Exploring the links between the use of NbS, mindshifts and transformative urban coalitions to promote climate resilience within an ongoing reurbanization process. The case of Villa 20, Buenos Aires

Abstract

In recent decades, informal settlement upgrading and housing deficit in Latin America has been addressed through a variety of urban programs, usually structured around physical-spatial and social actions with an emphasis on the provision of basic infrastructure and services, improved accessibility and connectivity and new housing, mostly done by conventional means. In general, they fail to incorporate new frameworks that provide solutions with strong environmental roots, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) or Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA). This article explores the potentiality of NbS/BGI in contributing to solve structural problems in marginal urban areas, the mindshifts and actor coalitions needed to support this and how it may promote equity and justice. This is analyzed in a particular setting: Villa 20, an informal settlement in the City of Buenos Aires that is undergoing a participatory urban upgrading process with a strong participatory platform made up of multiple spaces and devices for consensual decision-making on re-urbanization aspects. In Villa 20, several interrelated projects and programs are focusing on sustainability. In particular, the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) is connecting decarbonization with urban inequalities and urban justice. The article reflects on some of the initial outcomes of the TUC program that builds upon the ongoing participatory upgrading process. To discuss the links between the use of NbS, mindshifts and transformative urban coalitions we look into the social setting, methods and tools that promote mindset shift. We explore initial mindset changes in government teams; community leaders; and participants of an Urban Lab and the building up of a new transformative actor coalition. With this, we aim to better understand the possibilities and potential implications of implementing NbS in marginalized social contexts, contributing both to closing the knowledge gap and re-thinking future policies and programs.

A review of the contribution of nature-based solutions to the urban metabolism of the informal settlements

“…Researchers emphasise the crucial need to understand how inhabitants of informal settlements interact with nature to achieve environmentally sustainable cities -as well as the perception of the residents of informal settlements and city authorities about the ecosystem benefits they provide [17] [21]. NBS has contributed to the urban metabolism (UM) of the informal settlement and there is a need for data on existing NBS initiatives [15] [23]. Borrowing the definition from Currie & Musango [22], UM can be define as the "complexity of socio-technical and socio-ecological processes by which flows of materials, energy, people, and information shape the city, service & the needs of its populace, & impact the surrounding hinterland".…”

Urban labs beyond Europe: the formation and contextualization of experimental climate governance in five Latin American cities

“… 40. In May 2022, UL members agreed on a set of goals, defined the sites of the experiments and the local groups and neighbours to involve, and formed working groups to lead the implementation. The first experiments included minor interventions in four alleys and a bigger intervention in a central street, all of them nature-based (Hardoy et al, 2022). …”

Table_1.DOCX

“…The articles on this topic handle people's perception and participation surveys, governance, policies, conceptual frameworks, and societal paradigms needed to solve diverse urban issues (e.g., climate change, water scarcity, and wastewater treatment) through NbS. Here, NbS is recognized as a catalyst for urban regeneration strategies that promote climate resilience via nature, improve the wellbeing and health of citizens, and restore neighborhood belonging (e.g., Mahmoud et al, 2021;Hardoy et al, 2022;Wamsler et al, 2023). There is less focus on specific technologies or engineering applications for implementing NbS but more on conceptual frameworks, values and norms, and policy directions for transitioning and evaluating systems (e.g., Beceiro et al, 2020;Gunn et al, 2021).…”