Exploring housing roof types as a tool to determine access to urban parks by different socioeconomic groups.

Keywords: Housing, inequality, urban parks, roof type, segregation.
Abstract Type: Guided Poster Abstract

Abstract

High- and low-income populations have different financial capabilities, spend differently on their residential projects, and have access to various materials according to their prices. Housing location is also influenced by economic power. In Brazil, a country marked by a segregationist and exclusionary history, it is common that those with a higher standard of living live closer to green spaces when they exist. This research will identify socioeconomic groups based on image interpretation of roof types of houses around urban parks. We analyze them as a proxy to identify wealthy versus poor neighborhoods based on their physical characteristics since roof materials present different colors and shapes and can be used in specific project types. A manual classification and visual interpretation of roof types are conducted using high-resolution aerial images of 0.12 cm collected by GeoSampa, a project that provides images with sufficient quality for visual discrimination. We consider a 1 km buffer from selected parks that is justified by access to them by a walking or short drive distance. This information will be used to identify socioeconomic classes according to the available roof types and the expected group using it. Finally, a GIS analysis will be performed to identify the number of buildings per roof type for each park. This analysis will support understanding who benefits the most from urban parks in a Brazilian city, and the results are expected to illustrate and map the inequalities of urban park access in that country.