Social vulnerability and environmental risk: a methodological approach for evaluating environmental injustice

The aim of this article was to evaluate socio-environmental vulnerability by selecting and analyzing socioeconomic, demographic, and infrastructural indicators around the Fazenda Botafogo Industrial Park in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taking this work as a case study. The study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between socially vulnerable groups and environmental risk, thus shaping a situation of environmental injustice. The study features a quantitative and spatial analysis based on the use of a geographic information system (GIS). The analyses show a strong correlation between social vulnerability and environmental risk, based on residents' proximity to factories in the target area. The indicators show that the populations with the worst socioeconomic conditions tend to live closest to the industrial sources of environmental risks. Inversely, the population groups with the best socioeconomic conditions tend to live the farthest from such sources.