Abstract
Urban greenspaces have an immense contribution to the social, environmental, and economic spectrums of sustainable development. These three spectrums are also the foundation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. Thus, this interdependence nature offers an opportunity to study the linkages between urban greenspaces and SDGs targets for acknowledging the importance of urban greenspaces for achieving SDGs 2030. To understand the linkages, the study follows a qualitative study approach. In the approach, a convenient systematic literature search technique has been employed to define urban greenspaces and identify empirical evidence on greenspaces’ contribution to different SDG targets. For ensuring the authenticity and validity of the findings, the study includes only peer-reviewed articles in the systematic technique. Results suggest an immediate association between urban greenspaces and SDG target 11.7, which emphasizes explicitly the provision (quality, quantity, and accessibility) of urban parks and playgrounds for the physical and mental wellbeing of urban citizens, typically the social spectrum of sustainable development. In addition to the apparent link, fourteen more underlying connections have been identified where urban greenspaces can contribute to fourteen different SDG targets. These underlying connections acknowledge the importance of urban greenspaces for achieving SDGs 2030.
Highlights
The contribution of urban greenspaces to the social, environmental, and economic spectrum of sustainable development is well established and acknowledged by academics and non-academics (Benton-Short, Keeley & Rowland, 2017; Cohen-Cline, Turkheimer & Duncan, 2015; Davies, Edmondson, Heinemeyer, Leake & Gaston, 2011; Hartig, Mitchell, de Vries & Frumkin, 2014; Hunter et al, 2015)
Since the focus of the paper is to establish the linkages of urban greenspaces and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, corresponding literature was searched in Google Scholar for gathering evidence or examples
Urban greenspaces have immense contributions to the social, economic, and environmental spectrums of sustainable development. These three spectrums are the foundation of SDGs 2030
Summary
The contribution of urban greenspaces to the social, environmental, and economic spectrum of sustainable development is well established and acknowledged by academics and non-academics (Benton-Short, Keeley & Rowland, 2017; Cohen-Cline, Turkheimer & Duncan, 2015; Davies, Edmondson, Heinemeyer, Leake & Gaston, 2011; Hartig, Mitchell, de Vries & Frumkin, 2014; Hunter et al, 2015). Realizing the negative consequences of urbanization and the importance of greenspaces, the former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban-Kimoon, in his speech at the High-Level Delegation of Mayors and Regional Authorities in New York City, has acknowledged the importance of urban areas for achieving sustainability by stating that “our struggle for global sustainability will be lost or won in cities” (United Nations [UN], 2012). In the statement, he tries to capture both the positive and negative impacts of urbanization. The question arises: what is urban greenspace, and what types of greenspaces does the target 11.7 indicate? In a general sense, urban public parks and playgrounds are the center of the target 11.7 because they are freely accessible, and they have positive impact on social, physical, and mental wellbeing of urban residents
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