Speakers
Description
This paper articulates a reflection on the intersection between socio-economic inequalities, spatial segregation, and environmental justice in cities focusing on green inequalities and public space. Urban green plays a dual role: providing essential ecosystem services and mitigating climate risks, while also serving as a key component of public space. Green deprivation can therefore impoverish public space, undermining its role in fostering social interaction and mutual recognition, and limiting the ability to exercise the right to the city.
In contemporary cities, green inequalities - both in accessibility and distribution - interact with rising socio-economic inequalities, with spatial complex patterns of intersectional exclusion and polarization. These dynamics challenge the conventional center-periphery model, revealing more intricate spatial configurations, and consequently demanding new analytical and interpretative frameworks.
In this paper, based on the case study of Palermo (Italy), we describe an approach based on quantitative data analysis - including remote sensing and GIS data - and qualitative research, to map green inequalities and identify their correlation with specific urban morphologies and urban growth processes, as well as with socio-economic factors. In particular, the study investigates the distribution and accessibility of various types of urban green spaces - i.e., urban parks, local gardens, urban tree canopy - distinguishing between public and non-public domains and examines their interplay with socio-economic indicators of inequality. By mapping these relationships spatially, the analysis seeks to reflect on the relation between green deprivation and the quality and inclusiveness of public space, revealing the role of environmental inequalities in fostering exclusionary dynamics.
The study, part of the research project “Mapping the New Spatial Inequalities Within Southern European Cities” funded by the Italian Ministry of University, shows that the geography of green inequalities in Palermo can be described with more granular patterns, rooted in similar morphological and socio-economic conditions. Nevertheless, findings reveal that there is no linear correlation between wealth and accessibility to green public spaces, with high levels of deprivation observed even in high-income contexts. This can lead to processes of retreat into private spaces or collective, pseudo-public spaces, which ultimately undermine the ability of public spaces to serve as arenas for interaction among diverse social groups. Findings emphasize the need for context-specific policies and strategies to tackle the intertwined dynamics of public space, social polarization, and environmental inequalities.
References
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| Keywords | Green inequalities; environmental justice; public space; Southern-european cities |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
