Speaker
Description
Urban greening has emerged as a priority for Latin American cities in recent decades, serving as a strategy to foster more sustainable and resilient urban environments while mitigating environmental injustices (Breen et al., 2020). Local administrations have devoted substantial economic and political resources to implementing new green infrastructure projects. However, these efforts often overlook their potential effects on surrounding areas, particularly concerning land values, basic infrastructure, and urban upgrading (Haddad et al., 2021). The consequences can be particularly pronounced in historically marginalized areas, such as informal settlements, where both green infrastructure and investment have been limited.
Due to the precarious conditions in these settlements, their communities are especially vulnerable to the impacts of new green infrastructure projects. The construction of new green boulevards in Cali, Colombia, is particularly relevant, as Colombian cities frequently adopt urban models inspired by greening strategies of the Global North, aiming to position themselves as development benchmarks for other cities in the Global South (Anguelovski et al., 2019). While studies on the effects of green infrastructure exist for several Latin American cities, they have rarely been conducted in informal areas. The literature has largely neglected the impacts of these large-scale projects on the dynamics of informality in such communities—a significant research gap, especially in the Global South, where informal settlements are prevalent (Anguelovski et al., 2016b).
This study identifies two primary areas of impact: theoretical and policy-related. At the theoretical level, although the concepts of informality and green infrastructure have been extensively studied, they are often treated as distinct phenomena—informality being more associated with the Global South and urban greening with the Global North. This segregation has led to a weak theoretical connection between the two in academic discourse (Anguelovski et al., 2016). To address this gap, the project examines the intersection of green infrastructure and urban informality, considering potential variations. It aims to enrich the green infrastructure literature by integrating informality as a key variable, particularly within the context of the Global South.
At the policy level, this research is crucial for understanding the implications of green infrastructure projects promoted by governments in cities of the Global South, many of which contend with challenges of uncontrolled urban growth and the proliferation of informality. Although greening projects have gained popularity in recent years, they often fail to account for their effects on vulnerable communities and the dynamics of informal urbanization.
Through a case study of the green boulevard in Cali, this research analyzes the public policies and spatial and socioeconomic dynamics affecting informal settlement communities impacted by such initiatives. By exploring the relationship between green infrastructure and urban informality, it provides insights into how these projects influence marginalized urban areas.
References
Anguelovski, I., Shi, L., Chu, E., Gallagher, D., Goh, K., Lamb, Z., ... & Teicher, H. (2016) Equity impacts of urban land use planning for climate adaptation: Critical perspectives from the global north and south. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 36(3), pp. 333-348.
Anguelovski, I., Shi, L., Chu, E., Gallagher, D., Goh, K., Lamb, Z., ... & Teicher, H. (2016b) Equity impacts of urban land use planning for climate adaptation: Critical perspectives from the global north and south. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 36(3), pp.333-348.
Anguelovski, I., Irazábal‐Zurita, C., & Connolly, J. J. (2019) Grabbed urban landscapes: Socio‐spatial tensions in green infrastructure planning in Medellín. International journal of urban and regional research, 43(1), pp.133-156.
Breen, A., Giannotti, E., Flores Molina, M., & Vásquez, A. (2020) From “government to governance”? A systematic literature review of research for urban green infrastructure management in Latin America. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2, pp.1-15.
Haddad, M., Christman, Z., Pearsall, H., & Sanchez, M. (2021) Using Google Street View to Examine Urban Context and Green Amenities in the Global South: The Chilean Experience. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, pp.68.
| Keywords | green infrastructure; urban greening; informal settlements; Latin America |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
