Citizen engagement in urban green spaces: A role-based analysis of supportive professional actors

Abstract

Urban green spaces are core aspects of urban sustainability. They are an indispensable part of the quality of life, but also increasingly relevant in dealing with heat island effects, pollution, the risk of flooding and diminishing biodiversity in cities. While the value of large green parks has been acknowledged in literature and policies, we focus on small-scale and temporary green spaces outside of the owned or rented property, but often below the radar of public green space management. We aim to contribute to the debate on civic engagement for such spaces by applying a role-based approach that asks: How can professional actors support collective citizen engagement in urban green spaces? What (combination of) roles could these professional actors take to support this engagement? The city of Groningen (the Netherlands) provides an exemplary case as one of the greenest and healthiest cities in Europe that has a highly active civil society. A social network analysis and semi-structured interviews uncover which (novel) roles professional actors take and how an effective balance can be created between an instrumental and a personal approach in facilitating civic engagement. The results call for flexibility of roles to contribute to capacity-building, community trust, and social cohesion.