Over the last couple of weeks I have been working to better define my research focus:
A geographical approach to understand how the local spatial structure of urban green space shapes the way in which communities evolve. I hope to inform the Environmental Justice, Resilience Theory, and Adaptation literature as well. ( I anticipate adding to this and/or changing it entirely).
Below is a diagram of the Land Use and Society Model, which represents the dynamic feedback process where by a particular land use activity in the human/cultural circle may be modified by a new set of resource management signals issued from the legal/ political circle in response to new awareness of the impacts of existing practices on the physical world. I will use a version of the Land Use and Society Model to help sort out my thoughts and ideas about my research. For example, the process of urbanization, the removal of native vegetation and implementation of impervious surfaces has created environmental impacts on the micro climate within urban areas (ie: heat island effect) let’s say that to mitigate this impact the state and local sectors enforce the implementation or modification of recreation areas/parks. It is the enforcement of certain resource management regulations and how they effect the social and economic components of this model that interest me most.
Below is an adapted model that I created which will focus on the cultural, social, and economic interactions as they relate to urban green space.
I want to detect spatial changes in social/economic composition and environmental benefits of communities over time. I will then quantify the change in urban green space spatial distribution and relate this back to access, in order to understand who has access and how that access has changed spatially and temporally.
I anticipate a number of scenarios/hypotheses to arise:
1. If ∆ in urban green space access > 0, then ∆ in social/economic composition, and environmental benefit > 0
If there is a positive change in urban greenspace, then there will be a positive change in the social/economic composition and environmental benefit of the community as well.
2. If ∆ in urban green space access < 0, then ∆ in social/economic composition, and environmental benefit < 0
If there is no change in urban green space , then there will be no change in the social/economic composition and environmental benefit of the community.
3. Alternative Hypothesis – If ∆ in urban green space access > 0, then ∆ in social/economic composition, and environmental benefit < 0
If there is a positive change in urban green space access, then there will be a negative change in the social/economic composition and environmental benefit of the community.
Limitations:
– How will green space be formally defined?
I anticipate using a number of classifications for green space (park type, canopy coverage, greenness – NDVI ) thus I wonder How will this be further quantified? Can I use an index?
– Measurement of Access
Proximity ≠ access
– Determining Migration
The data does not tell me where people go when they leave…
Can I detect the concept of “horizontal gentrification?”
Hi Candice,
This may be a question more suitable to lunch than a blog post, but…
I was wondering how you intend to use the “Governance – power relationships” and “Planning & Policy” bubbles or are they greyed out because they are just items that you know are in play, but you will not be addressing in your research. I ask, because, power relationships, politics, coalition building, and their role on policy formation is a huge realm in and of itself. I’d love to know how you are wrestling with these complex topics.
Also, I’d love to talk more about “horizontal gentrification”, which, if I understand the concept correctly is a group of people displaced by a group of people of the same race/ethnicity – as measured by the census – but of a higher economic/education level. So, it is still gentrification, but speaks more to a larger scale process of urban racial segregation. Anyway – looking forward to talking to you in person!
Hi Greer,
I do not intend on looking into Governance/Planning and Policy. And yes, you would be correct in that idea of horizontal gentrification. Its a process that I am interested in.
We can certainly meet to talk about this in person.
Hey Candice,
You might have mentioned this already but is there any way to get survey information from the people in your current study area? I’m assuming it’s probably out of the question but I’m really interested to see how you’re going to solve the proximity ≠ access issue. If you could take surveys, it would be interesting to get an idea for how close each person is to a greeen space, how many times each person visits a green space as well as how they feel when they visit the green space (e.g. “welcomed/comforable” vs “not welcomed/out of place.” This might be a fine-scale way to get at your horizontal gentrification issue, even if you could get surveys from a subset of your spatial scale…. Just a thought!
Cheers,
Sophie
Hi Sophie
I do not intend to do interviews/surveys as this is outside the scope of my both my interest but the scale that I will be most likely looking at. However, if I happen to get data where surveys have already been conducted I might consider using them.
thanks!