In this lab, I tested the hypothesis that marginalized communities have reduced access to green spaces relative to communities that are better off. To do so, I used demographic variables from the Canadian census at the dissemination area level and explored their relationship to a community’s distance to the closer of the two major green spaces in Vancouver, BC—Stanley Park or Pacific Spirit Park.

I first used exploratory regression to determine six demographic variables that were most strongly related to the community’s distance to the closer of the two parks. I used these variables in a geographically weighted regression to then see what we could learn from their relationship. I found, not surprisingly, that marginalized communities were more likely to be farther away from a park than their wealthier counterparts.