Development Fees and Park Equity in Los Angeles

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings

Parks are inequitably distributed in many U.S. cities, and policies and planning initiatives around the country have sought to rectify these inequities. In this study, we examined whether one such initiative, a policy change in development fees for parks in Los Angeles (CA), achieved its equity goals. Specifically, the changed Park Fees Ordinance loosened the distance requirements between developments where fees are collected and parks where fees can be invested to create opportunities to spend funds in disadvantaged neighborhoods with little development. We examined whether disadvantaged communities received more park fees after the policy change in 2017. We found no significant equity gains based on socioeconomic status, some gains for non-Hispanic Black people, but some losses for Latinx people. We attribute these findings to a lack of equity criteria in the policy, political pressures, capital renovations to address deferred maintenance, and geographic limitations in where funds can be spent. We also found that Los Angeles seemed to have taken advantage of the increased geographic flexibility in the changed policy, although a lack of data linking fee-generating developments to fee-receiving parks limited the certainty of this finding.

Takeaway for practice

Park fees are not a panacea to advance park equity. Yet park fee policies could include measurable equity criteria to help direct some funds to disadvantaged park-poor communities while leaving some funds to the discretion of elected officials. Also, cities should have transparent data about the generation and distribution of park fees.

Keywords:

• environmental justice
• green space
• impact fees
• parks
• policy evaluation

Research Support

This research was supported in part by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a nonprofit organization working to achieve park equity in the Los Angeles region.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2023.2201279

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alessandro Rigolon

ALESSANDRO RIGOLON ([email protected]) is an assistant professor in the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning at The University of Utah.

Christopher Giamarino

CHRISTOPHER GIAMARINO ([email protected]) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jon Christensen

JON CHRISTENSEN ([email protected]) is an adjunct assistant professor at the Luskin Center for Innovation and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles.