Green gentrification in European and North American cities

Abstract

Although urban greening is universally recognized as an essential part of sustainable and climate-responsive cities, a growing literature on green gentrification argues that new green infrastructure, and greenspace in particular, can contribute to gentrification, thus creating social and racial inequalities in access to the benefits of greenspace and further environmental and climate injustice. In response to limited quantitative evidence documenting the temporal relationship between new greenspaces and gentrification across entire cities, let alone across various international contexts, we employ a spatially weighted Bayesian model to test the green gentrification hypothesis across 28 cities in 9 countries in North America and Europe. Here we show a strong positive and relevant relationship for at least one decade between greening in the 1990s–2000s and gentrification that occurred between 2000–2016 in 17 of the 28 cities. Our results also determine whether greening plays a “lead”, “integrated”, or “subsidiary” role in explaining gentrification.

Greening, Revitalization, and Health in South Wilmington, Delaware

“…This integration might downplay the potential negative impacts on the most vulnerable residents in the area, while, as Anguelovski and colleagues remark, "selling a new urban brand of greening and environmentally resilient 21st-century city to investors, real estate developers, and new sustainability class residents" (p. 26140). 26 It is important, further, to better understand the sequencing of green infrastructure and revitalization through development, in order to determine if it leads revitalization and redevelopment efforts or if it is integrated within it. 26 With the support of Healthy Communities Delaware, the South Wilmington Planning Network (SWPN) and Southbridge Civic Association (SBCA) produced the Southbridge Neighborhood Action Plan (SNAP) late last year.…”

“…26 It is important, further, to better understand the sequencing of green infrastructure and revitalization through development, in order to determine if it leads revitalization and redevelopment efforts or if it is integrated within it. 26 With the support of Healthy Communities Delaware, the South Wilmington Planning Network (SWPN) and Southbridge Civic Association (SBCA) produced the Southbridge Neighborhood Action Plan (SNAP) late last year. An update to a 2006 Neighborhood Plan, the SNAP offers a comprehensive approach to community revitalization grounded in the needs of existing residents.…”

“… 26 It is important, further, to better understand the sequencing of green infrastructure and revitalization through development, in order to determine if it leads revitalization and redevelopment efforts or if it is integrated within it. 26 …”

From instrumentalization to commoning: A critical review of participation in urban nature-based solutions

“…On this basis, there is a growing concern that NBS is being incorporated into private development schemes leading to the appropriation or enclosure of commons for so-called green ends to generate surplus value (Gould and Lewis, 2016;Scott et al, 2016;Gerber and Gerber, 2017;Kotsila et al, 2021). This can, according to the literature, in turn lead to new processes of gentrification and spatial exclusion (Anguelovski et al, 2022).…”

“…This "instrumentalization" of nature has raised concerns that NBS may lose its potential to contribute to deeper forms of societal transformation, and has sparked a more critical approach to "nature, " "solutions" and public participation (Ahern et al, 2014;Scott et al, 2016;Kaika, 2017;O'Sullivan et al, 2020;Randrup et al, 2020;Kotsila et al, 2021;Sekulova et al, 2021). Hence there is also emerging literature that takes a more critical perspective, developing analyses of the instrumental views of nature, and recognizing that NBS has a role to play in societal change (Anguelovski et al, 2018(Anguelovski et al, , 2022Frantzeskaki, 2019;Toxopeus et al, 2020;Tozer et al, 2020;Woroniecki et al, 2020). Many scholars have argued that NBS requires rethinking the relationship between nature, people and the city (Scott et al, 2016;Randrup et al, 2020;Woroniecki et al, 2020;Welden et al, 2021).…”