COVID-19 pandemic has showed the world more than ever the relevance of green and public spaces for the fulfilment of human rights in urban settings. The role they will play in post-pandemic socio-environmental recovery will be central, particularly in highly densified cities of the Global South.
Public green space and the COVID-19 pandemic
In many cities around the globe, quarantine measures and restrictions on mobility are making people work from home or home schooling. Physical distance from relatives, friends, neighbours, and colleagues is affecting everyone, despite differences in how this is experienced and/or perceived, as mentioned in previous blogposts here.
It can be argued that those living in cities -and more so those megacities in the Global South where social and spatial inequalities are higher- are experiencing the negative physical, emotional and psychological effects of the pandemic more than those living in rural settings. Those living in small urban agglomerations with good access to green or open space have better chances to pass through quarantine, enjoy open air activities with physical distance and interaction with others.
In July the UN General Secretary published a policy brief recognising that “with an estimated 90 percent of all reported COVID-19 cases, urban areas have become the epicentre of the pandemic” (UN 2020a:2) and the urgency to rethink and transform cities to give responses not only to this new corona virus but to potential new ones. The recovery should be green, it is stated.
COVID-19 has demonstrated that green, open, public spaces have a key role to play. In Sweden for instance, where there has not been strict quarantine measures but a call for physical distancing, public life in parks, playgrounds, outdoor serving areas (e.g. in restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc.) have been crucial for social, cultural and economic life in urban areas.
In megacities with little green space per capita, such as my home town of Buenos Aires, quarantine measures, and restrictions on mobility, have made interaction with other city dwellers and outdoor life difficult to enjoy. As a result, some are further marginalised from public life and their right to the city.
Last month, the United Nations acknowledged in its Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 (UN, 2020b) that national and local governments have implemented policies and launched investments to –among others –expanded areas of green, public spaces, as a result of the recommendations for a green recovery in the abovementioned policy brief.
The new urban agenda and human rights cities
For the first time in history a global consensus was reached in 2016 on how life in urban settings should be and planned for. The New Urban Agenda “lays out standards and principles for the planning, construction, development, management, and improvement of urban areas” (UN, 2017), integrating the values and principles of 2030 Agenda, especially Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities. Human setting should be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
In 2017, the New Urban Agenda was incorporated by the Human Rights Council in the resolution 35/24 on Human rights in cities and other human settlements, urging member States –among other issues – to work towards promoting safe, inclusive, accessible, green and quality public spaces. Not any kind of public space, but a public space that would function for multiple purposes: economic, social, cultural, political and ecological, and could be accessed and used by everyone. Such green urban spaces should promote “social interaction and inclusion, human health and well-being, and also promote economic exchange and cultural expression” among diverse kind of peoples and cultures (OHCHR, 2017). In addition, it also calls States to promote ecosystem-based solutions to face some of the problems that arise when people live together in agglomerations.
The Regional Action Plan for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean establishes the need to “[d]esign and enact effective national and local laws to establish and protect public space (including green spaces and parks, roads, streets and intersections, transport corridors)” (ECLAC, 2018) by for example legally defining a minimum of public space per capita in the city.
What are the connections then between green public spaces and human rights? (*)
The access and usufruct of such urban spaces are a condition to enjoy human rights and a right in itself. From a social and political point of view, some of their main functions are to support social life in public, the development of community, civic engagement and positive social capital. In Latin American cities for instance, people gather to protest, manifest against or support state authorities.
Green public spaces can also be used by different groups of people for economic purposes and cultural recreation, to set up markets, fairs, and artistic shows in stalls, stages and arenas.
From an ecological point of view, the main function of green spaces in different scales is to regulate temperature (which saves energy), air quality (reduce pollution by sequestrating carbon and producing oxygen), the hydrological cycle (decrease floods by supporting water infiltration), to support biodiversity, to reduce noise and to increase individual wellbeing.
In the COVID19 pandemic and its recovery, there is then a central role of green urban space to play. More than ever States in all their levels (from local to national) should promote human rights cities and settlements.
References
ECLAC (2018) Regional Action Plan for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016-2036. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Forum of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Housing and Urban Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI). Available online here.
Livesley, S.J.; McPherson, E.G. & Calfapietra, C. (2016) “The Urban Forest and Ecosystem Services: Impacts on Urban Water, Heat, and Pollution Cycles at the Tree, Street, and City Scale”, in J. Environ. Qual. 45:119–124, doi:10.2134/jeq2015.11.0567
OHCHR (2017) “Human rights in cities and other human settlements”, Resolution 35/24 adopted by the Human Rights Council. Available online here.
Stokols, A. (2016) “Buenos Aires: City of Plazas”, blog post Urban Design Studio Pre-Studio Research. Available online here.
UN (2017) The New Urban Agenda. United Nations Habitat III, Quito. Available online here.
UN (2020a) Policy Brief on COVID-19 in an Urban World. United Nations Secretary-General Policy brief. Available online here.
UN (2020b) United Nations Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 Saving Lives, Protecting Societies, Recovering Better. Available online here.
WHO (2017) Urban Green Space Interventions and Health, A review of impacts and effectiveness. World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen. Available online here.
(*) In September 5th 2019, we discussed the relevance of green public spaces in cities for more inclusive and resilient societies in a ‘mini-conference’ organised by the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC) at Lund University and the RWI. The mini-conference Urban public space, from ancient Rome to tomorrow. Different perspectives on the role of public space for inclusive societies took place at the Pufendorf Institute of Advanced Studies at Lund University. In a short presentation, I gave an overview of the different possible conceptual and empirical linkages between access to green spaces and participation in public life and the promotion and fulfilment of human rights. You can access the video recorded presentation here.