Green Infrastructure in Relation to Informal Urban Settlements

Adegun, Olumuyiwa Bayode

doi:10.3846/20297955.2017.1296791

Cited by 45 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…As reflected in our search terms, we were most interested in the literature related to design and implementation of sanitation systems and literature relating to built projects only was included in the review. Natural GI systems that are providing wastewater treatment by conveniencerather than by design-as can occur within the unserviced informal settlement context [6,24] were not considered.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The UN defines sanitation as "any safe excreta disposal that interrupts the transmission of faecal contaminants to humans" [2] (p. 649). Problems of adequate sanitation services are worsening in cities in developing countries as urban populations increase [1], and are exacerbated in informal settlements [6] and settlements in challenging environments, on marginal land or over water [7]. Sanitation coverage and levels of service are usually much lower than in formal settlements [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the environmental values of the location of many settlements in developing countries, GI offers "multifunctional, soft engineering alternatives to grey infrastructure, in low-income urban areas" [6, p. 25]. It also offers benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation [6]. GI allows the integration of nature-based solutions for water into the built environment, in many cases highly modular constructed wetland systems [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems

2021

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In the developing economies of the Global South, a fundamental challenge in the transition of settlements from rural or periurban to urban is increased environmental contamination as a result of poor sanitation and sanitation management. With governments’ limited ability to connect all neighbourhoods to a city’s existing municipal water, sewerage and other services, decentralised approaches using green infrastructure offer potential to address this challenge. In addition, green infrastructure might facilitate a move towards a holistic response to manage the full water cycle. This paper presents a narrative review of green infrastructure projects, involving constructed wetlands or their variants for wastewater treatment, within vulnerable communities in the Global South. It describes the scale and scope of each project, identifies the challenges of implementation, and reflects on their outcomes for different stakeholder groups. The review demonstrates that decentralised sanitation programs using constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment can provide a range of advantages/benefits/services, dependant on the specific sociocultural, political and biogeophysical contexts of each. Issues of governance and sociocultural appropriateness, rather than technical issues, challenged the implementation of green infrastructure for sanitation in these projects. Projects must be a collaboration between the government, nongovernment organisations and the community. Whether the project is organised from top-down or bottom-up, community consultation is essential. Context will determine the role of the community in the consultation process and the type of information required to guide the design, implementation and governance of the system. In every project to provide decentralised sanitation systems, the community must be participants, not simply beneficiaries.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems

2021

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“…The research implies there is a difference in WTP depending on whether the GI is provided by a municipality/local government or a private developer [13,14]. People are less willing to pay a premium for GI delivered by municipalities than by developers, reasoning that delivering green areas is the responsibility of municipalities/local government [13,50,51].…”

Section: Supply Of Green Products and Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to Pay for Green Infrastructure in Residential Development—A Consumer Perspective

2020

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This paper investigates the literature and theoretical underpinning of the concept of "willingness to pay" (WTP) for green infrastructure (GI) with consequences for residential development. The benefits of GI in urban settlements include improved air quality, attenuation of the urban heat island, thermal insulation and lower energy bills for green roofs and walls, the creation of social amenity space, a habitat for biodiversity, and stormwater water attenuation. Collectively, these benefits are termed eco-system services and enhance sustainability. The role of GI, the "lungs of the planet", is heavily correlated to atmospheric conditions; high levels of GI improve air quality, which is acknowledged widely with many cities increasing GI to make them more resilient to future predicted challenges with respect to heat and poor air quality. In addition, there is evidence that the biophilia effect enhances human well-being. There are some studies claiming that purchasers pay a premium for property with good GI. However, there is little research about the process in consumers' minds leading to such a premium-if, how, when (under what circumstances), and then to what extent are consumers willing to pay for GI. This process, if better understood, may enable sellers or policy makers to influence the amounts of GI in developments, thus making it possible to enhance the value of GI to buyers. There is some research pointing to factors to be considered when modeling such processes. For developers, knowing the optimum amount of GI would enable them to design and construct developments with maximum purchaser appeal. To do this, stakeholders need to predict the level of WTP amongst potential purchasers for which they need to understand the decision processes behind WTP. In this way, sustainability in residential property development could be optimized. The paper analyzes the literature and theories concerning WTP, focusing on dwellings and GI. Our findings are that some quantitative evidence exists that purchasers pay more for residential property with high levels of GI in some cities, but they do so without any understanding of the possible decision processes leading to those premiums (if, how, when, and then to what extent). The paper proposes a comprehensive conceptual model that may explain buyers' WTP for a dwelling based on a presumed cost-benefit analysis performed by buyers, which has been extended here to include GI and psychological factors. Thus, the paper has a consumer perspective. The model may be used to select variables and test them in empirical studies, and by integrating with other factors in the model, it can attain a more comprehensive understanding of WTP for GI in residential development.

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“…However, including more participants from diverse places will not necessarily lead to more positive accounts of nature. This might especially be the case in cities in low and middle income countries, where informal green spaces are often linked to problems associated with waste and sewage, with health impacts, and crime (Adegun 2017). Similarly, place memories might also reflect displacement and violence, and BCD and associated approaches need to be sensitive to these aspects.…”

Section: Variation Of Group Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Urban biocultural diversity’ as a framework for human–nature interactions: reflections from a Brazilian favela

Stålhammar

Brink

2020

Urban Ecosyst

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Biocultural diversity (BCD), denoting the ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity, has traditionally highlighted the coevolution between highly biodiverse regions and the ethnic–linguistic diversity of indigenous communities. Recently, European researchers have relaunched BCD as a conceptual foundation for urban greenspace planning capable of overcoming challenges of the ecosystem services paradigm. However, the methodological foundation for this particular approach to ‘urban BCD’ is still in its infancy, obscuring precisely how the framework is an advancement for studying different urban residents’ experience of and connectedness to nature and biodiversity. In this paper, we further develop the urban BCD concept by using the culturally and biologically diverse city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a ‘critical case’. First, we employ qualitative field methods to investigate manifestations of human–nature relationships in the favela (informal settlement) of Rocinha and the neighbouring Tijuca Forest. Second, we reflect on how the urban BCD framework and methodology emphasise i) interrelationships, ii) varied group values and iii) participation, and iv) are sensitising and reflexive. Our findings challenge the ‘usual’ narrative about favelas as places of environmental degradation and disaster risk, revealing BCD and nature connectedness that are as related to popular culture, fitness ideals and citizen-building, as to traditional livelihoods and spiritual beliefs. Departing from interrelationships, BCD can portray aspects that a narrow focus on ‘services’ and ‘disservices’ cannot, but attention should be paid to how operationalisation risks perpetuating ecosystem services thinking. Nevertheless, we identify promising avenues for its use in highly diverse cities with unequal access to natural areas.

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Green Infrastructure in Relation to Informal Urban Settlements

Cited by 45 publications

References 66 publications

Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems

Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems

Willingness to Pay for Green Infrastructure in Residential Development—A Consumer Perspective

‘Urban biocultural diversity’ as a framework for human–nature interactions: reflections from a Brazilian favela

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