City Know-hows

Factors that influence urban park access

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Target audience

Those responsible for managing green public space and parks, city government, directors of parks and recreation and green space advocates.

The problem

Current policy prioritizes time to walk to the park as a measure of access. We sought to investigate a more holistic model of park access that would promote equity.

What we did and why

We designed a survey tool based on a comprehensive theory of access. We then performed door to door administration of the survey in two historically disinvested communities bordering a large park in Baltimore City, Maryland USA, to determine factors associated with self-reported park use.

Our study’s contribution

We found that whilst time to walk to the park is an important metric, it is insufficient to describe the barriers to park use in urban communities.

We found that park access was associated with perceived safety and programming but not with time to walk to the park.
We also found that those who reported the neighbourhood as less affordable were more likely to use the park.

Impacts for city policy and practice

Our finding shows that

Factors that influence perceptions of park safety should be prioritized as essential components of park access.
Activity programming should be considered an essential component of park accessibility, and should be designed and implemented with a focus towards the local community.

Further information

Full research article:

Beyond proximity and towards equity: a multidimensional view of urban greenspace access by Daniel Hindman, Jessie Chien, Craig Pollack.

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