Assessing urban green: Uneven distribution and its relationship with socio-spatial segregation in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

In June 2018 the Government of the city of Guadalajara announces the first census to assess the number of trees of the city. First census, in conjunction with the inventory of parks and gardens allows us to know the stock of the current green infrastructure of the city. The importance of these stocks lies on their various ecosystem services as well as on the greater social cohesion. However, if these are not equally distributed in cities, they may provoke phenomena of social exclusion. This article analyses the allocation of the green infrastructure in the city, particularly of trees, traffic islands, parks and gardens. Moreover, it intends to identify the location and distribution of the trees and to analyse and understand if this has been designed to make Guadalajara a sustainable and socially inclusive city or if it responds to economic, political and social forces. The mentioned analysis is to be made through correlations with cadastral prices and a multivalent analysis of different socio-economic variables. The analysis also takes into account the socio-economic variables that are influenced by a capitalist logic; these also have prioritized the mercantile character of the space generating a marked social differentiation in the city which can be traced back to the times of the city foundation around the 1500's. Socio-economic variables from census data of approximately 13 500 urban blocks grouped in 394 neighborhoods and 7 urban districts are used to carry out this study. Additionally, a cluster analysis is performed to characterize the social distribution within the territory in order to identify patterns and correlations with the urban green. Among the preliminary results, district Minerva stands out as the greenest district. District Minerva also stands out for surpassing the level of education of its population in comparison to the rest of the districts.