Access to Public Green Spaces & Park Equity in Vancouver, BC

An analysis of access to public green spaces in Vancouver, BC that reveals which neighbourhoods are underserved

Introduction

Public parks are essential for community well-being, providing space for recreation, relaxation, and social connection. However, not everyone in Vancouver, British Columbia, has equal access to these green spaces.

This project uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess walkable access to public parks across Vancouver. It identifies unserved areas—locations beyond 500 metres from the nearest park—and examines how these gaps overlap with population density. Special attention is given to neighbourhood boundaries, where access disparities may be more pronounced. I used a threshold of 500 metres to determine the walkability to the park selected.

The main question we will address in this study is where are the underserved areas of Vancouver, British Columbia, in terms of access to public green spaces or parks? We can follow up on our question: are there spatial disparities in park access based on population density? Do certain neighbourhoods lack walkable green space?

By highlighting where access is limited and who is most affected, the analysis offers insight into park equity and helps inform more inclusive urban planning.

Background

Vancouver is widely recognized for its commitment to sustainable urban planning and its efforts to integrate nature into the urban fabric. As the city grows denser and more diverse, equitable access to green spaces has become an increasingly important issue. Parks are not just amenities—they are critical infrastructure for physical and mental health, providing places to exercise, relax, socialize, and connect with nature.

Urban planning in Vancouver has long prioritized walkability, transit-oriented development, and environmental sustainability. However, as land becomes scarcer and housing pressures rise, some neighborhoods risk being underserved by green space. This is especially true in areas near the boundaries of planning zones, where development priorities and resource distribution can shift dramatically from one side of a line to the other.

From a public health and social equity perspective, the location and accessibility of parks matter. People living in lower-income or higher-density areas may have fewer options for private outdoor space, making public parks essential. Vancouver’s goal of becoming the “Greenest City” must therefore include attention to who can access its green spaces—and who cannot.

This project contributes to that conversation by using spatial analysis to reveal gaps in park access and highlight where planning attention is needed most. We will evaluate by using neighbourhood boundaries to determine which neighbourhood is underserved among the population. I have done another analysis on the rental affordability in the Greater Vancouver Lower Mainland, click the button below to find out more!

Population Information

This bar chart shows the total population for each of the Vancouver neighbourhoods included in the analysis. Downtown, Renfrew-Collingwood, and the West End all have the highest populations, which is unsurprising considering they are high-density residential areas. South Cambie and Shaughnessy have the lowest populations, likely due to lower density and higher single-detached home prevalence. These variations are pertinent to the measurement of park access equity, as regions of dense population can experience additional stress on existing green spaces and require more accessible parkland to meet residents’ needs.

Park Locations & Information

This map shows the geographical extent of Vancouver’s public parks. Each yellow outline represents one park, from extensive citywide green belts like Stanley Park to small neighbourhood and pocket parks. The density of parks across the city reflects Vancouver’s commitment to planning for green spaces; however, their distribution is not necessarily consistent across the city as we will observe further on.

Although some neighbourhoods—especially central and western neighbourhoods—seem to be well served with proximate parks, other sections of the city have fewer parks, particularly in higher-density areas in the south and east. This first glance sets the stage for examining which neighbourhoods are well-served and which might be shortchanged in terms of walkable access to public parks. The map below gives you the perspective of how many parks and the size of the park there are in Vancouver.

If you click on one of the parks, information should populate about the size in hectares and a link to the park website from the City of Vancouver.

Analysis of Park Equity

Vancouver’s public green space accessibility varies across neighbourhoods. While there is ample parkland in some proportions of the resident population, other neighbourhoods, particularly those with higher densities, have significantly lower access. Neighbourhoods such as West Point Grey and Killarney shine with over 70 hectares of parkland each and resident populations below 30,000, providing residents with lots of green space per capita. Similarly, Riley Park has a healthy ratio of parkland-to-resident, one of the better-serviced neighbourhoods. At the same time, Downtown, with the city’s highest population of over 62,000, has just 30.83 hectares of park area. Sunset, Arbutus Ridge, and Renfrew-Collingwood also show lower park-population ratios but with tens of thousands of residents. These discrepancies suggest that residents of denser areas may not enjoy similar walkable access to parks as residents of less dense neighbourhoods. This evaluation determines that Vancouver Park equity is not balanced and that green space is not always in the areas where population need is most severe. Equitable and accessible park distribution is necessary for recreation and health, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability—especially in urbanizing cities. The darker the colour on the map, the less access people have to parks.

Areas Served & Underserved

Underserved neighbourhoods are operationalized as neighbourhoods more than 500 metres away from the nearest public park—distances commonly used to represent a walkable distance. The neighbourhoods are calculated using GIS buffer analysis and overlaid with population and income data to identify who is most affected.

Preliminary findings show that several South and East Vancouver neighbourhoods, including parts of Sunset, Kerrisdale, and Hastings-Sunrise, contain areas with inadequate walkable access to parks—despite having higher population densities. These shortcomings are particularly evident along the edges of neighbourhood boundaries, where planning focus or uneven allocation may have left particular blocks isolated.

The slider map below demonstrates the underserved areas which are red. The lighter the shade of red, the smaller the population and the darker shade has more more population. Same with the other side, the shades of green represent the well-served areas and the lighter the shade has less population and the darker the green shade has more population in the served buffer.

Lacking Areas

This analysis finds significant gaps in walkable proximity to public park space throughout Vancouver. While well-covered in much of the city, some neighbourhoods—particularly those near the city’s south edge and around neighbourhood edges—lack coverage beyond the traditionally accepted 500-metre walking distance. These unserved communities are often situated in areas with higher population concentrations, where green space is more necessary due to a deficiency of private outdoor space. The bottom line is that as Vancouver grows and becomes more diverse, there needs to be planning in place to ensure that all residents have equal access to public parks. By charting where access is lacking, this project enables a more just urban green space planning process. Closing these gaps—especially in transitional zones between neighbourhoods—can make the city healthier, more connected, and more resilient for all.

Note: This analysis only includes officially designated public parks and does not account for green spaces on school grounds, within private developments, or semi-public areas that may still offer recreational value. As a result, some areas identified as “unserved” may, in reality, have limited access to alternative forms of green space. This project is intended to be informative, and while it highlights key patterns in park accessibility, it may not capture every nuance of urban green space availability.