Socioeconomic inequities in visible, functional, and accessible green space exposure: A cross-sectional study in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

Green space offers numerous benefits for health and well-being, yet socioeconomic disparities continue to shape who has access to these benefits. The 3 + 30 + 300 guideline aims to reduce this inequity by promoting visible, available, and accessible green for all residents. This study assesses these components of green exposure across Flanders, Belgium, one of the most densely populated and highly urbanized regions in Western Europe, and examines how they intersect with multiple dimensions of socioeconomic deprivation, namely sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Using 264,622 building-level sample points, we quantified tree visibility from street-view imagery, tree canopy cover, and network distance to accessible green space. Median values of 5.0 (urban) and 6.0 (rural) visible trees, 16.1 % (urban) and 12.4 % (rural) canopy cover, and distances of 367 (urban) and 548 (rural) meters to accessible green were observed. Deprived neighborhoods, particularly those characterized by housing and health deprivation, showed the highest sensitivity to lack of green spaces, while areas with more elderly and higher-income residents had consistently greater exposure. These results suggest that green exposure and socioeconomic susceptibility intersect and reinforce one another, producing compounded distributive injustice. The findings highlight the need for equity-oriented interpretation and implementation of the 3 + 30 + 300 guideline and call for targeted greening strategies that address structural environmental and health inequalities.