Green justice or just green? Provision of urban green spaces in Berlin, Germany

Abstract

Urban green spaces (UGS) have been shown to provide a number of environmental and social benefits relevant for a higher quality of life of residents. However, population growth in cities combined with urban planning policies of (re)densification can drive the conversion of UGS into residential land. This development might result in an unequal distribution of UGS in a city. We present an analysis of UGS provisioning in Berlin, Germany in order to identify distributional inequities between UGS and population which are further discussed in light of variations in user preferences associated with demographics and immigrant status. Publicly available land use and sociodemographic data at sub-district level are applied in a GIS, dissimilarity index and cluster analysis approach. Results show that although most areas are supplied with more UGS compared to the per capita target value of 6m2, there is considerable dissimilarity by immigrant status and age. To address rising concerns about socio-environmental justice in cities and to evaluate the (dis)advantages of applying UGS threshold values for urban planning, visitor profiles and preferences of a site-specific case, the park and former city airport Berlin-Tempelhof are analyzed. Results from questionnaire surveys indicate that the identified dissimilarities on sub-district level are not the same as socio-environmental injustice in Tempelhof, but point to a mismatch of UGS and user preferences. In addition to evaluating UGS distribution, the match between quality of a park and specific cultural and age dependent user needs should be considered for successful green infrastructure planning rather than focusing on target values.