ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the theoretical and analytical studies conducted to identify the processes and landscapes of environmental inequities. Empirical research on environmental equity has evolved over the last several decades from descriptive accounts to more detailed quantitative analysis of risks and exposure patterns in low-income and minority communities. A convenient starting place for examining the studies is a proposed conceptual framework that incorporates three major dimensions of environmental equity: process equity, outcome equity, and response equity. The three potential factors that explain the observed patterns: intentional discrimination, differences in willingness to pay, and community participation. The dynamics of the housing market, neighborhood development, and institutional mechanisms are perhaps the most powerful and enduring factors. The causative mechanisms of environmental inequities within metropolitan areas cannot be complete without addressing residential segregation, racialization, and international migration patterns. Analyses of outcome equity have explores the use of different spatial units of analysis and application of stringent statistical methods.
