Parks and people: An environmental justice inquiry in Baltimore, Maryland

A limitation of much environmental justice literature is the inference of process from pattern. Although the distribution of parks or hazardous facilities can suggest possible linkages between race and the location of environmental amenities or disamenities, to advance the science of environmental justice it is necessary to investigate the drivers or forces that generate those patterns. Cities are the product of thousands of individual and collective decisions, made in the context of larger social and economic cycles, environmental limitations and possibilities, and politics. Because of heavy demands on space in compact walking cities, prior to the second half of the nineteenth century, setting aside land for parks was rare. Black population continued to increase while white population dwindled, an all-too-familiar story of post-World War II white flight. Over the last half century, the city has developed numerous programs, slogans, and incentives to try to reverse the population and economic decline.