Neighbourhood greenness and income of occupants in four German areas: GINIplus and LISAplus

- In two areas in Germany, lower income families resided in places with less vegetation.
- Opposite or not apparent associations were observed in two other areas.
- These differential associations were partially explained by degree of urbanization.

ObjectiveWe investigated whether families with lower individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) reside in less green neighbourhoods in four areas in Germany.MethodsData were collected within two German birth cohorts - GINIplus and LISAplus. Net equivalent household income was categorized into study area-specific tertiles and used as a proxy for individual-level SES. Neighbourhood greenness was calculated in 500-m buffers around home addresses as: 1) the mean normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI); 2) percent tree cover. Associations between income and neighbourhood greenness were assessed per study area using adjusted linear regression models.ResultsIn the Munich and Leipzig areas, families in the low and medium income tertiles resided in neighbourhoods with lower NDVI compared to those in the high income tertile (mean percent change in NDVI: −4.0 (95% confidence interval = −6.7 to −1.3) and −5.5 (−10.9 to −0.2), respectively). In contrast, in the Wesel area, families in the low income tertile resided in neighbourhoods with higher NDVI (2.9 (0.5-5.3)). Only the association in the Munich area was replicated when using tree cover instead of the NDVI.ConclusionsThis study provides suggestive evidence that the presence and direction of associations between greenness and SES is region-specific in Germany. The degree of urbanization did not clarify this heterogeneity completely.