Social Inequalities in Environmental Resources of Green and Blue Spaces: A Review of Evidence in the WHO European Region

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 7; p. 1216
• Main Authors: Schüle, Steffen Andreas, Hilz, Lisa Karla, Dreger, Stefanie, Bolte, Gabriele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.04.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ecological studies; Environment Design; Environmental effects; Environmental health; Environmental justice; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Equity method; Ethnicity; Europe; Gender; Health disparities; Health Resources; Households; Humans; Hypotheses; Indicators; Parks & recreation areas; Quality; Review; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic Factors; Studies; Systematic review; Urban Health; World Health Organization; Europe; green space; environmental inequalities; systematic review; Europe; blue space; environmental justice
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16071216

Residential green and blue spaces and their potential health benefits have received increasing attention in the context of environmental health inequalities, because an unequal social distribution of these resources may contribute to inequalities in health outcomes. This systematic review synthesised evidence of environmental inequalities, focusing on availability and accessibility measures of green and blue spaces. Studies in the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region published between 2010 and 2017 were considered for the review. In total, 14 studies were identified, where most of them ( = 12) analysed inequalities of green spaces. The majority had an ecological study design that mostly applied deprivation indices on the small area level, whereas cross-sectional studies on the individual level mostly applied single social measures. Ecological studies consistently showed that deprived areas had lower green space availability than more affluent areas, whereas mixed associations were found for single social dimensions in cross-sectional studies on the individual level. In order to gain more insights into how various social dimensions are linked to the distribution of environmental resources within the WHO European Region, more studies are needed that apply comparable methods and study designs for analysing social inequalities in environmental resources.