Key Points of the Speakers

 

Speaker 1: Jose Chong, Programme Management Officer, Global Public Space Programme, UN-Habitat

 

The first keynote speaker, Jose Chong, reviewed the prevalence of climate action in the global agenda, from the perspective of UN-Habitat and its role in the work of the Global Public Space Program.

 

A key message from the presentation was that if public spaces are to have a positive effect on climate change, they must be created and managed in a participatory way and supported by policies at all scales. Policy examples include natural disaster and natural resource management and incorporation of green growth into global, national, and urban policies. 

 

This presentation highlighted both the City-Wide Public Space Assessment (a tool used to measure distribution, quantity, quality and accessibility of public spaces across a whole city), and the Block by Block methodology (a participatory process that uses the game Minecraft to co-design public spaces).

 

Speaker 2: Jessica Thorn, African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town;  and University of York

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Dr. Jessica Thorn and team are conducting research to find evidence and create an analytical framework to understand barriers and limits to access green infrastructure for climate adaptation in peri-urban settlements in Africa. Their case studies included Dar el Salaam, prone to flooding and a quickly growing city, and Windhoek which experiences drought intensification. In both examples, irregular population growth has encroached on natural resources. 

When looking at how public spaces in peri urban settlements contribute to social-ecological resilience, Dr Thorn’s team developed four categories of assessment: Provisioning services (such as fruits, medicines, grass), regulating services (such as shade, air quality), cultural services (such as aesthetic value and exercise) and supporting services (such as biodiversity).

 

The identified key barriers to access green infrastructure included financial barriers; land use change and spatial trade offs;  design performance and maintenance; legal and institutional barriers; and ecosystem disservices. As a result, the study recommends an integrated landscape approach, coordination platforms, simplified land tenure systems, local communities engagement, a shared sense of responsibility, planning agro pastoral livelihoods when there is a transfer of land uses, as well as monetary and non-monetary valuation. 

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Speaker 3: Ayanda Roji, Head of Research and Knowledge Management at the City of Johannesburg’s Parks and Zoo agency; Centre on African Public Space

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Ayanda Roji’s presentation focused on how we can build climate resilience through urban agriculture, how we redesign public spaces for environmental and social resilience, and how we can differently manage these spaces. In South Africa, public spaces are fragmented and unequal in terms of access, quality and distribution - an antithesis of the SDGs. COVID-19 has increased the vulnerability of people and urban areas, as people seek refuge in public open spaces. 

 

Ayanda emphasized that, although cities are learning how to mitigate climate change and in particular trying to have partnerships with universities, there is still not sufficient collaboration with the public. The people most affected are not brought to the table, however, to counter historic inequalities participation is necessary.

 

One example highlighted a synthesis of social and environmental resilience is in Johannesburg, where a portion of the park had been given to communities to develop an urban farm. This is a hallmark of intersectoral collaboration, led by the city and partnered with communities, universities, private sector, schools, and NGO’s. This is a community asset, offering training to unemployed, using natural solutions for a flood prone area. Finally Ayanda particularly emphasized the role that this urban farm has in promoting intergenerational information transfer, and a reminder of identity and history. 

 

Speaker 4: Simone Borelli, Urban Forestry Office, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

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Simone Borelli’s presentation highlighted the role of trees and nature in public spaces and how it can both bring people together, change people’s mindsets about their role in their own environment, but also have a detrimental social impact. In his presentation, Simone referenced the „Tree cities of the world programme“. This presentation highlighted four examples of public spaces that have considered environmental and social resilience at the local scale, city wide scale, national scale and policy making level and in a rural context. 

 

First, the smallest scale example was the Picasso Food Forest in Italy, where the neighbourhood took over management of an unused space in the city without support from the municipality; Second, a city-wide scale example discussed how informal settlements in most high risk areas have been given support from the municipality in Lima, Peru; At the national level, the third example of Phoenix, Arizona, USA showed how a tree and shade plan, a policy driven by a combination of actions voted on by the community and with shared responsibility of implementation between both community and municipality, provided social and environmental benefits. Finally, a rural example from Ouarzazarte, Morocco, highlighted how social and environmental resilience may not always go hand in hand. The climate positive effort to create a green belt around the city, resulted in the rise of the land price has risen and a gentrification process. 

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The Panel Discussion

 

In the interim between the keynote speakers and discussants, Peter Gotsch highlighted the blend between public and green spaces in the cities and the difficulties associated with ‘green washing’ (the practice of using climate action as a marketing tool or in a tokenistic way, without real change towards a shared goal to limit carbon emissions and manage climate change).

 

Luis Miguel Artieda brought a Latin American perspective to the discussion by highlighting examples in Mexico and in Brazil and by exploring the work of the Avina Foundation in relation to climate and social resilience. One of the key messages that Luis gave was that our definitions of resilience must be comprehensive and must be complete – that does not only refer to the capacity of local populations to adapt to climate hazards. Instead, it must infer a possibility to surpass beyond the chronic stresses of poverty and inequality that existing populations face. One example given was the construction of retaining walls to create terraces against natural hazards by a group of female workers that Avina is partnering with. As well as providing mitigation against hazards, these terraces also provide public spaces which are now being used for urban agriculture to produce food and create a source of income.

 

Kirsty Daniel emphasized the importance of a ‘natural heritage system’; a mapping of blue and green networks, and how important the connection between public spaces are to create this network across the city, in particular to facilitate biodiversity, and to ensure that animals are able to travel across the built environment. The adaptability of public spaces was also highlighted by Kirsty, for both social and environmental gains. One example described an amphitheatre in Copenhagen that could be used as a water storage and pond in the rainy season. Kirsty also pointed out the inability for formalised structures to adapt to climate change or natural hazards and that informal vendors are crucial in providing for the needs of communities in emergency situations. 

 

Like Kirsty, Arunava Dasgupta discussed the role of informality in environmental and social resilience. He identified the multidimensional claim on public spaces, and the importance of not just users, but also of access and inclusion to avoid places of divide, but to create places of unity. Arunava described the need for more robust spaces, meaning multiple uses, occupancy and participation. One example was the use of a car park for cattle in the early morning, cars in the mid-morning, hawkers later, food vendors, and recreation in the span of a day. He emphasised how open spaces can be used as spaces for playgrounds, ritual, protest, celebration, relief and escape.

 

Finally, Rolee Aranya outlined how environmental concerns compete with social resilience objectives because public spaces are commodified in mainstream project driven urban development. This has led to increasing exclusion through neoliberal urban development, where powerful actors expropriate public spaces and determine access to public space. This competition most often increases exclusion. Rolee also highlighted that not all public spaces are peaceful or equitable.

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Key Results Achieved - Priority actions

All stakeholders, especially in a policy context, need to embrace that: 

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