How does green space inequality compare to other inequalities?

Professor Danny Dorling University of Sheffield Keynote 6 th July 2010, 1 Kemble Street, London Launch of Report; Green Space and Race: the connections between health, ethnicity and inequality

How does green space inequality compare to other inequalities?

Professor Danny Dorling University of Sheffield

Thanks to Ben Hennig for map (equal population European topography)

Picture courtesy of Mike from D-fuse :

www.dfuse.com

It’s always the same places!

Hallam

Highgate

Picture from Thomas, B. and Dorling, D. (2007) Identity in Britain, Policy Press .

Same patterns

Picture from Thomas, B. and Dorling, D. (2007) Identity in Britain, Policy Press .

Oxford NW

Community green: using local spaces to tackle inequality and improve health

  Intervention on people help the chances for individuals, but may widen gaps  Interventions on places can be much longer lasting and help far more people Just as a land-value-tax cannot be escaped by emigration (it is a good way to target the rich) so creating green space in inner cities is a good way to target poverty

Tokyo – not looking green

Tokyo – looking green

Community green

“…people living in deprived areas have five times less parks and general public space than the most affluent 20 per cent of areas. If you live in an area where more than 40 per cent of the population are people from black and minority ethnic groups, you will have 11 times less public green space than areas where fewer than 2 per cent of their population are people from minority ethnic groups .” How unusual is this? The best-off fifth of people in Britain now earn and receive 7.2 times the income of the worse-off fifth (6.9 in 1997). Is it any surprise that the best-off have access to 5 times more parks and other green space? Source: Injustice, why social inequality persists

Living above the 4 th floor

Of all the statistics revealed by the 2001 census, the starkest showed that in England, the majority of children living on the fifth floor or above were not of white ethnicity.

Of all the statistics that have been revealed since, the greatest surprise is that the number of school children who had to share their bedroom with an adult or sibling over the age of 10 and of the opposite sex

rose from 8% in 1999 to 15% by 2005

.

Source: Injustice: Why social inequality persists, Policy Press,2010, page 117. Photography by Mary Shaw

Poor housing and ethnicity

In the UK, in the eight years between 1998 2006: “…the number of statutory homeless households

fell by slightly over 8%

while the number of non-white BME homeless households

increased by 14.5%

.

Roberts, R. and W. McMahon (2008). Debating race, ethnicity, harm and crime. London, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Pages 17 and 18

Homes and homelessness

There was a striking increase in the number of homeless African/Caribbean households of between 25% and 42%.

The unequal distribution of squalor continues – “33% of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis living in unfit dwellings compared to 6% White” Roberts, R. and W. McMahon (2008). Debating race, ethnicity, harm and crime. London, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Pages 17 and 18

Poor mental health and racism

“For men and women, the rates of admission for BME groups were over

three

times higher than average. In the ‘other Black’ group, admission rates were

ten times

higher than average” 2007 Sources: http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/publication s/2009/EHC_Dorling_response.pdf

Dorling and Thomas, “People and Places” llti age 16+ 2001 % 10 - 13 14 - 16 17 - 19 20 - 22 23 - 30 llti age 16+ change % 2 - 5 6 7 8 9 - 11

Living behind bars

The1991 census revealed that, in crude terms, a man was twelve times more likely to be in prison if he were black.

Sources: www.worldmapper.org

Dorling, D. (1995) A New Social Atlas of Britain, Chichester: Wiley.

and By 2005, BME people accounted for approximately 24% of the male prison population and 28% of the female prison population.

Living with fear and others’ fear

“Over a third of minority groups reported experiencing overt racism in Britain in 2005. At least five times as many racially motivated crimes occurred as were reported.” “Lembit Opik: I’ll stand in race for Mayor if London wants me” In 2007, 30% of “movers and shakers” in London would not vote for a Mayoral candidate who was a Muslim.

Sources: Lewis, M. and N. Newman (2007). Challenging Attitudes, Perceptions and Myths. Report for the Commission on Integration and Cohesion. London, The Commission on Integration and Cohesion. (page 6). Evening Standard. London. Tuesday 13 November, 2007: pp.8-9

Discrimination in racism

“Black pupils are talented’.”

five times

less likely to be registered as ‘gifted and Education policy, 2006 "I felt my teachers saw me as far more threatening " Kwame Kwei-Armah, Actor "Black boys' performance is due to institutionalised racism" Courtenay Griffiths, Barrister "Some of my best friends were racists" Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director, ICA Ball, S. J. (2008). The Education Debate. Bristol, Policy Press. (page 172-173, quoting in turn from the Independent on Sunday’s release of an unpublished Department for Education and Schools report in December 2006.

Quotations published in the Independent on Sunday in response.

2010 headlines – no let up 70% rise in number of black and Asian people stopped and searched

. Black people are now seven times more likely to be stopped than white people. (2008/9 compared to 2004/5) June 17th

Black pupils are routinely marked down by teachers.

“Teachers' assessment of children's ability is undermined by stereotyping, says research” which compared latest SAT results to informal assessments.

April 4th Sources: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/j un/17/stop-and-search-police Observer. London. April 4th.

and Asthana, A., T. Helm and T. McVeigh (2010). The

Inequality/deprivation underlies and reflects most of British life Children subject to protection orders, per 10,000 (2008 orange, +2009 black)

15 10 5 0 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sources: CABE report and forthcoming, Areas are local authorities ranked by same measure

Community green should still shock despite what we already know

The inequality it reveals is high and unusually high even compared to prejudice as measured in schooling, crime, housing, jobs and health… Nowhere in the UK compares to São Paulo, Brazil … … but are we now as unequal as Los Angeles in the 1970s? Source: a face map by Eugene Turner, 1977

How does green space inequality compare to other inequalities?

Thanks to Ben Hennig for map (equal population European topography)

Tokyo – looking very green

Tokyo – looking white

Tokyo – glass and green

Sheffield – looking very white

Sheffield – enjoying the snow

Sheffield – winter weather

How does green space inequality compare to other inequalities?

Professor Danny Dorling University of Sheffield Keynote 6 th July 2010, 1 Kemble Street, London Launch of Report; Green Space and Race: the connections between health, ethnicity and inequality