Terra Nullius Or Terra Incognita? Documenting Land Use Practices In South Kensington, Philadephia

Greenspaces offer many environmental and social benefits for urban residents. The benefits that urban greenspaces provide improve neighborhood quality of life, and environmental justice concerns arise when they are distributed unevenly across a city’s urban fabric. In this study we analyze the distribution of formal and informal greenspaces (IGS) across the Olde and South Kensington neighborhoods of Philadelphia using high resolution aerial imagery. By using widely accessible tools like Google Earth Pro, we hope to provide a method replicable for community groups and others interested in documenting urban environmental conditions in their neighborhoods. IGS offer increased greenspace access, improving neighborhood quality of life. We documented 351 greenspaces, 69% of which are informal. Replicating this study’s methods for data acquisition on the distribution of greenspaces within the communities of Philadelphia, offers the opportunity to address environmental injustices within the city.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/urs2021geo/1005/thumbnail.jp