| Title |
Equity in urban greening: Evidence from strategic planning in Romania |
| ID_Doc |
64290 |
| Authors |
Gradinaru, SR; Onose, DA; Oliveira, E; Slave, AR; Popa, AM; Gravrilidis, AA |
| Title |
Equity in urban greening: Evidence from strategic planning in Romania |
| Year |
2023 |
| Published |
|
| Abstract |
In Europe, equity has become an important policy objective based on the recently adopted European Green Deal and the idea of "leaving no one behind". However, the question remains as to what extent equity is a real concern in the implementation of territorial policies, including spatial planning, and other place-based strategies in the EU member states. In this paper, we determine if and how equity has become a concern in the strategic planning of green infrastructure (GI), and whether strategic plans are indeed relevant in responding to vulnerable groups' needs. We focus on Romania, a post-communist country where ensuring GI availability and accessibility is often a challenge for cities. The strategic plans of 75 % of Romanian cities (N = 242 plans) were systematically evaluated using document content analysis. This revealed that equity is addressed rather superficially in strategic urban plans. While most aim at increasing the availability and attractiveness of GI, very few of them do so by explicitly addressing the needs of vulnerable groups. Interestingly, equity concerns in the plans are not correlated with actual green space availability. Our study contributes to discussions about the role of strategic urban planning in delivering equitable public spaces and provides a set of recommendations for policy-and decision-makers. |
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