On May 26, Margarita Triguero-Mas visited Brussels from the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental justice and Sustainability to present her research on just, sustainable cities.
She discussed the concept of “healthy green cities”, which has been gaining attention in the last decade. This growth coincides with the growing body of evidence on the benefits nature provides for health and well-being in cities. Triguero-Mas stresses that not everyone experiences, perceives, and benefits from nature to the same degree. As such, greening cities can be accompanied by new types of social injustice for some and environmental privilege for others. This so-called "green divide" has become more prominent in the last few years, as has spurred processes of "green gentrification".
In this context, Triguero-Mas explains that greenspaces become disruptive green landscapes where underprivileged residents are left with the only right to an unhealthy, ungreen, and deprived city. In her talk, she drew on research conducted in North America and Europe to highlight the scope and magnitude of injustice in urban greening projects. She them points toward pathways to “healthy, sustainable, and just cities” through policy and planning alternatives.
To learn more about Margarita and her work, visit https://www.bcnuej.org/margarita-triguero-mas-bio/ .
