scholarly journals Volunteer Urban Environmental Stewardship, Emotional Economies of Care, and Productive Power in Philadelphia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7867
Author(s):  
Alec Foster
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Volunteer Labor ◽  
Environmental Nonprofits

Recent efforts to increase urban forests and greenspaces rely on the volunteer labor of individuals and environmental nonprofits. The estimation of market values has often justified urban greening. These neoliberal approaches to urban environmental governance have been heavily critiqued, revealing the uneven power relationships and urban environments that result. This paper aims to move beyond such critiques by exploring how the reproduction of urban nature can be valued outside of the market. Fieldwork with volunteers participating in environmental stewardship in Philadelphia revealed their participation was motivated by intense emotional attachments to their neighborhoods, other participants, and nonhuman others, leading me to propose emotional economies of care as an alternative framework. The circulation of emotions and affects between participants, places, and nonhuman others forms an emotional economy. The generative power of this circulation makes emotional economies of care collective bodies or multiplicities. Furthermore, these multiplicities produce power from below, in counterpoint to the top down power of neoliberal environmentalities. However, just as these multiplicities come together, they can come apart or change directions. I close with ideas on how emotional ecologies and economies of care can be brought into being and processes of change within them shepherded in progressive ways.

scholarly journals Biophilic urbanism: contributions to holistic urban greening for urban renewal

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Chenoweth Reeve ◽  
Cheryl Desha ◽  
Doug Hargreaves ◽  
Karlson Hargroves
Keyword(s):  
Urban Renewal ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
False Dichotomy ◽  
Functional Features

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider how biophilic urbanism complements and potentially enhances approaches for the built environment profession to holistically integrate nature into cities. Urban nature – also referred to as urban greening and green infrastructure – has increasingly been considered from many perspectives to address challenges such as population pressures, climate change and resource shortages. Within this context, the authors highlight how “biophilic urbanism” complements and may enhance approaches and efforts for urban greening. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a review of existing literature in “urban nature” to clarify and discuss the concept of biophilic urbanism. Drawing on this literature review, the authors present a systematic clustering and scaling of “biophilic elements” that could facilitate responding to twenty-first century challenges. Findings – Biophilic urbanism can be applied at multiple scales in urban environments, through a range of multi-functional features that address the pervasive false dichotomy of urban development and environmental protection. Biophilic urbanism can complement urban greening efforts to enable a holistic approach, which is conducive to comprehensive, intentional and strategic urban greening. Originality/value – This paper situates the emerging concept of biophilic urbanism within existing research from multiple disciplines, providing insight for how this can be applied in practice, particularly to the topical challenge of “urban renewal”.

scholarly journals The Legacy Effects of Colonial and Apartheid Imprints on Urban Greening in South Africa: Spaces, Species, and Suitability

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
N. Gwedla
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
Legacy Effects ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Urban Green

Colonialism is a significant legacy across most aspects of urban form, the nature and distribution of public green spaces, and tree species composition in many cities of the Global South. However, the legacy effects of colonialism on urban green infrastructure and the uses thereof have only recently come under scrutiny. Here we collate information from South Africa on urban greening and interpret it through a colonial and apartheid legacy lens in relation to the distribution and types of urban nature found and their resonance with contemporary needs as an African country. The analysis indicates marked inequalities in public green space distribution and quality between neighborhoods designated for different race groups during the colonial and apartheid periods, which continues to be reproduced by the post-colonial (and post-apartheid) state. Additionally, in the older, former colonial neighborhoods non-native tree species dominate in parks and streets, with most of the species having been introduced during the colonial period. Such colonial introductions have left a burdensome legacy of invasive species that costs billions of Rands annually to keep in check. Lastly, the forms of nature and activities provided in public urban green spaces remains reminiscent of the colonial norm, with little recognition of African worldviews, identity and needs. We conclude in emphasizing the necessity for urban authorities and planners to address these anachronistic legacies through adopting a more inclusive and co-design approach with respect to the extent, location and types of urban nature provided, as well as the types of cultural symbols and activities permitted and promoted.

scholarly journals Reversing the Degradation of New Zealand’s Environment through Greater Government Transparency and Accountability

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Petrie
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Governance Framework ◽  
Government Transparency ◽  
National Environmental

This article proposes greater transparency in and accountability for environmental governance, addressing widespread concerns about the degradation of New Zealand’s natural environment. It assesses national environmental reporting in New Zealand against a recognised international framework and compares the wider governance framework for environmental management with other policy domains, particularly fiscal policy. It proposes significant changes to the Environmental Reporting Act 2015, together with mechanisms to integrate environmental stewardship more effectively into the formulation of government strategies, policymaking and the Budget cycle, including a new chapter in the annual Fiscal Strategy Report on fiscal policy and the environment.

scholarly journals Green Infrastructure and Biophilic Urbanism as Tools for Integrating Resource Efficient and Ecological Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giles Thomson ◽  
Peter Newman
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
The City ◽  
Different Parts

In recent decades, the concept of resource efficient cities has emerged as an urban planning paradigm that seeks to achieve sustainable urban environments. This focus is upon compact urban environments that optimise energy, water and waste systems to create cities that help solve climate change and other resource-based sustainability issues. In parallel, there has been a long-standing tradition of ecological approaches to the design of cities that can be traced from Howard, Geddes, McHarg and Lyle. Rather than resource efficiency, the ecological approach has focused upon the retention and repair of natural landscape features and the creation of green infrastructure (GI) to manage urban water, soil and plants in a more ecologically sensitive way. There is some conflict with the resource efficient cities and ecological cities paradigms, as one is pro-density, while the other is anti-density. This article focusses upon how to integrate the two paradigms through new biophilic urbanism (BU) tools that allow the integration of nature into dense urban areas, to supplement more traditional GI tools in less dense areas. We suggest that the theory of urban fabrics can aid with regard to which tools to use where, for the integration of GI and BU into different parts of the city to achieve <em>both</em> resource efficient and ecological outcomes, that optimise energy water and waste systems, <em>and</em> increase urban nature.

Greening New York City

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay K. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Social Network ◽  
York City ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
The Political ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Governance Network ◽  
Political Economic

The governance of urban nature cannot be understood independent of the political economic context in which it is embedded. Thus, chapter one presents a brief overview of how the changing political economy since the 1970s fiscal crisis has affected the management of the urban environment in New York City by both state and non-state actors. In exploring the current environmental governance network in New York City, I present Social Network Analysis graphs of the urban forestry and urban agriculture organizational networks, which make visually apparent some of the key differences in the actors engaged across these issue areas.

Blue Architectures (The City and the Wild in Concentrate)

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Brook Muller ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Wastewater Systems ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
The City ◽  
Hydrologic Conditions

It is more than a coincidence that in his two essays, “Wilderness and the City: Not such a Long Drive After All” and “Can Cities Be Both Natural and Successful? Reflections Grounding Two Apparently Oxymoronic Aspirations,” Scott Cameron looks to water as a basis for evaluating the city in relationship to the wild and in imagining new possibilities for urban nature. In an attempt to complement and enrich Cameron’s thinking, this essay focuses on emerging, decentralized and ecologically responsive approaches to water and wastewater systems in architectural projects in dense urban environments. Such an emphasis on “blue architectures” allows for a reframing of the city/nature relationship in terms of degrees of concentration—of water, organisms, and pollutants—as a precursor to considerations of distances involved (“not such a long drive”). To concentrate on localized hydrologic conditions is to support the integrity of broader scale ecological systems and to reconnect urban dwellers to processes that bear directly on the wild.

scholarly journals An automated workflow for informing urban greening based on photosynthetic radiation modelling

2021 ◽  
Vol 2069 (1) ◽  
pp. 012060
Author(s):  
M Kyropoulou ◽  
S Subramaniam ◽  
S Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
Mineral Elements ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Growth Data

Abstract The deliberate introduction of vegetation in urban environments, referred to as urban greening, is known to improve outdoor thermal comfort and mitigate the effects of Urban Heat Island in cities. Urban greening can be applied on ground level or elevated parks, roof tops, and building facades. The main parameters that affect plant growth are space, light, water, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide, mineral elements, and temperature. Of these parameters, light and temperature are the ones more unlikely to be supplemented in a non-controlled urban setting. This research presents the development of an automated workflow that facilitates design decisions on vegetation growth potential and vegetation species selection within their climatic and geometrical context. This novel scripting-based prototype uses hourly radiation results to extract location specifications, such as photoperiod, hardiness zone, and hourly annual Daily Light Integral values on a user-defined grid. It then seamlessly compares the data against seasonal light and soil temperature requirements of listed cultivars to evaluate their suitability within the constraints of the analysis area. A basic plant dataset is created that is open to expansion based on plants growth data availability. This automated workflow can be employed by agriculturalists, urban planners, and landscape designers to perform vegetation selection for applications such as urban greening in dense contexts or vertical farms.

Accumulation of heavy metals by silverberry softwood shoots cultivated in urban environments

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
Sergey Zavadskiy ◽  
Evgeniy Abizov
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Slow Growth ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Soil Resistance ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Soluble Salts ◽  
Deciduous Shrub ◽  
Root Suckers

Vehicle emissions make up to 50% of total pollutant emissions in Russia. The main roadside pollutants are heavy metals, petrol oil, lubricants and different readily soluble salts. Silverberry or Elaeagnus argentea Pursh is a deciduous shrub with height up to 4 meters, spreading crown, silver leaves and fruits. It originates from North America and is known since 1813. Its specific features are rather slow growth and ability to grow due to abundant root system. It reproduces itself by seeds, shoots and root suckers. It tolerates transplantation and cutting well. Due to such features as decorative effect, frost resistance, unpretentiousness to soil, resistance to drought, smoke and gases, some researchers recommend to use Elaeagnus argentea Pursh in urban greening. This kind is quite common in single or multiple plantings in Moscow such as green hedges in parks and along roads. Elaeagnus argentea Pursh is not only ornamental but also a medicinal plant.

scholarly journals Large positive ecological changes of small urban greening actions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Mata ◽  
Amy K Hahs ◽  
Estibaliz Palma ◽  
Anna Backstrom ◽  
Tyler King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Insect Community ◽  
Ecological Benefits ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Urban Greenspaces ◽  
Negative Impacts

The detrimental effects of human-induced environmental change on people and other species are acutely manifested in urban environments. While urban greenspaces are known to mitigate these effects and support functionally diverse ecological communities, evidence of the ecological outcomes of urban greening remains scarce. We use a longitudinal observational design to provide empirical evidence of the ecological benefits of greening actions. We show how a small greening action quickly led to large positive changes in the richness, demographic dynamics, and network structure of a depauperate insect community. We demonstrate how large ecological benefits may be derived from investing in small greening actions and how these contribute to bring indigenous species back to greenspaces where they have become rare or locally extinct. Our findings provide crucial evidence that support best practice in greenspace design and contribute to re-invigorate policies aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of urbanisation on people and other species.

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