Urban planning decisions expose Traveller sites to disproportionate environmental burdens

Abstract

Ethnic minorities often face environmental inequalities, as they are more likely to be exposed to hazardous and polluting facilities. Yet the role of urban planning on shaping these inequalities, particularly in Europe, remains understudied. The siting of Traveller sites offers a clear example of how repeated urban planning decisions can produce systemic discrimination, as local representatives determine where Travellers are allowed to stay, thereby directly influencing their exposure to environmental disamenities. Here by linking Traveller sites in France with socioeconomic and environmental data, we provide statistical evidence that Traveller sites are more likely to be implemented in cities with more disamenities and that sites are more exposed than any other residential areas within these cities (even other disadvantaged households). On the basis of our findings, we discuss two potential mechanisms that may underpin this discrimination: cost minimization and discriminatory preferences of local representatives and residents. The Travellers case illustrates the need for more thorough examinations of how urban planning decisions contribute to socio-spatial inequalities, particularly in the European context. French planning decisions systematically locate Traveller sites near environmental disamenities. This study reveals disproportionate exposure to waste facilities and highways compared to other residential areas.