Is There a Better Approach to Providing Urban Greenspace

Abstract

Researchers have found that greenspace provision (e.g. parkland) is vitally important for meeting the social, economic and environmental needs of urban populations globally. The international literature on park provision identifies many factors that influence a municipality’s ability to provide adequate parkland including political agendas, governance tools and resources. While the demands for greenspace in cities are well documented and understood amongst scholars, there is an apparent gap in scholars’ appreciation of the factors that impact supply. This thesis critically examines the challenges for cities in providing adequate greenspace to support urban populations, with a focus on local government. There is a growing recognition that parks cannot meet all residents’ needs so other types of urban greenspaces are increasingly required for this purpose. This is a dilemma for municipal greenspace planners globally. Many cities, in the face of competing economic, social and environmental demands, continue to experience a widening gap between planned and actual provision of parks. This research aims to address an important question: Is there a better approach to providing urban greenspace? Three inter-related sub-questions that help unpack this enquiry are therefore (i) What are the factors that shape urban greenspace provision and how do they operate in different contexts? (ii) What are the current (traditional and emerging) approaches to providing municipal greenspace? And (iii) are the current approaches used to provide urban greenspace effective? With rapid urban growth and land use intensification set to continue and competing demand on municipal local government budgets increasing globally, now is a critical time to evaluate the effectiveness of the current approach to planning municipal greenspace in cities. This research mobilises findings from the literature, and two case studies on municipal greenspace provision from Australia and Canada, to identify and develop improved approaches for urban greenspace provision. Analysis reveals an increasing tension for local government between clinging to traditional planning standards for open space provision, and responding to escalating expectations from business and residents alike. Leadership and more flexible approaches to providing greenspace are essential to facilitate closing the gap between the limited resources available, affordability and sustainability, and the increasing demands for urban greenspace to deliver social, environmental and economic outcomes and benefits. This thesis offers insights from grounded research to help inform future urban policy and research directions for urban greenspace planning approaches and practice. It makes an original contribution to existing knowledge of urban greenspace provision and the methods applied to urban greenspace research. Crucially, it presents the challenges faced by local government managers and planners with supplying urban greenspace, and from an insider’s perspective.