Environmental equity and spatial distribution of vegetation in and around residential areas in Montréal: A double inequity?
Recent studies have shown that urban vegetation is unevenly distributed across numerous North American cities: neighbourhoods predominantly inhabited by low income population or by certain ethnic groups have lower vegetation cover. The goal of this paper is to examine the existence of environmental inequities related to access to urban vegetation in the former city of Montréal with regards to low-income people and visible minorities. Six indicators of vegetation in and around residential blocks (at 250 and 500 m) are computed by using Quickbird satellite images. These indicators are then related to socio-economic data by different statistical analysis (correlation, Student’s t-test, analysis of variance and regression). Our results indicate that low-income people, and in lesser degree, visible minorities reside in areas where vegetation is less present. Finally the use of indicators computed in and around blocks allows us to reveal the presence of a double inequity in certain neighbourdhoods.