Climate change adaptation plans: Inclusion of health, equity, and green space

ABSTRACT

We examined the extent to which cities’ climate change adaptation plans, in U.S. cities broadly and in shrinking cities, discuss health equity/justice, including injustices related to green spaces. Using content analysis of 88 cities’ climate change adaptation plans, we coded for health, equity/justice, parks/green space, and joint usage of these terms. We made comparisons of keyword usage between shrinking and non-shrinking cities to examine how shrinking cities—with overlapping vulnerabilities and industrial legacies—differ from stronger market cities. Although health (97%) and equity/justice (81%) were common, only half of the cities discussed health and equity/justice concurrently, with overrepresentation from shrinking cities. Parks/green space were discussed alongside these themes in 28% of cities. Health equity emerged more in shrinking cities and recent plans (e.g., since 2018), suggesting recent shifts toward equity. Many cities vaguely described health equity solutions, necessitating clearer solutions for injustices, including parks/green space as climate adaptation and health infrastructure.

KEYWORDS:

• City planning
• climate change
• environmental justice
• social equity

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the efforts of Noah Christensen, student at the University of Missouri, for his assistance in compiling the climate plans for this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. http://www.georgetownclimate.org/adaptation/index.html.

2. Climate regions obtained here: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/maps/us-climate-regions.php.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lauren E. Mullenbach

Lauren E. Mullenbach is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. She focuses on urban environmental justice, including issues related to climate justice and adaptation, green infrastructure development, and human health and wellbeing. Her work has also been published in Cities, Landscape and Urban Planning, and Conservation Letters.

Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis

Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis is a Professor and Associate Director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. Her research is in the human dimensions of natural resource management with an emphasis in the social psychological as well as environmental factors that influence aspects of outdoor recreation. Specifically, her work examines the role of parks and public lands in promoting physical activity and public health, benefits of and constraints to outdoor recreation, and issues in outdoor recreation relating to diversity and youth. Her work has also been published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Environmental Management, Environment and Behavior, and Health & Place.