The politics of urban greening: an introduction

ABSTRACT

Global enthusiasm for nature in cities is at high point. Australia is no exception, where there is a great deal of policy momentum and research interest in urban greening. The challenges presented by increasing urban heat associated with climate change, greater awareness of the potential social, physical and psychological benefits of exposure to ecologies for people, and recognition of cities as vital habitats for more-than-humans are central tenants of urban greening enthusiasm. Yet, there is a need for a more critical lens on urban greening in Australia. One that interrogates the purported normative, apolitical and instrumental benefits of greening, to position greening within a trajectory of the power relations, settler-colonialism, socio-ecological processes and capital flows that constitute the urban. This editorial introducing the special issue on urban greening politics explores how different conceptions of urban natures – green space, urban forestry and green infrastructure – have been put to work, before outlining the potential of ‘urban greening’ as the terminology for a more politically sensitive and process-orientated framing. The editorial concludes with a summary of the contributions to the special issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban greening
• ecologies
• political
• nonhuman
• gentrification
• cities

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands this special issue was conceived and organised, respectfully recognising Elders and Ancestors past and present. I would also like to thank all contributors to this issue for their time, insights and collaborative spirit, including our extensive list of peer reviewers. Thanks to all the participants in the ‘Lively Urban Greening’ workshop in Naarm/Melbourne in December 2016, which laid the foundation for this work. This workshop was sponsored by the Urban Futures Capability Platform, and supported by the Critical Urban Governance and People, Nature, Place Research Programs in the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University. Finally, a sincere thank you to the generous guidance and editorial assistance of Chris Gibson, Natascha Klocker and Kathleen Mee, and the brilliant administrative support of Kirstie Petrou.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Benjamin Cooke is a Senior Lecturer in the Sustainability and Urban Planning discipline group at RMIT University. Ben's teaching includes environmental management and policy, and applied research projects. Ben's research interests cover the social and political dimensions of nature conservation, including more-than-human agency, property rights, private land conservation, environmental governance and urban greening.