The changing ethno-racial profile of ‘very walkable’ urban neighbourhoods in the US (2010–2020): Are minorities under-represented?

Abstract

Neighbourhood walkability has increasingly been viewed as an amenity that may confer substantial health, social and economic benefits. As walkable neighbourhoods become increasingly desirable, there is concern that disadvantaged groups – particularly lower-income and minority households – may be displaced or excluded from these spaces. This investigation assesses whether minorities, and Black residents in particular, are increasingly under-represented in urban neighbourhoods with high walkability by examining demographic changes between 2010 and 2020 across approximately 43,000 urban census tracts. The results suggest a negative association between Black and ‘other’ non-White residents and neighbourhood walkability when controlling for confounding factors. Blacks were also the only major ethno-racial group to decline in absolute number within the nation’s most walkable (i.e. Walk Score^®≥90) urban neighbourhoods between 2010 and 2020. Implications for social equity and justice are discussed.