"Inclusivity and gender considerations in urban greening policies: evidence from a European compact city."
Over the last decade, the concept of Ecosystem Services (ES) has been mainstreamed as an interdisciplinary guiding framework in urban sustainability and green infrastructure agendas. However, urban green infrastructure (UGI) and nature-based solutions (NbS) policies are not exempt from trade-offs and potential socio-spatial inequities. There is thus a need to develop a better diagnosis of urban environmental inequalities in the policy and planning practice of ES in order to foster more inclusive, representative and legitimate decision-making processes in cities. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to gender inequities in ES assessments and to how women access, perceive and value the ES provided by urban green areas. This paper assesses the extent to which gender and inclusivity considerations are being transversely incorporated into UGI/NbS policy documents in the European context. A policy analysis of strategic greening plans and semi-structured interviews to key stakeholders will be conducted in Barcelona as case study. This research will provide guidance to cities informing current UGI/NbS management practices and strategies in ways that allow more equitable urban green planning and practice approaches.
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Amalia Calderón-Argelich is a doctoral researcher at Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) focused on environmental justice aspects of urban green infrastructure and the provision and quantification of ecosystem services. Her main focus is on equity and accessibility of benefits provided by different elements of the green infrastructure within the context of climate change. She is interested in the interconnections between distributional, procedural/participatory and interactional/recognitional justice in urban areas.
Amalia holds a MSc in Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability with a specialization in Science and Management of Global Change from ICTA-UAB and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Universitat de Barcelona.