THE PRESENCE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AMONG THE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE POPULATION IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

Green infrastructures are an alternative to traditional stormwater management systems which allow for a more natural management of precipitation and stormwater runoff. The implementation and location of such of features have been studied in regard to population density, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and ethnicity. While scholarly literature has investigated multiple factors that affect the location of green infrastructure, a lack of literature exists that examines ethnicity in relation to the location and density of green infrastructures in geographical locations that are prone to hydrological disasters, such as hurricanes and floods. In the coastal region of Houston, Texas, areas with residents that are largely of Hispanic ethnicity have a higher number of green infrastructures nearby than locations with mostly white residents. Using geographic information systems (GIS), this study seeks to determine if a correlation exists between the lower number of green infrastructures in predominantly white areas and the elevation of the area or the date at which the area was developed.