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An environmental justice analysis of urban tree canopy distribution and change

Many cities are working to increase greenspace and tree canopy to improve residents’ quality of life. However, from an environmental justice perspective, it is important to ask where greenspace is increased and whose quality of life is improved. This research investigates the environmental justice implications of urban tree canopy distribution and change in Philadelphia. Specifically, we conduct three distinct, yet interrelated analyses: (1) an evaluation of the environmental justice implications of Philadelphia’s 2018 tree canopy distribution, (2) a description of tree canopy change in the city between 2008 and 2018, and (3) an assessment of the environmental justice implications of tree canopy change during this period. Thus, our study expands upon previous urban forest environmental justice research by evaluating the environmental justice implications of current tree canopy distribution and temporal changes in tree canopy coverage. We found that neighborhoods in Philadelphia with higher proportions of racialized minorities had lower levels of tree canopy coverage in 2018 and were less likely to gain tree canopy between 2008 and 2018. We argue that cities should use past changes in urban tree canopy, along with an understanding of the current distribution, to make future cities more green and just. 2020; Schwarz et al., 2015). We conduct three distinct, yet interrelated analyses: (1) an evaluation of the environmental justice implications of Philadelphia’s 2018 tree canopy distribution, (2) a description of tree canopy change between 2008 and 2018 in the city, and (3) an assessment of the environmental justice implications of the tree canopy change. Our results suggest the presence of environmental injustices both in the current distribution of Philadelphia’s tree canopy and in its change from 2008 to 2018. Block groups with a higher proportion of racialized minorities were less likely to have tree canopy on parcels zoned SFR in 2018 and less likely to see relative increases in their amount of tree canopy coverage during the ten years between 2008 and 2018. Despite the Philadelphia focus of our case study, the results speak to broader concerns in environmental justice scholarship and activism. While the initial focus of environmental justice was on disproportionate exposure to toxics and other environmental hazards, the EJ frame has expanded to include access to environmental amenities. Trees in the city provide many benefits that improve urban quality of life, and as such, are amenities that everyone should have access to.