Urban development diminishes the delivery of ecosystem services (ES), defined as benefits from ecological processes and functions critical to human health and well-being. Land-use planners and environmental managers are increasingly familiar with the concept of ES; however, methods for incorporating ES into urban planning are underdeveloped. While previous reports have identified the combination of ES quantification and stakeholder engagement as necessary for increasing the delivery of ES, methods of implementation remain unexplored. To address this disparity, this study combines ES quantification with perspectives from multiple stakeholders to identify specific land cover conversion scenarios that increase the delivery of ES in the Friendly Area Neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon and compares each conversion scenario using an informed weighting system. The result is a method, with potential for use by researchers and public officials, to quantify the delivery of ES, identify stakeholders’ ES priorities, and assess the benefits associated with green infrastructure development. / 2020-01-11

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources / Candice A. Shoemaker / In our ever-growing urban environments food security is dwindling. Healthy food may be difficult to find in city centers, but publicly owned land is still common. In many cities, a significant percentage of green space is publicly accessible and regularly maintained. Under appropriate circumstances these green spaces can be utilized to grow edible food and benefit the cities and communities they are placed in. Claims of the benefits of public edible landscapes include: beautification, strengthening communities, food security, ecological services, self-sufficiency, education and may lead to a more positive attitude towards urban agriculture. Existing organizations working with public edible landscapes in three US municipalities of varying size were used as case studies to explore strategies and challenges in proposing, implementing and maintaining public edible spaces. Interviews were conducted with representatives from the Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, WA, the Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park in Asheville, NC, and the Upper Valley Apple Corps in Hartford, VT. These case studies identified common concepts related to the success of public edible landscapes: a presence of community interest, actively involved individuals with a skill set in food production, the presence of an umbrella or advocacy organization, and support from city officials. A discussion of approaches being used by others could provide the foundation for future research into the effects of introducing edible plants into public green space on the local community and environment.

This exploratory research project explores the production and use, and subsequent closure and eviction of the community-designed and managed Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford – a predominantly working-class area in south-east London. This community garden played a key role in the lives of many local residents and its closure and subsequent demolition to make way for a large housing project drew a significant backlash from local residents which included protests, law-suits, and the occupation of the garden itself. Why this small, half-acre community garden garnered such a notable response is the main focus of and motivation for this research project. Using a combined-methods approach consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this research investigates what it was about Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden which resulted in this backlash, and why the local council’s decision to close it drew such a militant revolt from local community members. Combining the empirical results of this research with a deep inquiry into the concepts of space and power within urban theory, this thesis seeks to understand the rights working-class communities have to contribute to the production of public green space, and how such community-led contribution can impact on the space produced, both inside and outside the context of Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and its former users.

Urban public green space is a core contributor to cultural ecosystem services in cities, comprising the non-material benefits that people obtain from contact with nature. Due to the many benefits that have been ascribed to it, green space has become subject to debates on justice about its fair distribution and equal opportunities to use it. Teenage girls living in socio-economically challenged neighbourhoods appear to belong to a societal group that is restricted in accessing green space, as well as having less opportunities to influence the governance of such space. Attempting to bring further light to these issues, this study utilises a phenomenological approach in which intersectionality theory is central. It aims to explore how intersections of identity markers, such as age, gender, and place of residence, interact with girls’ lived experiences of green space. It does so by collecting first-person narratives in eight interactive and online interviews with the support of satellite, aerial and street view imagery provided by Google Maps. The result shows the great complexity of urban public green space as a place with room for both feelings of liberty and feelings of exclusion. The girls’ narratives unveil how urban green is an important source for well-being and quality of life, and how connection with nature enables connection with loved ones, the community, and with oneself. Simultaneously, identity markers, such as age, gender, and place of residence, intersect into a synergy of exclusion for teenage girls to fully encounter urban nature. Feelings of urban public green space as a place occupied by others contribute to experiences of it as inappropriate and unsafe for girls to visit in certain places during certain times. This suggests how green space works as an arena for power relations, where the opportunities for girls to benefit from its free use and from cultural ecosystem services decrease under certain circumstances. Narratives and myths that green space is dangerous for girls paint a geography of fear; in which fear of becoming a victim of crime is expressed as a fear of space. This fear increases with preconceptions and self-images that girls are defenceless and weak. Furthermore, these experiences intersect with feelings that their neighbourhoods, and the green wherein, are framed adversely and neglected by planners, politicians, municipalities and the government. Still, the girls express great appreciation and pride over the voluminous public green areas in their neighbourhoods. Despite experiencing less power to influence, they have strong visions and aspirations to impact the design and function of urban nature, which indicates prospects for empowerment and revitalisation of green space. It is concluded that recognising lived experiences of girls is essential when working towards safe and accessible, but also lively and inviting, green space. Furthermore, it is argued that insights from intersectionality is valuable when researching use of green space, as intersectionality is a profoundly spatial concept; in which social categories articulate in relation to place and time, and where power and identity contribute at shaping experiences of green space.