SmallGreen

Project title: Contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice

Project number: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1543

Contract no.: TE 43/2020

Funding body: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)

Budget: 431.900 RON

Period: 2020-2022

Research team:

Diana Andreea Onose– Project Coordinator

Athanasios Alexandru Gavrilidis – Post-doctoral researcher

Simona-Raluca Grădinaru– Post-doctoral researcher

Ana-Maria Popa – PhD student

Andreea-Raluca Slave – PhD student

Sumary

Sustainable urbanization and environmental justice represent key topics in international documents like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Habitat Agenda and 7th Environmental Action Programme of the European Union. Small urban green infrastructures could have an important role in building sustainable and inclusive cities but the subject is still little approached in scientific studies because of the difficulties it poses, like the scale of analysis and the complex challenges these infrastructures face. The aim of the project is to analyze the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice using complex spatial and statistical analysis, remote sensing and sociological and expert evaluation. The project is structured in 4 objectives starting with establishing the conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice (O1), continuing with the assessment of the spatial (O2) and functional (O3) contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice and developing a methodological framework for assessing their contribution (O4). The originality of the project resides in the approach of small urban green infrastructure which can be a valuable tool for creating compact green cities and on the focus of different social categories (in terms of age or social status) in order to provide inclusive planning and design options. The deliverables of the project include 4 ISI articles (cumulated impact factor over 8), 6 presentations at international conferences, 2 presentation at national conferences, case studies spatial databases publicly available through webGIS applications. Both project leader and members of the research team have good track of publications in the field of Urban, regional and rural studies.

Aim

The main objective of the project is to assess the contribution of small urban green infrastructure in achieving environmental justice filling the gap regarding their capacity to compensate for large green spaces which are hard to include in urban compact development. This represents a significant contribution since there is only little research both regarding the quantification of the multifunctionality of small urban green infrastructure and the equity of its access and use at urban level.

Objectives

The specific objectives of the project are:

(1) Establishing a Conceptual framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(2) Assessing the Spatial contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(3)Assessing the Functional contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice;

(4) Developing a methodological framework for assessing the contribution of small UGI in achieving environmental justice.

Main results

Articles

Grădinaru S.R., Onose D.A., Oliveira E., Slave A.R., Popa A.M., Gavrilidis A.A. (2021) Equity in urban greening: Evidence from strategic planning in Romania, Landscape and Urban Planning, under review

Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Artmann M., Popa A.M., Mitincu C.G., Gavrilidis A.A. (2021) Green for Grey: Interaction with green amenities in elder care facilities from Romania, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, under review

Onose D.A., Iojă, I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M. (2021) Can church gardens represent a valuable recreation alternative in cities? In Schrenk M., Popovich V.V., Zeile P., Elisei P., Beyer, C., Ryser J., Stoglehner G., CITIES 20.50 Creating Habitats for the 3rd Millennium: Smart – Sustainable – Climate Neutral – Proceedings of RealCorp 2021 – 26th International Conference on Urban Planning, Regional Development and Information Society

Conferences

2021

2020

Gavrilidis A.A., Onose D.A., Grădinaru S.R., Popa A.M., Slave A.R. (2020), Management challenges of small urban green spaces – a 10 year literature review, International Symposium Present Environment and Sustainable Development, November 21, Iași, Romania

Onose D.A., Iojă I.C., Slave A.R., Grădinaru S.R., Gavrilidis A.A., Popa A.M., (2020) Assessing the use of collective residential gardens in cities, The 2nd International Conference on Re-shaping Territories, Environment and Societies: New Challenges for Geography, November 20, Bucharest, Romania

Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Gavrilidis A.A., Grădinaru S.R., Slave R.A. (2020) Potential contribution of small green infrastructure in improving quality of life at urban level, International Geographical Conference Dimitrie Cantemir, 40th Edition, October 24, Iasi, Romania

Reports

Work in progress