Urban green spaces in a post-apartheid city: challenges and opportunities for nature-based solutions

Valentina Giombini; Jessica  Thorn

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_17

Urban green spaces in a post-apartheid city: challenges and opportunities for nature-based solutions

Valentina Giombini^*
, Jessica Thorn

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Geography & Sustainable Development

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

Cities in sub-Saharan countries are simultaneously facing climate change, rapid urbanisation, and social inequalities. Nature-based Solutions harness nature’s benefits to address these environmental, social, and economic challenges. In this study, we investigate how taking into account temporal dynamics and multiple values of nature helps to implement better Nature-based Solutions. Through satellite images and interviews with practitioners and residents, we look at how green spaces and dry riverbeds are distributed, managed, and perceived in the capital city of Namibia, south-western Africa. We find that apartheid spatial segregation legacies persist through the unequal distribution of urban green spaces, and that, although their current management limits their capacity to deliver benefits, riverbeds have the potential to support sustainable development and climate change adaptation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Human-nature interactions
Subtitle of host publication	Exploring nature’s values across landscapes
Editors	Daniel Ieva Misiune, Lukas Egarter Vigl Depellegrin
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Chapter	17
Pages	207-219
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031019807
ISBN (Print)	9783031019791, 9783031019821
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_17
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Ecosystem services
River networks
Namibia
Environmental justice
Urban green infrastructure

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Giombini-Thorn_2022_Chapter_UrbanGreenSpaces_CC
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Open Access. This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Final published version, 512 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Urban green spaces in a post-apartheid city: challenges and opportunities for nature-based solutions",

abstract = "Cities in sub-Saharan countries are simultaneously facing climate change, rapid urbanisation, and social inequalities. Nature-based Solutions harness nature{\textquoteright}s benefits to address these environmental, social, and economic challenges. In this study, we investigate how taking into account temporal dynamics and multiple values of nature helps to implement better Nature-based Solutions. Through satellite images and interviews with practitioners and residents, we look at how green spaces and dry riverbeds are distributed, managed, and perceived in the capital city of Namibia, south-western Africa. We find that apartheid spatial segregation legacies persist through the unequal distribution of urban green spaces, and that, although their current management limits their capacity to deliver benefits, riverbeds have the potential to support sustainable development and climate change adaptation.",

keywords = "Ecosystem services, River networks, Namibia, Environmental justice, Urban green infrastructure",

author = "Valentina Giombini and Jessica Thorn",

note = "The authors thank Climate Research 4 Development fellowship (CR4D-19-21) for funding the Urban Ecolution project – implemented by the African Academy of Sciences in partnership with the UK{\textquoteright}s Department for International Development, Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa programme and the African Climate Policy Centre of the United Economic Commission for Africa. This study has also been funded in part by the African Women in Climate Change Science Fellowship supported by the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences Next Einstein Forum and the International Development Research Centre of Canada Aid, the UK{\textquoteright}s Research and Innovation{\textquoteright}s Global Challenges Research Fund under the Development Corridors Partnership project (ES/P011500/1).",

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Urban green spaces in a post-apartheid city: challenges and opportunities for nature-based solutions. / Giombini, Valentina; Thorn, Jessica .
Human-nature interactions: Exploring nature’s values across landscapes. ed. / Daniel Ieva Misiune; Lukas Egarter Vigl Depellegrin. Cham: Springer, 2022. p. 207-219.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

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N1 - The authors thank Climate Research 4 Development fellowship (CR4D-19-21) for funding the Urban Ecolution project – implemented by the African Academy of Sciences in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development, Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa programme and the African Climate Policy Centre of the United Economic Commission for Africa. This study has also been funded in part by the African Women in Climate Change Science Fellowship supported by the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences Next Einstein Forum and the International Development Research Centre of Canada Aid, the UK’s Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund under the Development Corridors Partnership project (ES/P011500/1).

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AB - Cities in sub-Saharan countries are simultaneously facing climate change, rapid urbanisation, and social inequalities. Nature-based Solutions harness nature’s benefits to address these environmental, social, and economic challenges. In this study, we investigate how taking into account temporal dynamics and multiple values of nature helps to implement better Nature-based Solutions. Through satellite images and interviews with practitioners and residents, we look at how green spaces and dry riverbeds are distributed, managed, and perceived in the capital city of Namibia, south-western Africa. We find that apartheid spatial segregation legacies persist through the unequal distribution of urban green spaces, and that, although their current management limits their capacity to deliver benefits, riverbeds have the potential to support sustainable development and climate change adaptation.

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Urban green spaces in a post-apartheid city: challenges and opportunities for nature-based solutions

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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