Developing an Environmental Justice Index
for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks Project (CPFP) is one of nine projects across the UK awarded funding to develop innovative solutions to secure and enhance the future of their public parks and greenspaces. The project aimed to develop a joined-up response to the threats and opportunities created by the pace and scale of development in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to deliver equal access to high-quality, financially sustainable, vibrant green spaces across the whole county.
There is growing evidence that greenspaces enhance the health and wellbeing of local residents and visitors, and are also able to help mitigate against environmental risks and enhance resilience to climate change. However, environmental risks, poor health and deprivation, and (lack of) access to greenspace are not distributed evenly and are often linked. Many poorer communities face significantly poorer environmental conditions and may also have less access to greenspaces.
The CPFP project has modelled, mapped and valued the public parks and greenspaces of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the wider natural environment and the benefits that it provides (and the demand for those benefits). The best opportunities to enhance those natural capital assets have then been identified. Here we consider the distribution of health and environmental inequalities in relation to access to, and demand for, greenspace. We have mapped a range of different indicators to develop the idea of an Environmental Justice Index to identify inequalities and direct funding towards areas of greatest need.
The CPFP Project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust, with additional support from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is a collaboration between the Local Nature Partnership, the Nene Park Trust and eight local authorities including Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority, and other stakeholders.
Parks and green spaces across Cambridgeshire
Environmental Justice Index
Environmental justice is concerned with the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and reducing environmental inequalities. By mapping the distribution of these inequalities, it then becomes possible to prioritise resources in locations that are suffering from environmental injustice.
The idea of an Environmental Justice Index was used by Birmingham City Council, who incorporated five indicators (Index of Multiple Deprivation, access to green space, flood risk, urban heat island effect, excess years of life lost) to create a map of city wards in need of prioritised investment. In this study, the framework was expanded to include 10 indicators across 3 categories:
The 10 datasets (associated with Health and Deprivation, Environmental Risk, and Natural Green Space Access and Demand) used to create the Environmental Justice Index
Developing the Index
The Environmental Justice Index was calculated by summing the three indicators (Health and Deprivation Indicator, Environmental Risk Indicator, Natural Green Space Access and Demand Indicator) together. The final detailed output of the Index, alongside the average scores for each Ward are shown here (move slider to view either output).
The worst performing wards generally centre around urban areas (particularly Wisbech, Huntingdon, Chatteris, parts of Peterborough and North Cambridge).
Health and Deprivation Indicator
The first input into the Environmental Justice Index: Health and Deprivation Indicator.
The indicator shows a distinct north-south divide, with high values found across much of the north of the county (particularly across Fenland District), with the worst performing wards in Wisbech. Peterborough's central and eastern wards contain high values too, with values declining in western Peterborough wards. In contrast, South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City have generally low levels of deprivation and better levels of health.
The health and deprivation index combined the following datasets:
Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
An index of the relative deprivation for each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA), recorded in 2019. Data is shown in deciles (1 = lowest, 10 = highest (most deprived)).
Similar to the overall indicator, the IMD shows a clear north-south divide. High values are found across Fenland District and Peterborough. Further south the lowest IMD values are fragmented across South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and East Cambridgeshire.
Long-term health problem or disability
Quantity of the population, within each neighbourhood, that have a long-term health problem or disability (recorded in 2011). Data is shown in deciles (1 = lowest, 10 = highest).
Unlike the IMD, the long-term health problem or disability dataset does not show a north-south divide or an obvious geographic trend. High values are found within urban centres (such as Peterborough, Wisbech and Cambridge) but also across rural wards throughout all of the local authority regions.
Small Area Mental Health Index (SAMHI)
An index focused on the mental health within a neighbourhood population (LSOA), recorded in 2011. Data is shown in deciles (1 = lowest, 10 = highest).
The SAMHI dataset conforms with the IMD dataset in showing a north-south divide. However, the eastern edge of the county also shows high values. Smaller urban areas: Wisbech, Ramsey, Burwell, Chatteris, March show a concentration of high SAMHI values. In contrast, large urban centres (Peterborough and Cambridge) show a relatively low score in comparison.
Childhood Obesity
The percentage of childhood obesity (from 2015-2018) amongst the child population within Middle Super Output Areas (MSOA). Data is shown in deciles (1 = lowest, 10 = highest).
Though the data is at a coarser scale to the other datasets inputted into the Health and Deprivation Indicator (MSOA rather than LSOA), the childhood obesity dataset continues the north-south divide. Peterborough, March, Wisbech show particularly high values. Further south, Huntingdon and the Chesterton area north of Cambridge are isolated high areas amongst much lower childhood obesity rates within the respective local authority regions.
Environmental Risk Indicator
The second input into the Environmental Justice Index: Environmental Risk Indicator.
High values are predominantly found at urban centres such as Peterborough, Wisbech, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. Rural areas show lower values with values gradually trending higher for wards closer to the major urban centres.
The Environmental Risk Index combined the following datasets:
Air pollution risk
A model that quantifies sources of air pollution. Data is scaled from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest).
Air pollution sources are predominantly located around the road networks and in the urban centres. Peterborough and Cambridge are particular hotspots, but risk is present in a number of locations across the county.
Noise pollution risk
A model that quantifies sources of noise pollution. Data is scaled from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest).
The noise pollution dataset shows a similar trend to air pollution risk, with high values found along road networks. However, noise pollution is heavily influenced by volume of traffic, hence there is a particular focus on the A1(M), A14 and M11 corridors.
Urban heat island (local climate) risk
Urban areas tend to be warmer than surrounding rural land due to a process known as the “urban heat island effect”. This model quantifies that risk. Data is scaled from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest).
The locations of urban heat island risk show a similar trend to air pollution risk, with Peterborough and Cambridge displaying the highest risk, but high values in other urban centres such as Huntingdon, March, Ramsey and Wisbech.
Flood risk
Data created by Environment Agency, classifying areas at high, medium, low, and very low risk to flooding. Data has been reformatted (high = 10, medium = 5, low = 2, very low = 0).
Locations of high flood risk are located along the major water courses in the county, such as the River Nene, River Great Ouse, River Cam, Ouse Washes and Nene Washes. Smaller tributaries and water bodies also present high flood risk zones. The north-west region of the county (especially Fenland) shows a medium flood risk throughout, with risks decreasing in the southern and eastern regions of the county.
Natural Green Space Access and Demand Indicator
The third and final input into the Environmental Justice Index.
This indicator highlights areas where there is high demand for access to natural greenspace, but that do not currently have good access. The wards with lowest green space access, compared to demand, are predominantly around the outskirts of Cambridge - with smaller hotspots around Whittlesey, March and Wisbech in the north. South Cambridgeshire generally has low natural green space access compared to the more northern local authorities.
Cambridge City contrasts the surrounding wards in South Cambridgeshire, showing better natural green space access (in part caused by large urban parks like Midsummer Common). The centre of Peterborough also shows this trend relative to surrounding wards. A number of more rural wards on the eastern and western edges of the county perform well for this indicator, due to the relatively low demand for greenspace in these areas. In contrast, smaller urban centres tend to perform the worst across Cambridgeshire.
The Natural Green Space Access and Demand Index combined the following datasets:
Accessible nature demand
A model that combines population density, health deprivation and distance to natural green space to determine a value of demand for accessible nature. Data is scaled from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest).
Demand for accessible nature is highest amongst populated urban centres. Concentrated urban areas around Cambridge City and Peterborough compound the demand for accessible nature, with high values found within the surrounding areas of these urban centres. Outside of the urban centres, the Fenland and Eastern Cambridgeshire regions show a relatively low demand for accessible nature.
Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt)
Natural England’s ANGSt stipulates that everyone should have accessible natural greenspaces of different sizes within stipulated distances from their home. The indicator developed here shows failure to meet ANGSt targets, with locations that failed to meet any of the criteria given a score of 4, those that failed to meet 3 criteria given a score of 3 and so on.
Access to different sizes of greenspace is relatively good in Peterborough and in a corridor stretching down to St Ives, but is less good around Cambridge. In contrast, ANGSt targets are largely failed in rural Cambridgeshire, particularly in Fenland and the East of the county.
Case study: Wisbech
Wisbech is a town in the northeast of Cambridgeshire within Fenland District, near the border with Lincolnshire. It has shown high scores in the Environmental Justice Index at county level, so has been chosen as a case study to demonstrate the application of these indicators at a local scale.
Environmental Justice Index
Wisbech is a clear hot spot within the Environmental Justice Index, with high values throughout the town's wards. Waterlees Village Ward is the highest scoring (worst) ward, with a score of 105.7, with almost identical scores for neighbouring Clarkson Ward (105.4) and Kirkgate Ward (103.7), highlighting these wards as areas for potential investment.
Health and Deprivation Indicator
The majority of Wisbech scores high in the health and deprivation indicator, showing a clear need for investment for this indicator.
All of the datasets used to create the indicator showed high values across the town, with particularly high values in childhood obesity and SAMHI.
Environmental Risk Indicator
Unlike the Health and Deprivation Indicator, the Environmental Risk Indicator did not score highly across the entire town. The north region of Wisbech (Clarkson Ward and Waterlees Village Ward) scored very highly. Reduced values (though still relatively high compared to the wards surrounding Wisbech) were observed to the east and south. These higher values were contributed by the risk of flooding around the river Nene and the noise and air pollution caused by the A1101.
Natural Green Space Access Demand Indicator
The output for this indicator shows that all of the wards in central Wisbech are high scoring, indicating that current greenspace capacity is not meeting demand. Demand for access to natural greenspace is highest in the centre of town, but almost all the area fails to meet any of the ANGSt criteria. Wisbech Park provides some accessible greenspace, but there are currently no larger greenspaces in or around Wisbech, which would help to fulfill more ANGSt criteria.
In the interactive map below, the Environmental Justice Index is shown alongside each indicator that was used to calculate the index. Furthermore, the datasets used to create each indicator are also available to view. The datasets are grouped into each indicator, and can be added to the map using the checkbox icon next to their name. Clicking the arrow on the left of the checkbox will also show the layer's legend. Zoom controls are available at the top-left corner of the map, alongside a 'home' button (to return to the default zoom level), geolocation button (to zoom to your current location), and a 'find address or place' search bar (to zoom the map to an exact location). The background basemap can be altered using the 'grid' icon in the top-right corner, and a 'swipe' button is also available - allowing users to swipe between two datasets of their choice. To show / hide the layer view, select the folder icon in the top-right banner.
