Abstract
The multiple benefits of urban green infrastructure (UGI) that support sustainable cities are increasingly acknowledged, and yet the bulk of research over the past decade or so has focused on only a small subset of the numerous benefits, notably recreation, physical and mental health, and regulating services. In contrast, there is very little information on the contribution of UGI to several of the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular SDG 1 of reducing poverty, despite the pervasiveness of poverty globally. This paper considers the diverse direct and indirect ways in which UGI can contribute to poverty alleviation, drawing on the limited evidence from various regions of the world. The direct links between UGI and poverty alleviation is via three means, namely provision of (1) consumptive or provisioning goods such as wild foods and firewood, (2) employment in UGI development, maintenance, and restoration, and (3) land for urban agriculture, income generation and dwelling. There are also a number of indirect links such as cash savings, improved physical and mental health, improved social networks, improved educational outcomes, and regulation of potential natural disasters. However, the commonly unequal distribution of UGI within and between cities means that the poverty alleviation potential and benefits are inequitably distributed, often against those who are most in need of them, i.e., the urban poor. This demands greater attention to promoting the equitable distribution and quality of UGI and mainstreaming of UGI into poverty reduction strategies and programmes and vice versa, as well as greater examination of the links between UGI and poverty alleviation in a greater range of contexts.
Highlights
Sustainable development has been a globally accepted goal by international, national, and subnational agencies for over two decades
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) span all areas of sustainable development, ranging from poverty and inequality to food, health, justice, and climate change (United Nations, 2015)
There is clearly a need for a significantly greater global coverage. Whilst these sources were informative in shaping concepts of the links between urban green infrastructure (UGI) and poverty alleviation, the final number was too small to undertake any systematic review of the themes, trends and conclusions
Summary
Sustainable development has been a globally accepted goal by international, national, and subnational agencies for over two decades. The first target under SDG 1 is to eradicate extreme poverty (my emphasis), which was defined in income terms of living on less than US$1.25 per day in 2015 (United Nations, 2015) (currently US$1.90) In this target there is no consideration of other forms of poverty relating to basic needs such as food poverty, energy poverty, the lack of dignity or voice, and so on. The second target to “half the number of people living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions” (my emphasis), acknowledges the complexity but leaves it up to national governments to define poverty and how to measure and monitor it Most often this is done in cash income terms (Barrett, 2005), thereby elevating economics above other facets of sustainable development. The objectives of this paper are to (i) assess the state of knowledge on the links between UGI and poverty alleviation, (ii) consider the conceptual links between UGI and urban poverty alleviation, and (iii) prompt future research into this relationship
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