Professor Mark Pereira PhD

Urban greenspaces are human-made or naturally occurring areas that predominantly feature vegetation. Living near or spending time in greenspaces is associated with improved psychological and physiological health. Common methods used to assess greenspace access have significant limitations. This project will develop and test a novel Urban Greenspace Access Score and examine greenspace inequities within Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, an urban region with growing environmental and social justice concerns. The Urban Greenspace Access Score will then be used to examine historical racist housing policies and present-day greenspace access in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The study will conclude with an investigation of the relationship between urban greenspace access and postpartum depression among women residing in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Previous studies have reported strong associations between urban greenspaces and emotional well-being and psychological health. However, few have specifically focused on maternal mental health. This project has the potential to be a significant scientific contribution by: producing a robust reproducible greenspace access measurement tool that can be applied to other regions; reporting a detailed description of greenspace inequities by race within Minneapolis and St. Paul; and being one of the first studies to examine greenspace access and risk of postpartum depression.