Greenways as Green Magnets:The Relationship between the Race of Greenway Users and Race in Proximal Neighborhoods

Abstract

Although advances have been made in research examining race and the use of public parks, there has been little attention paid to urban greenways. Using Geographic Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, this exploratory study examines whether the racial composition of neighborhoods surrounding two urban greenways in Michigan acts as a barrier to trail use or whether these urban greenways operate as “green magnets,” facilitating links between neighborhoods of varied racial composition. The results of this study revealed that the racial composition of the neighborhoods greenway users passed through did not predict the race of users on a given segment. These findings suggest that greenways might facilitate racial comingling in urban public space.

KEYWORDS:

• Greenway
• race
• neighborhood
• GIS
• public space