Inequalities in access to green space
About 3 mins
Key points
- People who live in more deprived areas are more likely to live in neighbourhoods with less access to green space.
- People from minority ethnic groups are less likely to live in neighbourhoods with more access to green spaces compared with white people.
- There is less inequality in access to green space based on age, although younger people are less likely to live in neighbourhoods with the most access to green space.
- Disabled people are slightly less likely to live in areas that are most deprived of green space.
Access to green space can bring physical and mental health benefits. Green spaces provide opportunities to exercise, and spending time in nature can relieve stress. Additionally, green spaces reduce air and noise pollution, and reduce the ‘heat island effect’ (the higher temperatures of built-up areas compared with their rural surroundings) in urban places. They also provide opportunities to meet and socialise, helping people to get together and build relationships and networks. Such social connectedness has been found to promote healthy behaviours and reduce the risk of health problems.
These charts show the percentage of different population groups living in neighbourhoods with different levels of access to green space (or green space deprivation).
- People who live in more deprived areas are more likely to live in neighbourhoods with less access to green space. 28% of people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods live in the 10% of neighbourhoods with the least access to green space. This compares with only 7% of people in the least deprived neighbourhoods.
- 40% of black, black British, Caribbean or African people live in the neighbourhoods with the least access to green space. This compares to 37% of people from ‘other’ ethnic groups, 34% of people from an Asian or Asian British background, and 27% of people from multiple ethnic groups. Only 13% of people from a white background live in neighbourhoods that are deprived of green space.
- Only 5% of black, black British, Caribbean or African people live in neighbourhoods with the most access to green space. This compares with 8% of people from Asian, Asian British or ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds, 15% of people from mixed or multiple ethnic groups and 27% of people from a white background.
- Inequalities based on age are less stark. People aged over 64 have the greatest access to green space with 31% living in neighbourhoods with the most access to green space, compared with 18% of 25 to 34-year-olds.
- There are small differences in access to green space by disability status. Disabled people are slightly less likely to live in areas that are most deprived of green space.
Access to green space is lower in more deprived areas, and different population groups have a different likelihood of living in more deprived areas. Therefore, inequalities in likelihood of living in areas with lower access to green space will reflect inequalities in their likelihood of living in more deprived areas.
- Green space is defined as gardens, public green space and ‘open access land’(such as heathland, woodland, moors and other common land).
- The green space deprivation score is estimated by taking into account the amount of green space available in a specific area and the distance that residents in the area have to travel to reach it.
- Disability follows the definition of the Equality Act 2010, that is, a person is considered to have a disability if they have a health condition that has lasted (or is expected to last) for a year or longer and reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
- Deprivation is measured through an adjusted Index of Multiple Deprivation, which includes only the Income Deprivation, Employment Deprivation, and Education, Skills and Training Deprivation domains. Domains that include data on health and neighbourhood characteristics analysed as part of this evidence hub topic area were excluded. The excluded domains are: Health Deprivation and Disability, Crime, Barriers to Housing and Services and Living Environment Deprivation.
- Neighbourhoods are defined as Middle layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs), based on 2011 Census areas. MSOAs are geographical areas that comprise 2,000–6,000 households (5,000–15,000 people).
- The analysis is restricted to MSOAs in England only, due to data availability.
Source: Health Foundation analysis of Friends of the Earth, Green Space Consolidated data v2.1, England, 2020; Office for National Statistics Census, UK, 2021; Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, English Indices of Deprivation, England, 2019
