Since the adoption of neoliberalism, many cities have taken to integrating nature with capital accumulation to create a sense of place. This has been closely tied to urban greening, or green "revitalization." As part of curating this desired character, city governments are working to roll out plans to restore and renew neighborhoods using their natural landscapes through methods such as reforestation, the creation of parks, and commercial development. These cities, deemed Entrepreneurial cities, are increasingly incorporating natural or green spaces into their development of character as part of their branding schemes. This research focuses on the role of nature as the site of economic development and community revitalization within Dallas, Texas. This research examines how the City of Dallas uses nature to attract capital, and how the narratives of development relate to residents' visions for development in the historically neglected Joppa neighborhood in the Trinity River Corridor. Development near Joppa could be an example of how the natural landscape is being used to not only attract developers but also to bring a different ‘class' of resident into the area. By exploring this intersection of nature and capital in Dallas, we can better understand the nuanced ways through which the neoliberalization of nature can lead to deeper social and economic disparities.

Urban greening has evolved into a diverse set of strategies based on community organizing and policy change to help create healthy communities. Currently, there are competing urban greening agendas and barriers to coalition building that prohibit urban greening projects and policies from reaching their maximum potential. Greening projects take the collective effort of residents, city government, nonprofits, community-based organizations and a range of technical experts. To move the agenda forward there is a need to create a framework around health and build community-based health coalitions. A healthy community framework taps into universal concerns and the need to build sustainable communities. In order to move forward we need collective action, coalition building and grassroots organizing in conjunction with economics, science, policy, planning, design and law. / text

Pollinator biodiversity and abundance is an ecosystem service vital for humans, provisioning a range of essential goods including food, fibre and medicines. Despite this, pollinators are under threat and are experiencing global declines. Habitat loss is a driving force behind such declines and, as such, the potential to provision more pollinator habitat is of interest. Currently, urban areas host abundant unused space in the forms of roofs and walls, which could be utilized to provision some pollinators with additional forage, and possibly nesting sites, without compromising human use of the land. While several studies exist regarding the habitat potential of living roofs, the impact of living walls on biodiversity is little studied. This paper sets out a theoretical approach on whether living walls could be used to host pollinator habitat by surveying living wall manufacturers regarding the physical properties of the living wall systems they use and their plant choice.

This dissertation aims to examine the relationship between interorganizational collaboration and the implementation of urban greening policy. Specifically, it discusses bonding and bridging relationships that explain a successful interorganizational collaboration, and to what extent these factors explain the perception of success in the implementation of public programs. The effects of risks of collaboration on the implementation of urban greening policy are also studied. To frame the analysis, this dissertation uses Feiock's institutional collective action (ICA) framework, which aims to understand successful interorganizational collaboration and policy implementation across sectors. The collection of data was carried out in Riyadh City in Saudi Arabia, which is located in the center of Saudi Arabia. In this study, the unit of analysis is the networks of relationships among organizations that work with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC). The data were obtained from 44 organizations collaborating to implement urban greening projects in Riyadh City and were collected over 17 days from June 15, 2019 to July 2, 2019. The sampling technique used in this study was snowball sampling. The main statistical methods employed for hypothesis examination were social network analysis (SNA) and ordinary least squares (OLS). The key empirical results indicated that there were 12 major organizations most central within the network (i.e., 11 public organizations, and 1 private organization). Also, the findings revealed that among the 12 organizations, the most central organization within the network was the Ministry of Environment, Water, & Agriculture. Further, the empirical findings indicated that bonding relationships among organizations increase the levels of perceived success in the collaboration to implement urban greening projects. The results indicated that network betweenness (bridging) has no statistically significant effect on the perceived success in interorganizational collaboration. The findings revealed that the three categories of collaboration risks, coordination problems, division problems, and defection problems have no statistically significant effects on perceived success in the collaboration to implement urban greening projects. Overall, the hypotheses were partially supported by the results of the analyses. This dissertation builds upon and expands the application of the ICA framework by using it in an international context. It can inform public managers in public organizations in addition to other organizations that work in a variety of areas regarding the implications of collaborative work. The results may encourage organizations to successfully collaborate with other organizations in adopting policies for climate change adaptation such as urban greening to mitigate the effects of future climatic events. Finally, this study indicates its limitations and future research directions.

In the summer of 2018 the European Commission awarded Lisbon as European Green Capital 2020 – in part due to investments made by Lisbon municipality in Green Infrastructure (GI) and new green spaces. As the city is becoming greener, this study aims to analyze Lisbon’s urban greening strategies from an environmental justice perspective. It does so based on data collected through desk-research of relevant planning documents and other studies; semi-structured interviews held with individuals working in different positions at Lisbon municipality; and field observations made in Lisbon’s green spaces. The data was analyzed while attending to the different dimensions of environmental justice (EJ), namely procedural and substantive aspects. This research finds that Lisbon’s urban greening strategies reflect environmental justice concerns by seeking to expand GI across the city and increase green space availability. However the strategies are based on a quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of green spaces, failing to address other barriers that may prevent people from accessing and using green space. This is problematic as EJ is considered to go beyond just distribution. Furthermore forms of public participation and consultation are rather limited and are an exception to the rule; the decision-making process is based on the expert knowledge of civil servants – mainly landscape architects. As participation is seen as a central element of EJ, this research identifies a risk for Lisbon’s urban greening strategies to bypass the different needs and vulnerabilities of different social groups. Therefore, this study recommends policy-makers to include qualitative data regarding the use of Lisbon’s green spaces when analyzing access to green space, and to actively involve and recognize local residents when designing and implementing Lisbon’s GI. / Sommaren 2018 utsågs Lissabon av Europeiska kommissionen till Europas miljöhuvudstad 2020 – delvis på grund av investeringar som Lissabons kommun gjort i grön infrastruktur och nya grönområden. Eftersom staden håller på att bli grönare har denna studie som syfte att analysera Lissabons strategier för urban grönska från ett miljörättviseperspektiv. Denna analys baseras på data insamlad genom skrivbordsforskning i relevanta planeringsdokument och andra studier, semi-strukturerade intervjuer med anställda på Lissabons kommun, samt fältobservationer i Lissabons grönområden. Datan analyserades med hänsyn till de olika dimensionerna av miljörättvisa, nämligen procedurella och substantiva aspekter. Studiens resultat visar att Lissabons strategier för urban grönska tar hänsyn till miljörättviseperspektiv genom målet att utveckla grön infrstruktur runt om i staden och öka tillgången till grönområden. Däremot är strategierna baserade på en kvantitativ analys av den geografiska fördelningen av grönytor, och bortser därför från andra begränsningar som kan förhindra vissa gruppers tillgång till och användning av grönområden. Detta är problematiskt då miljörättvisa anses gå bortom endast geografisk fördelning. Dessutom finns det endast begränsat utrymme för allmännhetens deltagande och samråd; beslutsprocessen är snarare baserad på expertkunskaper från kommunens tjänstepersoner – främst landskapsarkitekter. Eftersom deltagande anses vara en central del i miljörättvisan finns här en risk att Lissabons strategier för urban grönska förbiser de mångfaldiga behov och svagheter av olika samhällsgrupper. Därför rekommenderar studien att beslutsfattare tar hänsyn till kvalitativ data om hur Lissabons grönområden används när de analyserar tillgång till grönområden, samt att de aktivt involverar invånare under design- och implementeringsprocessen av Lissabons gröna infrastruktur. / No verão de 2018, Lisboa foi eleita Capital Verde Europeia 2020 pela Comissão Europeia – em parte, devido aos investimentos feitos pela Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (CML) na Infraestrutura Verde da cidade e na criação de novos espaços verdes. Enquanto a cidade vai ficando mais verde, esta investigação visa analisar as estratégias de estrutura verde da CML a partir de uma perspetiva de justiça ambiental. A análise baseia-se em dados obtidos através do estudo de documentos estratégicos e de planeamento; de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com indivíduos em diferentes posições na CML; e, por último, de observações de campo feitas nos espaços verdes de Lisboa. A análise de dados atendeu às diferentes dimensões de justiça ambiental, nomeadamente aspetos processuais e substantivos. Baseado nessa análise, considera-se que as estratégias de estrutura verde da CML refletem questões de justiça ambiental no sentido de visar a expansão da Infraestrutura Verde pela cidade e o aumento da quantidade de espaços verdes. Contudo, as estratégias baseiam-se numa análise quantitativa da distribuição espacial de espaços verdes, sem ter em consideração possíveis outras barreiras que possam impedir as pessoas de aceder e usufruir de tais espaços. Isto é considerado problemático, uma vez que justiça ambiental requer ir além da distribuição justa. Ademais, as formas de participação ou consulta públicas são limitadas e uma exceção; o processo de tomada de decisão é fundamentado no conhecimento especializado de funcionários públicos, nomeadamente arquitetos paisagistas. Como a participação é vista como um elemento central de justiça ambiental, esta investigação identifica o risco de as estratégias de estrutura verde passarem ao lado das necessidades e vulnerabilidades específicas de diferentes grupos sociais. Assim, recomenda-se que as estratégias incluam uma análise qualitativa sobre a utilização de e acesso a espaços verdes; e que se vise o envolvimento e reconhecimento ativos dos residentes no processo de definição e implementação de novos espaços verdes.

The positive relationship between humans and nature is manifest in the urban greening movement, which has taken root in cities around the world. Street trees are an essential component of urban design and have emerged from a variety of historic legacies, both human and environmental. While the growing body of research on street trees has considered street tree density and distribution across cities, it has not situated these metrics in the broader discussion on the historical legacies of urban greening. This study considers five capital cities (Ottawa, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Washington, D.C.) spanning two climate zones and three continents to analyze the density and distribution of street trees by asking two questions: (1) what is the density and distribution of street trees across a given city and its street hierarchy? (2) how do these metrics compare within and between cities by climate zone? Preexisting datasets from local authorities are used to execute a geospatial analysis of the street tree structure of the central zone of each city. The results of this study shed light on the importance of place-specificity in informing the street tree legacy of cities and questions the existing primacy of the city-wide canopy cover metric as a global norm in planning practice. / Det positiva förhållandet mellan människor och natur är manifest i stadsförgröningsrörelsen (urban greening movement), vilket har etablerat sig i städer runtom i världen. Gatuträd är en essentiell komponent av stadsutformning och har växt fram från en mångfald av historiska arv, båda mänskliga och miljömässiga. Medan allt mer forskning om gatuträd har betraktat gatuträdtäthet och distribution tvärs över städer, har den inte placerat dessa mätmetoder i den större diskussionen om historiska arv av stadsförgröning. Denna studie betraktar fem huvudstäder (Ottawa, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, Paris, och Washington, D.C.) över två klimatzoner och tre kontinenter för att analysera gatuträdtäthet och distribution genom att ställa två frågor: (1) vad är tätheten och distributionen av gatuträd genom en stad och dess gatunätverkshierarki? (2) hur jämförs dessa mätmetoder inom och mellan städer i samma klimatzon? Befintliga data från lokala myndigheter används för att utföra en georumslig analys av gatuträdstrukturen i centralzonen av varje stad. Resultaten belyser platsspecificitetens vikt att inverka stadsgatuträdsarv och ifrågasätter den befintliga dominansen av stadsträdkronstäckning som en global norm inom planeringspraktik.

Urban greening holds the promise of fostering crucial socio-environmental benefits for city residents. Unfortunately, urban greening interventions tend to ignore deeply rooted patterns behind urban injustices. The lack of an equity perspective when implementing urban greening has been shown to result in the displacement and exclusion of marginalized groups due to increased housing costs and property values, adding a new form of environmental injustice. Despite this, urban greening interventions and polices often embrace a discourse promoting the greening of cities as a "win-win" solution, which can be harmful and important to acknowledge to avoid justifying greening projects that result in negative social implications. Hence, this study conducts a discourse analysis of various policies published by the European Commission promoting urban greening to examine how urban greening is discursively used and framed. To avoid adding new injustices, there is a need to center environmental justice concerns in research on urban greening. Environmental justice encompasses three interrelated dimensions: distributional, recognitional, and procedural justice. However, research on urban greening tends to focus on the distributional dimension. To contribute to filling this research gap, the thesis also conducts a thematic content analysis to examine how the multiple dimensions of environmental justice are considered within the European Green Capital’s urban greening policies. The study’s findings shed light on harmful discourses and a lack of consideration for particularly recognitional justice in urban greening policies, pointing to the need for policy discourses that problematize urban greening interventions and center environmental justice concerns.

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Twenty years ago the public schoolyards in Boston, Massachusetts were in a deplorable state: most were entirely paved, seriously neglected and used predominantly for parking. Since 1995, the Boston Schoolyards Initiative (BSI) has worked to transform these spaces into vibrant environments of recreation and learning. Renovations typically include adding play structures, gardens, murals and seating that can engage children at recess or support an educational activity. Recent research has shown that BSI renovations have had a positive impact on student academic performance (Lopez, Jennings and Campbell, 2008), but little attention has yet focused on how these revived and greened spaces have contributed to citywide urban greening efforts and to the environmental quality of their surrounding neighborhoods. This study uses design plans and GIS data to compare pre- and post-renovation canopy cover and pervious surfaces at 12 BSI schools. Data analysis included both an examination of the percent increase in canopy cover and pervious surfacing as well as exploration of the spatial configuration of green space and play space within the newly designed schoolyards. Data indicates that overall BSI renovations have a slightly positive impact on canopy cover and pervious surfacing, but gains are not uniform and many schools are left not meeting citywide goals for canopy cover and pervious surfacing. In addition, schoolyard designs emphasized traditional play structures and paved spaces, subordinating opportunities for children to interact with vegetation. Although eight school renovations included an outdoor classroom with natural features, only one provided any space for children to interact more informally with vegetation. Schools are organized into five different typologies based on the proportions of spaces they contain and spatial configurations, and one typology is recommended as a model for future renovations. In conclusion, this study addresses the challenges and constraints facing urban schoolyard renovations and proposes a framework for integrating recommendations in an iterative experimental manner.