Race and Income Effects on Park Visitation During COVID-19 in High- and Low-Index Cities

Inequalities in the distribution of parks and green spaces have become an issue of increasing concern during the Covid-19 pandemic since they can disproportionately affect the ability to maintain good health across racial and socioeconomic groups. The present study attempts to understand whether Covid has compounded the disparities in park access and usage based on race and income and whether the disparities varied by the quality of a city’s park system. Using cell phone mobility data, the study compared tract-level park visits in 20 major U.S. cities across racial and income groups before (2019) and during the pandemic (2020). The cities were divided into a high-quality park system group and a low-quality group on the basis of their ParkScore indexes. The results indicated a 6% decline in park visitation during Covid. Regarding park access, the income-based privilege was found in cities with high-quality park systems whereas no racial differences were found regardless in cities with high or low quality of park systems. Only tracts with large Upper-middle-class income families showed increased park usage during the pandemic. Most importantly, the study provides evidence against a positive correlation between physical park accessibility and usability, and it suggests the importance of other factors in promoting park usage