearby lots and turn them into yards or community gardens. These initiatives can result in greener landscapes in marginalized communities, but we know little about the spatial patterns of vacant land disposition and whether demand for and sale of publicly-owned lots are stronger in gentrifying neighborhoods. We examined the Chicago Large Lot Program and used neighborhood sociodemographic, environmental, and safety factors to predict the demand and sale of vacant lots. We found that the demand for Large Lots was significantly higher in tracts showing early signs of gentrification between 2000 and 2015 (those with higher increases of college graduates and White residents) and for tracts located closer to downtown. Also, the percentage of Large Lots sold was significantly larger in areas closer to downtown and farther from Lake Michigan but not associated with gentrification, which might be due to neighborhood political forces seeking to retain public control of vacant lots in gentrifying neighborhoods. Although other studies show that urban greening precedes gentrification, our findings suggest that the demand for urban greening might also follow early gentrification.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; William P. Stewart; Paul H. Gobster. What predicts the demand and sale of vacant public properties? Urban greening and gentrification in Chicago. Cities 2020, 107, 102948 .

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, William P. Stewart, Paul H. Gobster. What predicts the demand and sale of vacant public properties? Urban greening and gentrification in Chicago. Cities. 2020; 107 ():102948.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; William P. Stewart; Paul H. Gobster. 2020. "What predicts the demand and sale of vacant public properties? Urban greening and gentrification in Chicago." Cities 107, no. : 102948.

Journal article
Published: 27 August 2020 in Sustainability
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Different types of urban green spaces provide diverse benefits for human health and environmental sustainability, but most studies on access to green space focus on neighborhood parks, with less work on smaller or larger green spaces. In this study, we examined sociodemographic differences in access to green spaces of different sizes for 14,385 census block groups in 12 U.S. cities using a ‘just sustainabilities’ framework. We classified green spaces into street-level greenery (XS), neighborhood parks (S–L; walking and cycling access), and large parks (XL; walking, cycling, and driving access). We ran spatial filtering models at the census block group level using different thresholds based on transportation modes. We uncovered a complex picture of inequality, with consistent injustices for XS green space, and fewer injustices for S–L and XL green space based on socioeconomic status and age, and some instances of just distributions for S–L and XL green space based on race/ethnicity. Our findings present a concerning picture for ‘just sustainabilities’: the green space type that is most often part of sustainability and climate adaptation strategies—street greenery—is unjustly distributed, likely as a result of structural racism in U.S. institutions. By examining multimodal access to green spaces of different sizes, this study helps urban greening professionals develop more just and sustainable strategies.

ACS Style

Dong-Ah Choi; Keunhyun Park; Alessandro Rigolon. From XS to XL Urban Nature: Examining Access to Different Types of Green Space Using a ‘Just Sustainabilities’ Framework. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6998 .

AMA Style

Dong-Ah Choi, Keunhyun Park, Alessandro Rigolon. From XS to XL Urban Nature: Examining Access to Different Types of Green Space Using a ‘Just Sustainabilities’ Framework. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (17):6998.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dong-Ah Choi; Keunhyun Park; Alessandro Rigolon. 2020. "From XS to XL Urban Nature: Examining Access to Different Types of Green Space Using a ‘Just Sustainabilities’ Framework." Sustainability 12, no. 17: 6998.

Journal article
Published: 22 August 2020 in Cities
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In gentrifying communities, youth of color are often the subject of citizen-based policing by white residents, who use nonemergency 311 calls to police unwanted behaviors, eliminate incumbent symbols of ownership (e.g., graffiti), and gain control of the space. To date, little research has examined such policing efforts in neighborhoods experiencing environmental gentrification. In these neighborhoods, parks and greenways are often established to attract white newcomers, and thus citizen-based policing to ensure that parks remain “white spaces” might be particularly strong. Using a mixed-method design, we examined the citizen-based policing of youth proximate to Chicago’s 606, an urban greenway connected to environmental gentrification. Interviews revealed that white residents frequently and increasingly used citizen-based policing to monitor and control youth of color’s behaviors on The 606. In response, youth avoided greenway segments in white-majority neighborhoods, used the greenway when less populated, or avoided it altogether. A mixed-effects quasi-Poisson model supported these findings, showing that the number of graffiti-related 311 calls significantly increased in the years preceding and following the greenway’s opening, particularly in areas closest to The 606. Planners and policymakers need to recognize these issues and work to ensure park spaces in gentrifying areas promote inclusion and diversity.

ACS Style

Brandon Harris; Alessandro Rigolon; Mariela Fernandez. “To them, we're just kids from the hood”: Citizen-based policing of youth of color, “white space,” and environmental gentrification. Cities 2020, 107, 102885 .

AMA Style

Brandon Harris, Alessandro Rigolon, Mariela Fernandez. “To them, we're just kids from the hood”: Citizen-based policing of youth of color, “white space,” and environmental gentrification. Cities. 2020; 107 ():102885.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Brandon Harris; Alessandro Rigolon; Mariela Fernandez. 2020. "“To them, we're just kids from the hood”: Citizen-based policing of youth of color, “white space,” and environmental gentrification." Cities 107, no. : 102885.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2020 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Condition and care are key expressions of landscape stewardship and are especially important in managing vacant urban lands. In this context, visible signs of stewardship have been associated with increased neighborhood sense of place whereas signs of physical disorder reflect perceived and actual crime. To date, assessments of condition/care and disorder using neighborhood audits have shown good reliability in field and virtual assessments but are often labor-intensive, particularly when repeated over time or applied across multiple study areas. Integrating the research traditions of neighborhood audits and visual landscape quality assessment, we propose an alternative approach, the “condition-care scale,” and pilot test this seven-point rating scale to assess longitudinal and cross-sectional patterns of stewardship in response to a vacant land reuse program. Lots purchased by nearby residents through the Chicago Large Lot Program were rated on the scale using Google Street View imagery, field photography, and field visits in 2014 (before purchase), 2015, 2016, and 2018 (1–4 years after purchase). Lab and field assessments showed strong intra- and inter-rater scale reliability, and independent measures of lot condition and care from parallel visual and social assessments support the scale’s validity. Longitudinal analyses showed that the greatest improvements were made in the first year after purchase but that improvement levels increased steadily over five years. Cross-sectional comparisons showed significant differences between some community areas. We discuss the utility of our approach for evaluating progress in vacant land reuse programs and its generalizability to other needs of urban greening professionals.

ACS Style

Paul H. Gobster; Alessandro Rigolon; Sara Hadavi; William P. Stewart. The condition-care scale: A practical approach to monitoring progress in vacant lot stewardship programs. Landscape and Urban Planning 2020, 203, 103885 .

AMA Style

Paul H. Gobster, Alessandro Rigolon, Sara Hadavi, William P. Stewart. The condition-care scale: A practical approach to monitoring progress in vacant lot stewardship programs. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2020; 203 ():103885.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paul H. Gobster; Alessandro Rigolon; Sara Hadavi; William P. Stewart. 2020. "The condition-care scale: A practical approach to monitoring progress in vacant lot stewardship programs." Landscape and Urban Planning 203, no. : 103885.

Journal article
Published: 31 May 2020 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Urban green space use is often associated with improved physical and mental health and lower noncommunicable disease (NCDs) burdens. Factors that influence green space visits have been documented in cities of the Global North, but evidence of urban green space use patterns for cities in the Global South is scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate factors influencing urban green space use patterns in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a megacity of the Global South, with a particular focus on how poor health condition and healthcare professionals’ prescriptions to exercise outdoors (park prescriptions—ParkRx) impact the green space use of middle-aged adults. We collected green space characteristics and use factors (i.e., availability, accessibility, attractiveness, and attachment), health condition, ParkRx, and urban green space use intensity (i.e., frequency and duration) via a self-reported questionnaire from 169 middle-aged residents of Dhaka. We used multivariate modeling to estimate the association of green space characteristics, health condition, and ParkRx with use intensity. We further applied a mediation analysis to determine the influence of ParkRx on the relationship between residents’ poor health conditions and use intensity. We found that green space availability and accessibility did not significantly influence use intensity, but attractiveness was negatively associated with use intensity. Green space use intensity was significantly and positively associated with attachment to the green space, poor health condition (i.e., having noncommunicable diseases), and ParkRx. ParkRx significantly mediated the relationship between health condition and use intensity. We observed limited supply, poor access, and low attractiveness when studying the urban green spaces in Dhaka, but these qualities did not affect use intensity, as found in many case studies in the Global North. In contrast, urban green space use intensity in our case study is mostly dependent on poor health condition and park prescriptions.

ACS Style

S.M. Labib; Faysal Kabir Shuvo; Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Alessandro Rigolon. Noncommunicable Diseases, Park Prescriptions, and Urban Green Space Use Patterns in a Global South Context: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 1 .

AMA Style

S.M. Labib, Faysal Kabir Shuvo, Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Alessandro Rigolon. Noncommunicable Diseases, Park Prescriptions, and Urban Green Space Use Patterns in a Global South Context: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (11):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

S.M. Labib; Faysal Kabir Shuvo; Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Alessandro Rigolon. 2020. "Noncommunicable Diseases, Park Prescriptions, and Urban Green Space Use Patterns in a Global South Context: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 11: 1.

Journal article
Published: 18 February 2020 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Research increasingly shows that greening activity can spur contagious or imitative behavior among nearby neighbors within residential landscapes. Krusky et al. (2015) examined this phenomenon in the context of vacant lots and found support for a “greening hypothesis” that residential yards near vacant lots that were converted to community gardens exhibited higher levels of care than yards near untended vacant lots. Although such activity implies a temporal, causal relationship, research to date has only tested the spatial dimension of greening through correlational measures of proximity assessed at one point in time. We extend this work by analyzing vacant lot greening as a function of time, space, scale of analysis, and other factors. We studied residential property owners (N = 321) who purchased nearby city-owned vacant lots through the Chicago Large Lot Program. Improvements made in the condition and care of large lots in the year after purchase were positively related to the proximity, condition and care of the individual’s previously owned property, and signs of use and care of the lot before purchase (blotting). We also examined whether block-level indicators of care and disorder were associated with improvements made to lots purchased on the block. We found few associations but discovered these same block-level indicators of care and disorder more strongly predicted the percent of large lots sold on that block, suggesting that greening activity may be bidirectional. These findings expand understanding of the dynamics of vacant lot stewardship and have implications for building more robust theories of urban greening.

ACS Style

Paul H. Gobster; Alessandro Rigolon; Sara Hadavi; William P. Stewart. Beyond proximity: Extending the “greening hypothesis” in the context of vacant lot stewardship. Landscape and Urban Planning 2020, 197, 103773 .

AMA Style

Paul H. Gobster, Alessandro Rigolon, Sara Hadavi, William P. Stewart. Beyond proximity: Extending the “greening hypothesis” in the context of vacant lot stewardship. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2020; 197 ():103773.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paul H. Gobster; Alessandro Rigolon; Sara Hadavi; William P. Stewart. 2020. "Beyond proximity: Extending the “greening hypothesis” in the context of vacant lot stewardship." Landscape and Urban Planning 197, no. : 103773.

Journal article
Published: 31 December 2019 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Urban vacancy is a persistent problem in many cities across the U.S. and globally. Vacant land greening helps improve neighborhood conditions and initiatives that transfer vacant lots to neighborhood residents can return benefits to where they are most needed. We examined one such initiative, the Chicago Large Lot Program, which allows property owners in high-vacancy areas to purchase 1–2 city-owned vacant lots on their block for $1 each. We developed a fine-scale landscape change analysis based on a visual assessment of aerial and street-level imagery. Our assessment, which included 20 different aspects of land/tree cover and condition/care, was applied to 424 lots purchased in two areas of the city one year before and after purchase. Among the significant changes we observed was an 8% increase of lots with gardens, and while there was a 16% reduction of lots with mature trees, it was accompanied by a similar increase in the proportion of mature trees in “good condition.” Also, nearly a third of the lots showed signs of appropriation for use and/or stewardship prior to purchase, a process known as “blotting.” We found that transfer of ownership to residents through the Large Lot Program was followed by improved condition and care regardless of prior blotting, but the non-blotted lots had bigger improvements in condition and care after purchase than the blotted lots. Changes associated with vacant land greening have both social and ecological implications, and we discuss our findings with respect to urban greening strategies and future research.

ACS Style

Paul H. Gobster; Sara Hadavi; Alessandro Rigolon; William P. Stewart. Measuring landscape change, lot by lot: Greening activity in response to a vacant land reuse program. Landscape and Urban Planning 2019, 196, 103729 .

AMA Style

Paul H. Gobster, Sara Hadavi, Alessandro Rigolon, William P. Stewart. Measuring landscape change, lot by lot: Greening activity in response to a vacant land reuse program. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2019; 196 ():103729.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paul H. Gobster; Sara Hadavi; Alessandro Rigolon; William P. Stewart. 2019. "Measuring landscape change, lot by lot: Greening activity in response to a vacant land reuse program." Landscape and Urban Planning 196, no. : 103729.

Articles
Published: 03 September 2019 in Leisure Sciences
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Socioeconomic and racial-ethnic inequities in access to recreation settings are widely considered environmental justice (EJ) issues. Researchers in leisure, geography, urban planning, and other disciplines have published important theoretical contributions on EJ related to recreation and parks, but such contributions have not been examined conjointly to identify their broader implications. In this article, we use an integrated definition of EJ that includes distributional, procedural, and interactional justice to connect previous theoretical perspectives on EJ about recreation and parks. First, we present an ecological model of recreation that recognizes EJ. We use the ecological model to systematically analyze the policy, physical, social, and perceived environmental factors and the individual factors that impact marginalized people’s recreation participation. Second, we connect the EJ model to theory-relevant literature about recreation and parks. Third, we present future research areas on EJ for recreation and parks with key implications for advancing justice through policy change.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Mariela Fernandez; Brandon Harris; William Stewart. An Ecological Model of Environmental Justice for Recreation. Leisure Sciences 2019, 1 -22.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Mariela Fernandez, Brandon Harris, William Stewart. An Ecological Model of Environmental Justice for Recreation. Leisure Sciences. 2019; ():1-22.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Mariela Fernandez; Brandon Harris; William Stewart. 2019. "An Ecological Model of Environmental Justice for Recreation." Leisure Sciences , no. : 1-22.

Research article
Published: 04 July 2019 in Urban Studies
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Recent research shows that the establishment of new parks in historically disinvested neighbourhoods can result in housing price increases and the displacement of low-income people of colour. Some suggest that a ‘just green enough’ approach, in particular its call for the creation of small parks and nearby affordable housing, can reduce the chances of this phenomenon some call ‘green gentrification’. Yet, no study has tested these claims empirically across a sample of diverse cities. Focusing on 10 cities in the United States, we run multilevel logistic regressions to uncover whether the location (distance from downtown), size and function (active transportation) of new parks built in the 2000–2008 and 2008–2015 periods predict whether the census tracts around them gentrified. We find that park function and location are strong predictors of gentrification, whereas park size is not. In particular, new greenway parks with an active transportation component built in the 2008–2015 period triggered gentrification more than other park types, and new parks located closer to downtown tend to foster gentrification more than parks on a city’s outskirts. These findings call into question the ‘just green enough’ claim that small parks foster green gentrification less than larger parks do.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. Green gentrification or ‘just green enough’: Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not? Urban Studies 2019, 57, 402 -420.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Jeremy Németh. Green gentrification or ‘just green enough’: Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not? Urban Studies. 2019; 57 (2):402-420.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. 2019. "Green gentrification or ‘just green enough’: Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not?" Urban Studies 57, no. 2: 402-420.

Review
Published: 01 February 2019 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Background: Scholars and policymakers have criticized public education in developed countries for perpetuating health and income disparities. Several studies have examined the ties between green space and academic performance, hypothesizing that green space can foster performance, and, over time, help reduce such disparities. Although numerous reviews have analyzed the link between nature and child health, none have focused on academic achievement. Methods: We identified 13 peer-reviewed articles that examined associations between academic outcomes, types of green spaces, and distances in which green spaces were measured around schools. Results: Of the 122 findings reported in the 13 articles, 64% were non-significant, 8% were significant and negative, and 28% were significant and positive. Positive findings were limited to greenness, tree cover, and green land cover at distances up to 2000 m around schools. End-of-semester grades and college preparatory exams showed greater shares of positive associations than math or reading test scores. Most findings regarding writing test scores were non-significant, and moderation effects of socioeconomic status, gender, and urbanization showed mixed results. Conclusions: The extant literature on green space and academic performance is small, shows mixed results, and mostly includes articles using observational, school-level research designs. Regardless, there is sufficient evidence to warrant further research on this topic, including effect moderation and mechanistic pathways.

ACS Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Alessandro Rigolon. School Green Space and Its Impact on Academic Performance: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 429 .

AMA Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Alessandro Rigolon. School Green Space and Its Impact on Academic Performance: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (3):429.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Alessandro Rigolon. 2019. "School Green Space and Its Impact on Academic Performance: A Systematic Literature Review." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 3: 429.

Articles
Published: 16 January 2019 in Journal of Urban Affairs
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Researchers have determined many of the factors that make neighborhoods susceptible to gentrification, but we know less about why some gentrification-susceptible neighborhoods gentrify and others do not. Some studies claim that internal neighborhood features such as historic housing stock are the most powerful determinants of gentrification, whereas other studies argue that a lack of strong affordable housing policies is the primary driver of neighborhood change. In this article, we move beyond a focus on singular determinants to recognize the interplay between these variables. We develop a socioecological model of gentrification in which we characterize neighborhood change as shaped by nested layers we categorize as people (e.g., demographics), place (e.g., built environment), and policy (e.g., housing programs). We then test the model in the five largest urban regions in the United States to begin to determine which variables within the people, place, and policy layers best predict whether a neighborhood will gentrify.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. Toward a socioecological model of gentrification: How people, place, and policy shape neighborhood change. Journal of Urban Affairs 2019, 41, 887 -909.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Jeremy Németh. Toward a socioecological model of gentrification: How people, place, and policy shape neighborhood change. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2019; 41 (7):887-909.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. 2019. "Toward a socioecological model of gentrification: How people, place, and policy shape neighborhood change." Journal of Urban Affairs 41, no. 7: 887-909.

Journal article
Published: 29 November 2018 in Science Trends
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ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. Why Certain Parks Gentrify Surrounding Neighborhoods And What We Can Do About It. Science Trends 2018, 1 .

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Jeremy Németh. Why Certain Parks Gentrify Surrounding Neighborhoods And What We Can Do About It. Science Trends. 2018; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. 2018. "Why Certain Parks Gentrify Surrounding Neighborhoods And What We Can Do About It." Science Trends , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2018 in Cities
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Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. “We're not in the business of housing:” Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects. Cities 2018, 81, 71 -80.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Jeremy Németh. “We're not in the business of housing:” Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects. Cities. 2018; 81 ():71-80.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Jeremy Németh. 2018. "“We're not in the business of housing:” Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects." Cities 81, no. : 71-80.

Journal article
Published: 01 October 2018 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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A growing body of research shows affluent White neighborhoods have more acres of parks and more park facilities than low-income ethnic minority communities in many Global North cities. Most of these investigations focused on neighborhood-level differences and did not analyze broader inequities across cities. This is a particularly significant limitation in the U.S., where changes in the political economy of parks due to a reduced local tax base have led cities to compete against each other to secure park funding from national nonprofits and public agencies. To address this gap, we examined whether the quality of urban park systems – measured through The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore – varies depending on a city’s median income and ethnic composition. Based on multivariate regressions in which we control for features of the urban fabric, we found U.S. cities with higher median incomes and lower percentages of Latino and Non-Hispanic Black residents have higher ParkScores than other cities. Some inequities also emerged for park coverage, park spending per person, and park facilities, with majority-Latino cities being particularly disadvantaged. These findings echo the results of neighborhood-level studies in Global North contexts, suggesting neighborhood-level inequities in park provision might scale up to inequities across cities. This study contributes to environmental justice theory and advocacy by demonstrating the importance of scaling up analyses of park provision to cross-city comparisons. Implications for landscape planning, public policy, and grant-making are discussed.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Matthew Browning; Viniece Jennings. Inequities in the quality of urban park systems: An environmental justice investigation of cities in the United States. Landscape and Urban Planning 2018, 178, 156 -169.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon, Matthew Browning, Viniece Jennings. Inequities in the quality of urban park systems: An environmental justice investigation of cities in the United States. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2018; 178 ():156-169.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon; Matthew Browning; Viniece Jennings. 2018. "Inequities in the quality of urban park systems: An environmental justice investigation of cities in the United States." Landscape and Urban Planning 178, no. : 156-169.

Articles
Published: 09 August 2018 in Urban Geography
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Disparities in park provision raise environmental and health justice concerns. With public agencies stepping back from providing environmental amenities in increasingly neoliberal urban regimes, nonprofits in the U.S. have assumed a prominent role in the parks and recreation sector. But very few studies have comprehensively assessed whether and how park nonprofits contribute to increasing or closing the equity gap in park provision. Focusing on Los Angeles, I analyze how park nonprofits operate and which demographic groups benefit from new and improved parks supported by nonprofits. Based on interviews with local practitioners and geospatial analyses, I find that nonprofits are leading a park equity movement in Los Angeles and helped address park disparities. To do so, nonprofits built diverse coalitions, leveraged complementary strengths, coalesced with public agencies, and helped generate public funds for parks. These findings show that equity-oriented nonprofits can successfully challenge the unjust outcomes of neoliberal governance.

ACS Style

Alessandro Rigolon. Nonprofits and park equity in Los Angeles: a promising way forward for environmental justice. Urban Geography 2018, 40, 984 -1009.

AMA Style

Alessandro Rigolon. Nonprofits and park equity in Los Angeles: a promising way forward for environmental justice. Urban Geography. 2018; 40 (7):984-1009.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alessandro Rigolon. 2018. "Nonprofits and park equity in Los Angeles: a promising way forward for environmental justice." Urban Geography 40, no. 7: 984-1009.