Rails to Trails Program: Neighborhood Dynamics in Lincoln, Nebraska

Authors

Emma McCormick

Date of this Version

5-2023

Citation

Environmental Studies Undergraduate Student Thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023

Comments

Copyright 2023, Emma McCormick

Abstract

As cities increasingly move towards creating sustainable, equitable, climate-forward communities, city planners, advocates, and policymakers have begun to focus increasingly on improving access to greenspaces. Studies around the globe have documented the importance of greenspace for multiple individual, group, and community level outcomes. Simultaneously, extant research suggests that access to greenspaces frequently reflects social inequality in urban spaces, stratifying such access by race and socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods. However, few research projects have examined potential unintended consequences, such as contemporary housing issues like gentrification, that greenspaces can create for community infrastructure here in Lincoln, Nebraska.