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100 _aGarrison, Jessica Debats
_930591
245 _aSeeing the park for the trees: New York’s “Million Trees” campaign vs. the deep roots of environmental inequality
260 _bSage,
_c2019.
300 _aVol 46, Issue 5, 2019,( 914-930 p.)
520 _aTrees provide many environmental benefits, but low-income communities of color tend to have fewer of them. New York City attempted to correct this disparity by planting a million trees via public–private partnership between 2007 and 2015. This paper examines MillionTreesNYC’s environmental justice goals and planting strategies via program documents and interviews with program partners, and assesses equity outcomes via regression analysis of new trees planted, existing tree canopy, park space, and sociodemographic characteristics measured at the level of the census block group. Ultimately, MillionTreesNYC did not prioritize low-income communities of color to a measurable degree, and planted more trees in areas with greater existing tree canopy. Despite public–private partnerships’ reputation for prioritizing profit over equity, the problem was not a lack of commitment to environmental justice. Instead, MillionTreesNYC’s focus on parks, which are themselves inequitably distributed, frustrated the city’s efforts to equalize the urban forest. This paper therefore exposes the deep historical roots of environmental injustice, which are difficult to eradicate without careful attention to both past and present socio-spatial inequities.
650 _2Environmental justice,
650 _aurban forestry,
_945838
650 _a public space,
_945839
650 _aparks,
_945840
650 _apublic–private partnerships
_945841
773 0 _011590
_915512
_dSage 2019.
_t Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
856 _uhttps://doi.org/10.1177/2399808317737071
942 _2ddc
_cART