Green justice through policy and practice: a call for further research into tools that foster healthy green cities for all

Abstract

Green or environmental gentrification has been shown to be directly related to residential physical and socio-cultural displacement and insecure housing conditions among socially or racially underprivileged residents, with clear related health impacts. In this context, those vulnerable groups become unable to benefit from the social, well-being, and overall health benefits of green amenities. To date, despite increasing gentrification and related civic concerns, cities in North America and Europe are still slow to respond. Siloed and reactive planning approaches to (re)development and greening generally do not include housing security and affordability provisions in ways that would be strategic and equity-driven. In this Commentary, we call for further research on the mix of policies and tools that posit multi-sectoral and de-siloed greening agendas in coordination with affordable and stable housing. We open the discussion on four justice-driven policies and tools presented in the Policy Tools for Urban Green Justice (BCNUEJ 2021) report that derives from research conducted in 40 cities, analyzing 480 interviews with key neighborhood stakeholders across Europe and North America. We also call for research that identifies how urban policy developments and anti-gentrification and anti-displacement strategies can be combined with inclusive greening tools to build healthy, green cities for all.