When it comes to planning the cities of the future, good intentions are always there. Renovating buildings and planning more parks are the way to go. 🌱 However, not considering the profile of local residents might cause them some worries. For instance they might be forced to move because of skyrocketing housing prices in the long term.
No worries, we got your back. We will inspire you with concrete points to make greener cities enjoyable for EVERYONE. 😉
The importance of minding everyone 🧑🧓
Cities naturally grow and develop into more and better infrastructure. Those new developments might lead to gentrification, if not planned correctly. Gentrifi..what? You probably haven't heard of that word, but your city might have something to do with it. Don't worry, we'll unfold it together.
Environmental gentrification is an implementation of an urban planning agenda related to public green spaces that leads to the displacement or exclusion of the most economically vulnerable population.
This process is often silent, yet it has been underway in big cities such as Chicago and many others in the world. Eventually, this leads to new isolated neighbourhoods that will cause more environmental pollution. As public authority, you want to make your city more attractive and livable for everyone. So, how do we make sure of that?
Planning green and equitable cities 🌈
Fortunately, there are ways you can act for making greener cities for everyone. The following points can help you to do a checklist for the next time you are involved in an environmental planning process in your city or your municipality.
- Integrating the concerns of local uses of social groups that might be less vocal or visible is core to the process of designing equitably beneficial public green spaces. Your city can think on how new areas will impact lives of different personas. 👨👩👦👦
- Directing public action in ways that places the well-being and health of existing residents at the center of the public policy and planning, and that controls real estate development, housing rights, and mass tourism. You can think about ways to bring tourists while local residents can still enjoy new green areas. 🏡
- Considering how hidden agendas can constraint the sustainability planning at local level. Try to build engaged local people and nature within your environment. 🌳
- Building genuine cooperation between public entities and institutions at different territorial levels. For example, think about integrating the local sports clubs into the development of a new area. 🤸
Sources: Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Sarah Dooling (2009).
In FutureproofedCities, we want your city to succeed by being more attractive for everyone. Our platform includes a community where cities and towns can exchange best practices and ask each other questions. Your city will certainly find advice from other cities about gentrification and many other topics. 💪
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