scholarly journals Informal urban green space as anti-gentrification strategy?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Rupprecht ◽  
Jason A. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Housing Price ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Price Inflation ◽  
Urban Greenspaces

Access to urban greenspace is vital for urban residents’ wellbeing. Yet investment in new parks can trigger housing price inflation through a process termed environmental gentrification. This can in turn potentially displace marginalized and vulnerable residents. In this chapter, we examine cases from Japan and Australia, investigating how informal urban greenspaces (IGS) (e.g. vacant lots, street or railway verges, brownfields, and power line corridors) could function as an ‘anti-gentrification’ urban greening strategy. Employing conceptual insights from political ecology and environmental justice, we use spatial and statistical analysis to test whether IGS is socio-spatially differentiated by (dis)advantage, and whether factors such as income and education affect residents’ perception and use of IGS. Results suggest that IGS holds considerable potential as a ‘just green enough’ intervention, because it does not appear to trigger gentrification as occurs with more ‘intentional’ green spaces. We argue that a key difference between intentional and informal greenspaces is the apparent empowerment of residents as co-creators, designers, managers and users of greenspace – not as passive consumers. Informal greenspaces may thus fulfill recreational needs while avoiding demands for a ‘return on investment’, a driver of environmental-gentrification. Insights from Japan suggest that planners and urban managers should identify and reduce IGS use barriers, provide better information (e.g. IGS maps), and work with residents to promote its use.

scholarly journals Ready for more-than-human? Measuring urban residents’ willingness to coexist with animals

2017 ◽  
Vol 195 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph D. D. Rupprecht
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Interspecies Interactions ◽  
Vacant Lots

In the context of rapid urbanisation, geographers are calling for embracing non-humans as urban co-inhabitants. But if animals and plants are seen as ‘out of place’, sharing urban space can lead to wildlife conflicts. We therefore need to better understand residents’ willingness to coexist if we are to work towards more-than-human cities. This study quantitatively compared residents’ preferences toward sharing their neighbourhood, as well as perceptions of belonging across urban green space in two geographically and culturally distinct cities: Brisbane, Australia, and Sapporo, Japan. Results suggest that geographical and cultural context alongside educational attainment and age influenced respondents’ willingness to coexist, but not sex and income. Mapping respondents’ preferences for animals in their neighbourhood revealed four groups of animals along two axes – global-local and wanted-unwanted. These arose from the way animals contested the human notions of control over urban space. As spaces where animals belong in cities, most respondents chose informal green space (e.g. vacant lots, brownfields) after forests and bushland. Drawing upon recent theoretical and empirical research on liminal urban spaces, I argue that such informal green space can offer ‘provisional arrangements’ which allow for conciliatory engagements with non-humans. I thus propose informal green spaces as territories of encounter – a possible path towards more-than-human cities. Finally, I discuss some implications for planning and management of interspecies interactions.

scholarly journals Strategies to Improve Sustainability in Urban Landscape, Literature Review

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Rakhshandehroo ◽  
Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof ◽  
Roozbeh Arabi ◽  
Rasul Jahandarfard
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Greening

Abstract Decreasing green spaces is a significant concern in today’s compact cities while they provide various dimensions of sustainability; therefore, sustainable development has become the key idea to solve a series of environmental, economic and social problems. Because urban green space can be seen from different distinct disciplinary perspectives, this study reviews theories and material based on multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Urban development and renewal should be accompanied by a green vision, to insert more plantable spaces into the urban environment. Therefore, sustainable urban planning, design and management are needed to improve urban greening by innovative and creative strategies.

Conversion of Abandoned Property to Green Space as a Strategy to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Investigated with Numerical Simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 1827-1843
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Cady ◽  
David A. Rahn ◽  
Nathaniel A. Brunsell ◽  
Ward Lyles
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Aggressive Approach ◽  
Urban Heat

AbstractImpervious surfaces and buildings in the urban environment alter the radiative balance and surface energy exchange and can lead to warmer temperatures known as the urban heat island (UHI), which can increase heat-related illness and mortality. Continued urbanization and anthropogenic warming will enhance city temperatures worldwide, raising the need for viable mitigation strategies. Increasing green space throughout a city is a viable option to lessen the impacts of the UHI but can be difficult to implement. The potential impact of converting existing vacant lots in Kansas City, Missouri, to green spaces is explored with numerical simulations for three heat-wave events. Using data on vacant property and identifying places with a high fraction of impervious surfaces, the most suitable areas for converting vacant lots to green spaces is determined. Land-use/land-cover datasets are modified to simulate varying degrees of feasible conversion of urban to green spaces in these areas, and the local cooling effect using each strategy is compared with the unmodified simulation. Under more aggressive greening strategies, a mean local cooling impact of 0.5°–1.0°C is present within the focus area itself during the nighttime hours. Some additional cooling via the “park cool island” is possible downwind of the converted green spaces under the more aggressive scenarios. Although moderate and conservative strategies of conversion could still lead to other benefits, those strategies have little impact on cooling. Only an aggressive approach yields significant cooling.

scholarly journals Ready for more-than-human? Measuring urban residents’ willingness to coexist with animals

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Rupprecht
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Interspecies Interactions ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Factors Influencing

In the context of rapid urbanisation, geographers are calling for embracing non-humans as urban co-inhabitants, but notions of animals and plants ‘out of place’ manifest in wildlife conflicts. To find paths towards more-than-human cities, we need to better understand residents’ willingness to coexist. This study quantitatively compared residents’ preferences toward sharing their neighbourhood and perceptions of belonging across urban green space in two geographically and culturally distinct cities: Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. Results suggest factors influencing respondents’ willingness to coexist were geographical and cultural context alongside educational attainment and age, but not sex and income. Mapping respondents’ preferences for animals in their neighbourhood revealed four categories divided by two axes – global-local and wanted-unwanted animals – arising from the way animals contested human notions of control over urban space. Most respondents chose informal green space (e.g., vacant lots, brownfields etc.) as spaces of belonging after forests and bushland. Drawing upon recent theoretical and empirical research on liminal urban spaces, I argue with Nohl (1990) that such informal green space can offer ‘provisional arrangements’, allowing for conciliatory engagements with non-humans. I thus propose informal green space as territories of encounter – a possible path towards more-than-human cities. Finally, I discuss some implications for planning and management of interspecies interactions.

scholarly journals Challenging poverty with green space in informal settlements of Quito

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e29310111858
Author(s):  
Ignacio Loor ◽  
Lucía Rivadeneira ◽  
Julio Rivadeneira
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Income Generation ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Field Notes

Planners increasingly recognize the value of green spaces to the wellbeing of urban residents. Research on ecosystem services has produced much of what is known about such value, although the attention is mainly on the cities’ core while informal settlements remain overlooked. Using a case study of informal settlements in Quito, this paper focuses on how their residents use the neighboring green space to fight poverty. The study uses data from interviews, field notes, and archives to show how green spaces escalate the capabilities of the neighboring residents to access everyday resources. A preserved landscape enhances the ability to walk and travel to everyday destinations; allotments reduce the reliance on debts with shop keepers to access food; and sports fields enable income generation and pursue a career.  These findings provide an understanding of how to address simultaneously environmental, social, and economic challenges in cities of developing countries. Planners engaged in the sustainable development agenda would benefit from this research.

scholarly journals Sensitivity analysis in multi-criteria evaluation of the suitability of urban green spaces for recreational activities

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sercan Cakir ◽  
Robert Hecht ◽  
Kerstin Krellenberg
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Spatial Decision Support System ◽  
Spatial Decision Support ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Recreational Activities ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Multi Criteria Evaluation

Abstract. Urban green spaces can have potential positive impacts on climate, biodiversity, health, and generally on the quality of life for urban residents and are of great importance for pursuing recreational activities. People as urban green space users should therefore be well informed about where they are located within a city and what activities they are suitable for. As people’s individual preferences play a significant role in the decision-making process for visiting urban green spaces, we present a method that enables to assess urban green spaces upon various activities in accordance with a range of criteria. A sensitivity analysis to investigate the influence of weighting the criteria in a multi-criteria evaluation of the suitability of urban green spaces for recreational activities depending on people’s preferences is in the focus. Initial results are shown based on an exemplary use case of playing Frisbee. Overall, the study is embedded in the development of a spatial decision support system implemented in the form of a web app to assist urban residents make decisions in the context of green space use.

scholarly journals The issues of urban green space in Baia Mare based on tree composition

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-172
Author(s):  
Anna Imola Henning
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Interaction Sites ◽  
Baia Mare ◽  
Tree Composition

Abstract Harmonious urbanization entails the creation of new green spaces and the rehabilitation of existing ones. Green spaces are not just spaces of psychic well-being but also social interaction sites. Present-day practice in redesign requires taking into consideration the ones using the spaces, in our case, the needs of urban residents, since space needs to have a crucial role in building and maintaining communities. This paper aims at drawing attention to conflicts regarding use mainly due to improper design and use of plant material and, in addition to the importance of green spaces, the need for quality green spaces.

Gardening as More than Urban Agriculture: Perspectives from Smaller Midwestern Cities on Urban Gardening Policies and Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Christopher Strunk ◽  
Ursula Lang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Public Land ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Privately Owned ◽  
Policies And Practices

For the most part, research and policymaking on urban gardening have focused on community gardens, whether in parks, vacant lots, or other public land. This emphasis, while important for many Midwestern cities, can obscure the significance of privately owned land such as front yard and back yard and their crucial connections with gardening on public land. In this case study, we examine how policies and practices related to gardening and the management of green space in two Midwestern cities exceed narrow visions of urban agriculture. The article explores the cultivation of vacant lot gardens and private yards as two modes of property in similar Midwestern contexts and argues that the management of green space is about more than urban agriculture. Instead, we show how urban gardening occurs across public/private property distinctions and involves a broader set of actors than those typically included in sustainability policies. Gardening also provides a key set of connections through which neighbors understand and practice sustainability in Midwestern cities.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Equity and Regional Management of Some Urban Green Space Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of Main Urban Area of Xi’an City

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 813
Author(s):  
Hui Dang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Yumeng Zhang ◽  
Zixiang Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Deposition Flux ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Xi’An City

Urban green spaces can provide many types of ecosystem services for residents. An imbalance in the pattern of green spaces leads to an inequality of the benefits of such spaces. Given the current situation of environmental problems and the basic geographical conditions of Xi’an City, this study evaluated and mapped four kinds of ecosystem services from the perspective of equity: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, air purification, and climate regulation. Regionalization with dynamically constrained agglomerative clustering and partitioning (REDCAP) was used to obtain the partition groups of ecosystem services. The results indicate that first, the complexity of the urban green space community is low, and the level of biodiversity needs to be improved. The dry deposition flux of particulate matter (PM2.5) decreases from north to south, and green spaces enhance the adsorption of PM2.5. Carbon sequestration in the south and east is higher than that in the north and west, respectively. The average surface temperature in green spaces is lower than that in other urban areas. Second, urban green space resources in the study area are unevenly distributed. Therefore, ecosystem services in different areas are inequitable. Finally, based on the regionalization of integrated ecosystem services, an ecosystem services cluster was developed. This included 913 grid spaces, 12 partitions, and 5 clusters, which can provide a reference for distinct levels of ecosystem services management. This can assist urban managers who can use these indicators of ecosystem service levels for planning and guiding the overall development pattern of green spaces. The benefits would be a maximization of the ecological functions of green spaces, an improvement of the sustainable development of the city, and an improvement of people’s well-being.

scholarly journals Is Brief Exposure to Green Space in School the Best Option to Improve Attention in Children?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7484
Author(s):  
Asier Anabitarte ◽  
Gonzalo García-Baquero ◽  
Ainara Andiarena ◽  
Nerea Lertxundi ◽  
Nerea Urbieta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
School Children ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Statistical Design ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Gender Biases ◽  
Before And After

The positive effects of Green Spaces on health are thought to be achieved through the mechanisms of mitigation, instoration and restoration. One of the benefits of Green Spaces may be the restoration of attention and so the objective of this research is testing empirically whether exposure to a green environment improves attention in school children. For so doing, we first used a split-unit statistical design in each of four schools, then combined the primary results via meta-analysis. The Attention Network Test (ANT) was used to measure attention before and after exposure and a total of 167 seven-year-old students participated in the experiments. Overall, our experimental results do not support the hypothesis that students’ exposure to activities in green vs. grey spaces affected their performance in ANT. This was so despite the fact that neither age nor gender biases have been detected and despite that our experiments have been proved to be sufficiently statistically powerful. It would be advisable to consider air pollution and noise. We also recommend that participants attend the experiment with mental exhaustion to maximize the ability to detect significant changes.

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