Striving for Just Green Enough

Abstract

The benefits of urban green space have been well-documented, resulting in a push for incorporating green infrastructure within the built environment. Efforts to design more biodiverse, nature-rich cities have been shown not only to provide resounding ecological benefits, but also to generally improve the quality of human life and well-being. Yet a dichotomy exists between the theory and practice of the integration of green space in urban areas. The benefits coupled with urban green infrastructure have hidden costs that contribute to the creation of spatially distributed inequities, which in turn lead to “eco-gentrification.” For development to be truly sustainable, it must also be equitable. Therefore, urban green space must be designed in the context of the co-evolving complexities of socio-natural processes. Officials involved in green space implementation must acknowledge and account for the environmental justice issues produced by urban socio-economic structures through “just green enough” strategies that integrate community-based participatory planning and anti-gentrification policies—thus ensuring the equitable realization of green space benefits.