Social media analysis reveals environmental injustices in Philadelphia urban parks

Scientific Reports · 4 authors, 4 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

“

TL;DR

The study used Natural Language Processing and Geographic Information Science to analyze a dataset of 143,913 Google Map reviews from 2011 to 2022 across 285 parks in Philadelphia.

Full summary

868 CHARS

The study used Natural Language Processing and Geographic Information Science to analyze a dataset of 143,913 Google Map reviews from 2011 to 2022 across 285 parks in Philadelphia. The central finding is that parks in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic residents, lower socioeconomic status groups, children, and people with disabilities are likely to receive lower scores on Google Maps. Topic modeling revealed that park condition and safety are the most common topics in negative reviews for these areas. Limitations include the reliance on Google Maps reviews, which may not represent all residents, and the inability to link reviews to individual demographics. The authors suggest that park planning should focus on improving maintenance, safety, and amenities in underserved neighborhoods to address these environmental justice concerns.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10400556

Social media analysis reveals environmental injustices in Philadelphia urban parks

Scientific Reports

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 11.7 calls for access to safe and inclusive green spaces for all communities. Yet, historical residential segregation in the USA has resulted in poor quality urban parks near neighborhoods with primarily disadvantaged socioeconomic status groups, and an extensive park system that addresses the needs of primarily White middle-class residents. Here we center the voices of historically marginalized urban residents by using Natural Language Processing and Geographic Information Science to analyze a large dataset (n = 143,913) of Google Map reviews from 2011 to 2022 across 285 parks in the City of Philadelphia, USA. We find that parks in neighborhoods with a high number of residents from historically disadvantaged demographic groups are likely to receive lower scores on Google Maps. Physical characteristics of these parks based on aerial and satellite images and ancillary data corroborate the public perception of park quality. Topic modeling of park reviews reveal that the diverse environmental justice needs of historically marginalized communities must be met to reduce the uneven park quality—a goal in line with achieving SDG 11 by 2030.

CITATION EXPORT

Matthew Walter, Benjamin E. Bagozzi, Idowu Ajibade et al.. Social media analysis reveals environmental injustices in Philadelphia urban parks. Scientific Reports. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39579-4

AUTHORS

4 · 4 CENTRES

Matthew Walter, Benjamin E. Bagozzi, Idowu Ajibade, Pinki Mondal

1grid.33489.350000 0001 0454 4791Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
2grid.33489.350000 0001 0454 4791Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
3grid.189967.80000 0001 0941 6502Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322 USA
4grid.33489.350000 0001 0454 4791Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA