BOSTON — With less than seven weeks left in office, Gov. Deval Patrick has signed an executive order that he says will help develop parks and open spaces in urban neighborhoods across Massachusetts where green areas have typically been in short supply.

The outgoing Democrat said the order would require that those open space goals are taken into consideration in executive branch decisions in all areas of state government.

Patrick signed the order Tuesday, even as Republican Gov.-elect Charlie Baker prepares to take office in January.

Patrick said the order is part of his ongoing commitment to environmental justice in urban neighborhoods and older, financially strapped municipalities.

“Today we reaffirm our commitment to providing the whole commonwealth with better quality of life through parks, open space and sound environmental policy,” Patrick said in a statement. “This order will ensure these principles are integrated into decision making across state government.”

It will be up to Baker to decide whether to let the executive order stand – or to rescind or make changes to it.

Jim Conroy, Baker’s transition chief of staff, said the incoming governor is committed to building on the state’s environment record.

“The governor-elect will work with his cabinet to conduct a top to bottom review of state government and determine which policies will or will not keep Massachusetts a leader in environmental reform,” Conroy said.

The executive order is also an attempt by Patrick to burnish his environmental legacy.

The administration says it’s already invested $10.3 million in capital funding to build playgrounds or parks – or renovate existing ones – in each of the state’s 54 cities.

That’s part of a larger legacy that includes several environmental bills Patrick signed during his first term in office, including laws designed to increase the number of jobs in the renewable energy sector and to help the state begin to wean itself off fossil fuels and better manage its ocean resources.

Patrick also has overseen the expansion of wind and solar energy in Massachusetts.

The executive order focuses on parks in part as a social justice issue.

It would require the creation of an advisory council on environmental justice concerns.

It also would require the Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs to update its 2002 environmental justice policy within 60 days and require all secretariats who report to the governor to appoint an “environmental justice coordinator” within 30 days.

The secretariats would be required to post their updated environmental justice strategies within six months – long after Patrick has turned over the keys to the governor’s office to Baker.

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