Greenness and the Potential Resilience to Sexual Violence: “Your Neighborhood Is Being Neglected Because People Don’t Care. People With Power Don’t Care”

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that green space in communities reduces the risk of aggression and violence, and increases wellbeing. Positive associations between green space and resilience have been found among children, older adults and university students in the United States, China and Bulgaria. Little is known about these associations among predominately Black communities with structural disadvantage. This study explored the potential community resilience in predominately Black neighborhoods with elevated violent crime and different amounts of green space. This embedded mixed-methods study started with quantitative analysis of women who self-identified as “Black and/or African American.” We found inequality in environments, including the amount of green space, traffic density, vacant property, and violent crime. This led to 10 indepth interviews representing communities with elevated crime and different amounts of green space. Emergent coding of the first 3 interviews, a subset of the 98 in the quantitative analysis, led to a priori coding of barriers and facilitators to potential green space supported community resilience applied to the final 7 interview data. Barriers were a combination of the physical and social environment, including traffic patterns, vacant property, and crime. Facilitators included subjective qualities of green space. Green spaces drew people in through community building and promoting feelings of calmness. The transformation of vacant lots into green spaces by community members affords space for people to come together and build community. Green spaces, a modifiable factor, may serve to increase community resilience and decrease the risk of violence.

Keywords

resilience greenness environmental injustice sexual violence African American women

Introduction

There is a growing interest in the benefits of green space as a modifiable factor for the promotion of resilient communities through physiological (James et al., 2016; Reid et al., 2018) and psychological health (Mennis et al., 2018), and safety from violence (Kondo et al., 2017). The potential of green space to support resilient communities is inequitably distributed, as the people most vulnerable to health disparities and violence often live in communities with concentrated disadvantages, including the least amount of green space (Armstead et al., 2021; Jesdale et al., 2013).

Violence prevention is a priority of local, national, and international organizations due to its association to morbidity and mortality (CDC, 2009; City of Baltimore, 2014). Women and other socially disadvantaged groups are disproportionately affected by violence and its deleterious health effects. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) landmark multicountry study on women’s health and domestic violence, 30%-60% of women reported lifetime physical and/or sexual violence (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006). In the United States (U.S.), one in three women experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner, with African American (Black) women experiencing more sexual violence than white or Hispanic women (Smith et al., 2017).

Greenness and Violence

The physical environment is increasingly being recognized as a contributing factor to violence, particularly for Black women living in urban areas (Pinchevsky & Wright, 2012). Greenness, or the presence of vegetation within green spaces, is often measured by satellite as Normalized Difference in Vegetation Index (NDVI), a validated measure of different bandwidths of light reflected off chlorophyll (Rhew et al., 2011). Institutionalized discrimination has created an urban typography where 61.8% of urban-dwelling non-Hispanic Blacks live on block groups with greater than 50% impervious surfaces (low NDVI) and 34% have no tree canopy (Jesdale et al., 2013). Evidence suggests that in urban areas, being under tree canopy reduces the risk of gun violence by 31% (95% CI: 0.54, 0.87) (Kondo et al., 2017). Violent crime rates, including aggravated assault (with and without guns), has been found to be lower with increases in green space (Garvin et al., 2013; Kondo et al., 2017; Wolfe & Mennis, 2012), whereas burglary, robbery (with and without guns), and vandalism were found to be higher (Garvin et al., 2013). These studies and mixed findings in multiple reviews suggest the need for more research, even as the evidence leans toward supporting the hypothesis that violence and violent crime are reduced with increased green space (Bogar & Beyer, 2016; Mancus & Campbell, 2018)

Greenness and Community Resilience

Community resilience is the capacity to prepare for, avoid, and adapt to structural conditions that may compromise well-being (Mancus et al., 2020; Szanton & Gill, 2010). We posit that greenness is a factor of community resilience to environments that have high risk of violence. Greenness is thought to promote well-being through passive engagement with nature (e.g., green spaces, birds, and wind), decreasing mental fatigue, restoring one’s ability to focus, and providing relief from social and built environmental stress (Berman et al., 2008; Kuo, 2015). Mental fatigue is thought to decrease one’s ability to take pause before responding to perceived aggression, increasing the risk of a violent response (Kuo & Sullivan, 2001). Additional pathways and mechanisms to community resilience include mitigation of noise pollution and heat, and the creation of spaces for social interaction (James et al., 2015; Sullivan et al., 2004).

Several studies have linked exposure to green spaces with resilience (Dzhambov et al., 2019; Mancus et al., 2020). For instance, greenness has been associated with resilient mental health among a representative probability sample of Wisconsin residents (Beyer et al., 2014). A 25% increase in greenspace was associated with a decrease in depression, anxiety and stress in children living with poverty in the United Kingdom (ages 3–5) (Flouri et al., 2014). Similarly, psychological resilience was found among university students living in Bulgaria (Dzhambov et al., 2019). Among older adults in China (mean age = 83), there was a decreased risk of frailty in those living with the largest amounts of greenness (Zhu et al., 2020). Exposure to greenness has been suggested as a protective factor against psychological stressors faced by Black adolescents (Mennis et al., 2018). Additionally, the ratio of cortisol to dehydroepiandrosterone at waking, a potential biomarker of physiological resilience, has been found to be greater among Black women living with more greenness (Mancus et al., 2020).

Current Study

While positive associations between greenness and resilience have been found among individuals, little is known about the impact of greenness on individuals living in communities with elevated levels of violence. Therefore, we sought to answer three questions: (1) What are the factors of the built environment that contribute to violence in neighborhoods with high and low amounts of greenness? (2) What are the barriers and facilitators in accessing green spaces? (3) How do green spaces impact potential community resilience?

Study Design

The current study utilized an embedded mixed-methods study design, whereby qualitative data was added on to enhance the quantitative data (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The quantitative sample came from a parent study (ESSENCE Project, NICHD #R01HD077891, PI Stockman). The ESSENCE project was a mixed-methods retrospective cohort study examining the impact of physiological and environmental factors on sexual violence and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk among self-identified Black and/or African American women living in Baltimore City, Maryland.

In phase one, the current study focused on a subset of the first participants enrolled in the ESSENCE Project (98 of 305 total participants), whose survey and geospatial data were used to describe greenness and other environmental characteristics. We used the quantitative data to explore Community Statistical Areas with the highest amounts of violence as well as the highest and lowest amount of greenness in the sample. These findings informed phase two, leading us to conduct 10 qualitative interviews, including 3 ESSENCE project participants exposed to sexual violence and 7 key informants, all of whom lived in Penn North-Reservoir Hill (PN-RH) (n = 3) and Madison-East End (M-EE) (n = 4) Community Statistical Areas (BNIA, 2016). These two areas both have high amounts of violence and are within walking distance from the ESSENCE project recruitment sites, but PN-RH has the highest amount of greenness and M-EE has the lowest amount of greenness of all the Community Statistical Area where our 98 participants lived.

Quantitative Study Methods

Participants. ESSENCE participants were recruited over three years (2015-2018) from the two public health sexually transmitted disease clinics in Baltimore City. To be eligible, participants had to be between the ages of 18-44, test HIV-negative at enrollment, self-report being biologically female, self-identify as Black and/or African American, report having sex with a man in the past six months, and have had at least two sexual partners in the past year or have a high HIV risk sexual partner (i.e., used injection/noninjection drugs, have sex with men, been to prison, concurrent sex partner, had an STD, or was HIV-positive). Participants also had to either report experiencing forced sex or threats thereof since the age of 18 years, or no history of violence during their lifetime. The survey was administered through an audio-computer assisted self-interview (ACASI) and participants were compensated with $35 for their time. All participants provided informed consent and all study procedures were approved by the ethical review boards of Johns Hopkins University and the University of California San Diego.

Measures. Quantitative data collection for the current study started with addresses from the ESSENCE project participants. The addresses were used to create point pattern data with survey results in ArcGIS 10.4.1 (ESRI, 2015). Geospatial data from local and federal sources, including the City of Baltimore (City of Baltimore, 2018), Baltimore Neighborhoods Indicator Alliance (BNIA, 2016), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 2014), and the U.S. Geographical Survey (USGS, 2018) were added to the point pattern data. Data on traffic proximity were gathered from the Environmental Justice Screen at the U.S. EPA and downloaded as a polygon shape file at the statistical block group for Baltimore City (n = 653) (USEPA, 2014). The Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance was the source of the geographical Community Statistical Areas (n = 55) (BNIA, 2016).

Through the use of USGS website Earth Explorer, a Landsat scene with near-infrared (NIR) and visible red (RED) bandwidths was captured for July 16, 2016, including Baltimore City in daytime view, with high vegetation potential and low cloud cover (USGS, 2018). We calculated NDVI, a measure of chlorophyll (greenness), using the formula NDVI = (NIR-RED)/(NIR+RED) in 30-meter pixels for the city of Baltimore. We took the average of the NDVI scores within a 100-meter circular polygon (buffer) around participants addresses. NDVI ranges from –1 to 1 (e.g., water < –0.1, barren land –0.1 to 0.1 and rainforest 0.6 to 0.8), with the measure of vegetation as any value above 0.1 (Rhew et al., 2011).

Additionally, we explored factors of the built environment associated with increased risk of violence in communities. Violent crime (i.e., rape, homicide, assault, robbery, carjacking, and shooting) and vacant property data were collected from the City of Baltimore in comma separated values files and geocoded at 100-meter radii (City of Baltimore, 2018). Finally, we explored Community Statistical Areas where interview participants lived by spending time in the communities and satellite view in Google Earth Pro (2018).

Analysis. Quantitative analysis included univariate and multivariate analysis. We analyzed data with univariate analysis by examining means, medians, standard deviations, skewness, kurtosis, histograms, frequencies, stem and leaf plot, and scatter plots. We also explored relationships in the data with linear regression models.

Qualitative Study Methods

Participants. Participants were recruited as exposed informants or key informants. Exposed informants were a small sample (n = 3) of the ESSENCE project participants who had reported the experience of forced sex or threats thereof and lived in ME-E (n = 1) and PN-RH (n = 2). Key informants (n = 7) were community members recruited through community organizations, barbershops, and snowball sampling. Inclusion criteria included community members who could speak of the social and built environment of Madison-East End (M-EE) or Penn North-Reservoir Hill (PN-RH) Community Statistical Areas and were at least 18 years of age. All informants, both exposed and key, lived in either M-EE or PN-RH and were given pseudonyms, which are names of parks in Baltimore City.

Data collection. Development of interview questions evolved from considerable reading of research on sociostructural factors. Semistructured interviews with the exposed informants began with asking the question, “How would you describe your current environment and neighborhood?” Follow-up questions explored green spaces where they lived. Gaps in knowledge about green spaces where exposed informants lived, led to finding key informants who could speak to the barriers and facilitators in accessing green spaces. The interviews with key informants began with the question, “How would you describe the current green spaces in your neighborhood?” Follow-up questions about green space included history, activities, access, and the impact of green spaces on health and behavior. Interviews ranged from 45-60 minutes and were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Analytic technique. Analysis began after each interview. Interviews, transcription, and analysis were conducted by the first author. The method of thematic analysis included an emergent coding strategy for the first three interviews with exposed informants. This led to a priori codes for the key informants, focusing on barriers and facilitators in accessing green space (Castleberry & Nolen, 2018). The data was coded in a word processing program and the title for all themes were derived directly from participant quotes. Prolonged engagement, spending time in the communities to better understand the environment of the participations during recruitment, and peer debriefing within the research team were used to increase credibility, as well as check inherent power and privilege in interpretation (Campbell & Bunting, 1991; Nowell et al., 2017). Furthermore, we used member checking to confirm the findings (add cite for member checking unless in Nowell or C & B).

Results

Quantitative Results

Sample characteristics. At the time of the analysis for the current study (N = 98), 41% (n = 41) of women enrolled in ESSENCE project reported a history of sexual violence. Eighty two percent of the sample (n = 80) had high school education, GED, or higher education (High School Grad or GED = 33%, started college or vocational school = 25%, completed a two-year program = 10% and completed a four-year degree or graduate school 14%). Sixty percent of participants had an annual income of less than $10,000. The average age was 26.67 (SD = 6.64).

Environmental correlates of violence. We found variations in the environment in which participants resided, including the amounts of greenness, crime, traffic proximity and vacant property. The mean greenness, measured as NDVI, for the quantitative sample was 0.114 (95% CI 0.107, 0.121). In PN-RH (NDVI, $\bar{x}$ = 0.17, range = .002–.349) was higher on average, but similar in range to M-EE (NDVI, $\bar{x}$ = .07, range = .02–.35). These two Community Statistical Areas represented the top and bottom quintile of greenness for the quantitative sample (Figure 1). Greenness in Baltimore City has a mean of 0.12 (NDVI range = –0.32 to 0.36). Among the 55 Community Statistical Areas in Baltimore City, we found an average greenness that ranged from 0.0041 to 0.22 (NDVI = 0.114 [95% CI, 0.107–0.123]) (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Note. HOLC = Home Owners Loan Corporation (creator of historical redlining), CSA = Community Statistical Area, NDVI = Normalized Difference in Vegetation Index (satellite measure greenness).

There were, on average, 17.9 crimes (95% CI, 15–21) and 7.98 (95% CI, 6.4, 9.5) violent crimes committed within 100-meters of the participants’ homes (Table 1). In 2016, there were 311 violent crimes in PN-RH (3,216/100,000 inhabitants), 379 in ME-E (4,870/100K), and 19,105 in Baltimore City as a whole (3,089/100K). Crime in Community Statistical Areas ranged from 37 to 1,085 in absolute number (Figure 2). We found an inverse relationship with greenness and violent crime (β = –.03, 95% CI: –.05, –.02) among the quantitative sample with robust standard errors. In other words, the more greenness the less reported violent crime in participants neighborhoods.

Table 1.

Quantitative Data.

	Community Level Data			ESSENCE Subgroup (n = 98)
	Baltimore	Penn North/Reservoir Hill	Madison/East End	Mean 100 m (95% CI)	Greenness (95% CI)
Violent crime	3,089/100k	3,216/100k	4,870/100k	7.98, (6.4, 9.5)	β = –.03 (–.05, –.02)
Vacant property	N = 16,630	N = 484	N = 590	8.3 (range = 0-76)	β = –.20 (–.33, –.06)
Traffic proximity	44-97 percentiles	95th percentile	90th percentile	>77% (74.6, 80.81)	β =–8.44 (–12.9, –3.97)

Note. Violent crime, vacant property, and greenness calculated at 100 m buffer. Traffic proximity at block group (U.S.EPA). Vacant property and violence crime adjusted for population. Robust standard errors.

Figure 2.

Note. HOLC = Home Owners Loan Corporation (creator of historical redlining), CSA = Community Statistical Area. Crime per 1,000: crime per 1,000 people.

In 2016, there were on average 8.3 (range = 0-76) vacant properties within 100 meters of the participants’ homes. PN-RH had 484 vacant properties and ME-E had 590 (Figure 3). Baltimore City had a total of 16,630 vacant properties, ranging from 1 in the wealthiest community, Greater Roland Park area to 2,421 in Southwest Baltimore. When crime and vacant property were adjusted for population among the quantitative sample, we found a small but significant positive relationship between crime and vacant properties (β = .29, 95% CI: .19, .40), but that relationship did not hold up when looking at violent crime alone (β = 0.14, 95% CI: –.01, .04).

Figure 3.

Note. HOLC = Home Owners Loan Corporation (creator of historical redlining), CSA = Community Statistical Area.

When compared to the entire United States, traffic proximity in Baltimore City, defined as a count of vehicles per day, ranges from the 44th to 97th percentile. For all participants (n = 98) in the quantitative sample, the scores were above the 77th percentile (95% CI, 74.6, 80.81). Traffic proximity in PN-RH was in the 95th percentile and M-EE was in the 90th percentile (Figure 4). We found that traffic proximity had no relationship with crime.

Figure 4.

Note. HOLC = Home Owners Loan Corporation (creator of historical redlining), CSA = Community Statistical Area. Percentile: National percentile for Traffic proximity (count of vehicles (average annual daily traffic) at major roads within 500 meters, divided by distance in kilometers).

Qualitative Results

Sample characteristics. All exposed informants reported sexual violence, including adult forced sex, gang rape, adult stranger rape, and partner sexual abuse. The exposed informants were between the ages of 20–30 years, similar to those in the quantitative sample as a whole (M = 26.7, 95% CI [25-28]). In 2016, the median number of crimes within 100 meters (about the length of a typical block in Baltimore City) of the exposed informants’ homes was 22; traffic proximity and vacant properties were both in the highest quintiles. Educational attainment ranged from less than 8th grade to completed high school, with annual household income of less than $10,000. The key informants were young (n = 4) and middle-aged females (n = 3) who lived in Baltimore City Community Statistical Areas that were predominately Black (PN-RH) =84.9%, M-EE = 88.1% considerably more so than Baltimore City (61.8%) as a whole (BNIA, 2016).

Themes

We examined environmental barriers and facilitators of green spaces that influence community resilience. Environmental barriers to community resilience were rooted in physical and socioenvironmental structural inequities. Environmental facilitators included aesthetics, how it made people feel and the draw of community.

Barriers

“There are a lot more boarded houses.” The term boarded houses describes the vacant properties in Baltimore City that have plywood boards covering windows and doors. Buildings that are condemned by the city are marked with an “X,” and during an emergency, the fire department will not enter these homes. The demolition of vacant row housing into vacant lots structurally weakens the inhabited houses adjacent to it. This consequence of demolition is more prevalent in Madison/East End Community Statistical Area.

Key informants discussed how some properties marked as vacant by the city were still lived in: “You can go to some communities in Baltimore and see literally squatters rising up out of abandoned buildings. As well as people just hanging on the corners” (Roosevelt-key informant, PN-RH). Additionally, key informants discussed how vacant properties became illegal sites for dumping trash. “People would dump their stuff in the vacant lots because nobody was taking care of them. They thought it was free range, kind of a thing, so you didn’t have to pay money to dump” (Riverside-key informant, M-EE).

While boarded houses were a neighborhood blight, they were also an opportunity to make a more green and resilient community. “We have been working on turning 108 vacant lots into green spaces” (Riverside):

I will say that there has been a lot of change in terms of housing, they were a lot more of boarded houses, but this neighborhood has had a period where there [were] downed homes, people were buying houses and re-habiting which we were a part of (Roosevelt-key informant, PN-RH).

The efforts of community members to modify their built environment promoted changes in the social environment.

“High speed. That’s a problem.” This theme refers to the threats to safety created by traffic. The Community Statistical Area of PN-RH had higher NDVI and traffic proximity scores. A major four lane road in PN-RH divides the residential areas from one of the largest parks in the city. In M-EE, a similar road divides the neighborhood from another large park:

Sometimes they zoom down here and what happens is that they come off of Orleans because all the streets are going out the city and coming in except for a couple of the alley streets. They make their left off of Orleans to come into the community to get to the market, and they come zooming. They are going 40, 50 miles an hour [on] Orleans and now they turned onto this small street and they are still in that high speed. That’s a problem (Riverside).

The speed of cars is a risk to pedestrian safety. “A mile is definitely a trek, you have to cross [the street], it’s not safe. When you think about things like traffic and distance and time and element, it makes you think twice” (Herring-key informant, M-EE). On average 217,235 people commute to work in Baltimore City from surrounding counties and states, including Pennsylvania and Washington DC. Traffic and parking are more prevalent than green spaces. “It’s usually a lot of traffic and houses on the sides, and businesses. Maybe parking lots. There are no green spaces” (Hanlon-exposed informant, PN-RH). The speed of cars is exacerbated by having through traffic crossing neighborhoods. “You never know who is coming into the neighborhood and what speed they are coming into the neighborhood” (Chinquapin-key informant, M-EE). Traffic also brings with it littering: “Some of this behavior like throwing things off your car window, dropping things on the street” (Farring-exposed informant, PN-RH).

“A lot of crime.” The majority (n = 8) of informants (both key and exposed) expressed concerns about safety and described how crime affected them. “There’s so many trees and it’s beautiful in the daytime, but it’s dark at night. We have lights along here, but they are like cozy lights. There are enough spaces around here for people to hide” (Riverside). In PN-RH one informant described the impact of crime on her neighborhood: “There is an area, two streets over, that had apartments there, there was a grocery store. A fairly bustling area but became what they call a ‘murder mall’” (Roosevelt). In M-EE, community members built a fence around a garden to prevent crime. “They got a new fence because people were growing the food and then other people start coming and stealing all the food” (Riverside).

“It was a liability.” This theme focused on the care and upkeep of green spaces. If a space is maintained, it can transform green spaces into community places, whether it is in a park, a neighborhood, or a formerly vacant lot. However, if not cared for, green spaces can become hazardous for the people living around them:

It was a liability because people were dumping constantly, even somebody was found dead in this space. And then there was tons of rats, and trash. People would dump their stuff in the vacant lots because nobody was taking care of them (Riverside).

Hazardous materials are also found in green spaces, including the vacant properties created by demolition. Some materials identified were “lead, broken concrete, and bacteria” (Riverside). Concrete is a barrier to the growth of vegetation and the use of green spaces: “Kids said they wanted a place to play ball, but there was a lot of broken concrete, and all this stuff in there” (Riverside). Aging infrastructures and contaminated soil contribute to the barriers. “What happened was a backup of the sewer system. There was leaking out into the grounds and went right through our garden because they had a map of it, and that sewer system went right underneath our garden” (Riverside).

“You do know when people don’t care about you.” This theme emerged from highlighting community members’ perceptions of inequity:

I think, as an African American who’s awake, that is really frustrating to see because you know that you are being neglected because people don’t care. Your neighborhood is being neglected because people don’t care. People with power don’t care. I think that whether you have lots of degrees or no degrees, as an African American, you do know when people don’t care about you (Roosevelt).

The need for investment in parks was noticed by key informants:

I think when you are looking at limited funding and addressing this as a need, especially for people that are in the greatest need, to feel like this is sort of a healing, or a calmness space that deserves its budget and attentions (Clyburn).

Facilitators

“It’s beautiful … it’s green.” This theme developed when asking informants to describe green spaces in their neighborhoods. Most informants mentioned parks and playgrounds. Informants identified parks that were close in proximity, including “Patterson Park, which is the closest one” (Reedbird-exposed informant, M-EE) and the amenities within them, “most of the parks in my neighborhood, they have the playgrounds” (Patterson-key informant, PN-RH). Informants talked about their own enjoyment of parks, describing them as “fun” (Chinquapin), “a need” (Hanlon-key informant, M-EE), or highlighting the benefits for their children: “So that he can have fun, cause he’s a child” (Wyman-key informant, PN-RH) and “it was gorgeous for the kids to play” (Clyburn-key informant, M-EE).

The differences in access to parks between those living in PN-RH and M-EE Community Statistical Areas was highlighted in descriptions by their respective participants. In PN-RH there is a large historical park named Druid Hill Park:

It’s beautiful. So that is what I think when I think of this neighborhood, it’s green. I call Druid Hill Park my backyard because that is what I feel like. There are lots of flowers and I love to walk in the Spring when things are blooming, and to see all the different flowers in the neighborhood and then Druid Hill Park is also just green, that’s what I think of, very pretty (Roosevelt).

While Druid Hill Park is close in distance, it is also separated from the residential areas by a large road, with limited opportunities for pedestrians to safely cross.

In M-EE, which is near Patterson Park, but separated by busy roads as well, informants described the lack of parks was related to the way the neighborhood was constructed: “The city is constructed in a way to maximize housing. I think with that you reduce the amount of land, green space area that is available” (Riverside). The lack of parks in M-EE is a challenge highlighted by one key informant who described a community survey where the overwhelming response asked for “more parks” (Roosevelt). “Everyone wanted a lot of green spaces, like parks” (Roosevelt).

“It has a calm to it.” This theme revealed how green space made people feel. This related to both physically being in a green space and creating one, such as a community garden. Green spaces and nature were identified as having a calming effect. “And then just the physicality of the space: its cooler, things move in the wind, you hear the birds chirping, you see beautiful flowers blooming. It’s very relaxing. It’s very relaxing environment to be in” (Riverside). The impact of green space on the behavior of children working in the community garden was also described: “I think they have fun, a lot of fun, they work together, brought them together. I think that was a positive effect on their behavior” (Riverside).

“Community builder.” This theme focused on the action of community members to transform their built environment. While M-EE Community Statistical Area is in the lowest quintile of greenness, in the last 10 years the community has been engaged in “planting hundreds of trees and bushes, and some perennials” (Riverside). Like seeds, spaces with attention and care can grow. “It started with coming here and clean up the lot. We started out with just three triangles; it started with a vegetable garden. That was the anchor that started the whole thing” (Riverside).

Green spaces within communities are extra living and play spaces for persons of all ages. One informant from M-EE highlighted the extension of living space and how it facilitates interaction with neighbors. “These houses are very small in size, so a lot of people sit outside on their steps all the time because it’s fresher” (Riverside). Similarly, a PN-RH informant mentioned “people will do what they call, ‘stoop nights,’ and they bring out wine and hang out” (Roosevelt).

The community efforts to create green spaces, gardens and parks transformed vacant lots into block and neighborhood central community spaces. An example of a central block park as community spaces is described by one informant: “The kids can play ball there, but it has also turned into this community event space. Some people had some weddings there, where they had the gatherings and reception” (Riverside).

The building of community through shared green spaces was stated by informants in both M-EE and PN-RH communities. “My idea is that it makes it feel like a neighborhood, somewhere you can walk and feel okay” (Wyman). “It has always been a sense of community around here, and I like that. I do need to be careful; my kids need to be careful. I can, for the most part, walk down the street and go, ‘how are you doing?’” (Roosevelt).

Discussion

This study elucidates the phenomenon of greenness as a potential factor in community resilience by combining geospatial and interview data from women living in neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantages (Table 2). Overall, both the quantitative and qualitative data suggest that greenness is a source of community resilience, it brings people together and reduces the risk of violence. Our findings highlight the importance of nurturing existing green spaces, especially in neighborhoods where there is systemic institutional oppression, segregation, and disinvestment. At the same time, the creation of green spaces should not exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and contribute to green-gentrification (Goossens et al., 2019; Pretty & Ward, 2001).

Table 2.

Environmental Correlates of Violence, Themes, and Implications for Practice.

	Environmental Correlates	Sample	Penn North/ Reservoir Hill	Madison-East End	Baltimore	Themes		Practice Recommendations
Facilitators	Greenness measured as NDVI (range)	0.115 (95% CI 0.107, 0.123)	0.17(.002 to .349)	0.07(.02 to .35)	0.12(–.32 to .36)	“It’s beautiful, it’s green”		Collaborate with communities to increase access to high quality green space
						“It has a calm to it”
						“Community builder”
Barriers	Violent crime(count per 100,000)	7.98	311/3,216	379/4,870	19,105/3,089	“A lot of Crime”	“You do know when people don’t care about you”
	Vacant properties (count)	8.3	484	590	16,630	“There are a lot more Boarded Houses”
						“It was a liability”
	Traffic proximity (percentile)	77th	95th	90th	44-77th	“High speed. That’s a Problem”

Our quantitative analysis found a significant negative association of population adjusted violent crime at 100-meters with greenness. In other words, the more greenness, the less crime. One hundred meters is equivalent to a typical city block in Baltimore City. The inverse relationship observed between violent crime and green space adds more weight to the scale of the evidence in the literature (Bogar & Beyer, 2016; Mancus & Campbell, 2018). One contributing factor to the previous mixed results is likely due to the variations in the way green space has been measured. Our measure using NDVI and findings are in alignment with similar studies of greenness (Wolfe & Mennis, 2012). There is evidence that having larger and high-quality green spaces increases the use by vulnerable populations (Moran et al., 2020). However, Black and Hispanic populations have access to green space that is half the size when compared to Whites, and serve twice the number of people (The Trust for Public Land, 2020).

The qualitative results suggest that barriers to green space determine how much community members are able to access, engage with and gain from its potential benefits. Similar to what has been described elsewhere (Seaman et al., 2010), the subjective qualities of green space itself draw people into them. However, when line of sight is blocked, either by bushes or darkness, green space can decrease the perception of safety (Rahm et al., 2021).

The themes of “There are a lot more Boarded Houses,” “High Speed. That’s a problem,” and “A lot of crime” reflect the findings of elevated amounts of traffic proximity, vacant property, and crime as part of an environment promoting stress through active engagement (Berman et al., 2008; Kuo & Sullivan, 2001). Similarly to other studies, the inverse relationship we found with greenness and both crime and traffic suggests that greener communities are safer (Sullivan et al., 2004). Similar to what has been described in the literature (Jesdale et al., 2013), we found inequity in environments, including levels of greenness (NDVI) These inequalities actively engage cognition resulting in mental fatigue and potential aggression (Kuo & Sullivan, 2001). Another thing to note is that our sample, similar to other samples of Black women in communities historically and systematically deprived of investment, equal housing and other investment also have low income (60% less than $10,000 annually) in spite of a relatively high level of education (82% high school, or GED with 49% higher).

The variation in quality of greenness is related to perceptions of safety and themes such as “It’s beautiful … it’s green,” and “It has a calm to it,” highlight variations in the potential of these spaces to provide refuge. The theme “Community builder” highlights that creating and sharing green spaces may promote community resilience (Sullivan et al., 2004). Green spaces may mitigate stress, build community, and support community resilience (Szanton & Gill, 2010). Themes of “You do know when people don’t care about you” and “It was a liability” fit within the context of historical segregation and disinvestment through redlining (Figure 1), as well as the ongoing systemic bias that perpetuates these inequities (Grove et al., 2018). The social capital of individuals and communities is, however, a factor that can leverage influence over the use of resources (Pretty & Ward, 2001). The intersections of violence, traffic, vacant properties, disinvestment and greenness act as barriers and facilitators of community resilience and are products of systemic inequity.

Limitations

ESSENCE participants without a history of violence weren’t included in the qualitative portion of the study. It may have been more informative to compare those with a history of interpersonal violence to those with a history of community violence only, but the ESSENCE sample didn’t allow for this. Some have suggested that the gender and ethnic identity of the interviewer may have impacted interviews and participants may have provided answers differently due to social desirability, power, and privilege; however, this is always a risk and is acknowledged (Hewitt, 2007). Since the participants for the qualitative component were a convenience sample of women, primarily Black, and the interviewer was a White male, and the interviews took part in the community interviews, the team felt that those interviews should focus on greenness and the community, not the personal experiences of sexual assault of the participants. Additionally, the first author, interviewer and only coder has an affinity for green spaces, which risks bias in interpretation. Moreover, there is a variation in greenness throughout the year and the greenness data in this study was captured in July. In the summer there are higher levels of greenness as compared to other seasons, and we recruited participants and collected data over a three-year period. Nonetheless, these results add to the science in the field and also may help professionals understand the importance of green space in supporting marginalized populations, including those with a history of violence.

Implications for Understanding Greenness as a Modifiable Factor in Community Health and Safety

In many instances, green space is limited where people’ live work and play, especially for those residing in communities with structural disadvantage (Jesdale et al., 2013). Strategic action creating green spaces in vulnerable communities may increase actual safety and its perception among the residents (Branas et al., 2018). Community gardening may grow resilience in communities in the present time and for years to come (Porter, 2018). Interventions are needed to increase access to green spaces, as well as improving its quality, without further marginalizing and displacing vulnerable members from their communities (Jelks et al., 2021). Finally, as one participant stated so eloquently, “We forget what outside nature was meant for: it’s a part of us” (Herring).

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD Grant #R01HD077891). K. Tsuyuki was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA Grant #K01AA025009) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD Grant #L60MD012089). J. K. Stockman and K. Tsuyuki acknowledge support by the San Diego Center for AIDS Research (Grant #P30AI036214). A. N. Cimino and J. C. Campbell acknowledge support by the Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research (Grant #P30AI094189). G. Mancus was supported by the Ellen Levi Zamioski Doctoral Fellowship. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. We thank the study participants who generously provided the data for this research. We also thank the Baltimore City Health Department for their support on this project.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Gibran C. Mancus

Peter J. Winch

Kiyomi Tsuyuki

Author Biographies

Gibran C. Mancus, PhD, MSN-Ed, RN, is an assistant professor at the Capstone College of Nursing at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. His recent research focuses on the factors of the built and social environment that intersect with violence as a factor of health. He is developing interventions utilizing green spaces to mitigate community violence and promote resilience to climate change.

Andrea N. Cimino, PhD, MSW, is an associate with the JHSON Danger Assessment Training and Technical Assistance Center. Dr Cimino’s research focuses on marginalized and oppressed populations in the United States, including victims of intimate partner violence, low-income African-American women, and women and girls involved in the criminal justice system (prostitutes/trafficked victims, former felons).

Md Zabir Hasan, PhD, is an associate in the Department of International Health of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has extensive experience in health system research, monitoring, and evaluation, with a particular focus on the performance of primary health care, health equity, and health care financing. Dr Hasan’s primary expertise includes implementation science and mixed methods research.

Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and Anna D. Wolf Chair JHSON. Dr Campbell’s major area of research is violence against women and associated physical and mental health outcomes, including intimate partner homicide, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, HIV/AIDS, and abuse during pregnancy, through interventions for women exposed to violence in the United States and globally.

Phyllis Sharps, PhD, RN, FAAN, Elsie M. Lawler Endowed Chair, is a professor and associate dean, Community Programs, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Her research targets the physical, mental, and reproductive health, among African American women and their children experiencing partner violence. Her NIH funded, Domestic Violence Enhanced Home Visitation (DOVE), a nurse intervention reducing violence against pregnant women.

Peter J. Winch, MD MPH, is a professor in the Department of International Health, JHSPH. Current research examines (a) behavior change interventions for infectious diseases, environmental sustainability, and water, sanitation, and hygiene; (b) community and policy interventions to reduce greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants; and (c) implementation of facility and community-based maternal, newborn and child health interventions.

Kiyomi Tsuyuki, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the department of Medicine, at UCSD. Dr. Tsuyki is a health demographer with expertise in the overlap of substance use, violence, and HIV/STI prevention and care. Dr Tsuyuki’s research applies a social justice framework and biobehavioral approach to understand how chronic stress from sociostructural inequity are linked to risk behavior and health disparities.

Jamila K. Stockman, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chief of Global Public Health in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, at the UCSD. Dr Stockman has conducted research on the intersecting epidemics of violence against women, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and mental health in the context of social and structural factors affecting marginalized populations.

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