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Challenges to Governing Urban Green Infrastructure in Europe – The Case of the European Green Capital Award
... Under the banner of a SF, greening as a process of integrating nature into its antagonistic human-made city is often presented as inherently good and apolitical, legitimizing decision-making without public debate. Green may help enhance interurban competition (Walker, 2016), including award-seeking best-case practices (Gulsrud et al., 2017;McCann, 2013), public-private partnerships (Bulkeley & Castan Broto, 2012;Viitanen & Kingston, 2014;), or real-estate developments (Garcia-Lamarca et al., 2022). Yet, as greening becomes integrated into urban neoliberal agendas underpinned by economic growth, it risks undermining the social dimensions of sustainability from the point of view of equity and inclusivity (Affolderbach & Schulz, 2017;Agyeman, 2013;Kotsila et al., 2021;Steele et al., 2020). ...
... This process, described as ´policy mobilities´, has been critically examined as the travelling of specific policies contains a power-loaden process wherein dominant ideologies determine the new "universal" framing of imported policies (Kennedy, 2016;McCann, 2011;McCann, 2013). What counts as desirable outcome of greening practices is thereby not decided by local communities, but tends to follow criteria set by high-level networks, semi-public agencies, and urban elites (Affolderbach et al., 2019;Gulsrud et al., 2017). It is thus driven by international awards and rankings such as the Covenant of Mayors, the European Green Capital Award, or The Economist's selection of the "Most Livable City" (Affolderbach & Schulz, 2016). ...
... Later, the increasingly global and local interwovenness of environmental policymaking, pushed through events such as the Earth Summit 1992, the real estate bubble in the early 2000s, and the 2012 European Green Capital Award, brought global discourses, networks, and financial pressures at the center of greening practice in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This also shifted power in decision-making, as high-level networks, semi-public or private agencies, and urban elites became increasingly influential (Grossmann et al., 2021;Gulsrud et al., 2017). ...
With increasing attention on green(ing) cities, urban nature is used to increase liveability, to create new sectors such as tourism, and to boost international investment. What counts as desirable green intervention generally follows internationally accepted practices as cities aim for international recognition. Here, we examine the historic production of a green identity and the ways in which urban leaders have navigated local politics to enact greening. We focus on the mid-sized city Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain), the 2012 European Green Capital. Based on a critical discourse analysis of archival data and in-depth interviews, we explore the production of a green city-identity over a period of forty years and determine four key processes: (i) early good leadership with a social city being core objective of urban planning, (ii) the need for building shared goals in a context of a violent political conflict in the Basque Country, (iii) policy mobilities and thriving for becoming a green pioneer internationally, and (iv) de-politization of green and sustainability discourses. We argue that the initially perceived social green amenity - an outcome of early progressive urban democratic experimentation - that served as a unifying project across polarized political fractions turned into an economic cultural asset for economic growth, shifting from a political to a sustainability fix.
... More specifically, the EGCA is an annual award launched in 2008 for those cities of the EU, EU candidates and European Market members that show to have particularly good environmental, economic and social standards coupled with an ambitious strategy for future developments (Berrini & Bono, 2011;Gulsrud et al., 2017;European Commission, n.d.). It was first proposed to the Commission in 2006 by a group of fifteen city administrations lead by Tallinn, which called on the EU to create an official acknowledgement for the ambitious efforts of cities in sustainability policy (Berrini & Bono, 2011). ...
... The first award was assigned in 2010, and since then the structure of the EGCA has been reformed multiple times by adding or merging criteria (Gulsrud et al., 2017), before it holds the title of green capital, so that its administration can prepare for the next phase, the Green Capital Year, i.e. a series of events related to sustainability that the city is expected to host for one year while it holds the title (European Commission, n.d.). ...
... Even though the Commission's narrative stresses the importance of all the phases of the award, the academic literature on the EGCA has mostly focused on assessing its evaluation criteria (Meijering et al., 2014;Gulsrud et al., 2017), evaluating its past judgements (Ratas & Mäeltsemees, 2013;Ruiz del Portal, 2016) and analysing the narratives of winners (Gulsrud et al., 2017). The award is mostly depicted as the official city ranking of the European Commission concerning sustainability (Ratas & Mäeltsemees, 2013;Meijering et al., 2014;Rosol et al., 2017), and little attention is given to the phases coming after the contest, i.e. the ...
As the hosts of the majority of the population, economic activities and research facilities, cities are emerging as key actors in sustainable development, and globalisation has offered them several opportunities to compete and cooperate in that sense. In Europe, the European
Commission has proved quite interested in involving cities in its sustainability policy, but it has been able to do so only through non-binding “soft” policy tools, which have proved to be quite effective in other sectors before. The European Green Capital Award is one of the
newest soft tools, combining multiple phases centred on ranking, a big annual event and networking. The literature has mostly focused on the impact of the first phase, regarding the award as a form of ranking that influences urban sustainability policy by setting compulsory
standards for applicants. No attention has been paid on the influence of the other two, although they could be expected to matter as well.
In the wake of the European Green Deal, this research explores through interviews with municipal officials who worked on the EGCA
how this award is perceived and what aspects of it matter the most for practitioners.
What emerges is that, in the experience of practitioners, the EGCA is a tool that can benefit in
several ways throughout its phases. While all applicants undergo the ranking phase, the influence of holding an event and networking appear to be even greater in those who experienced them. Thus, future studies should focus on all the dimensions of the EGCA rather than a single one in order to understand if and how it may influence urban
sustainability policy in the context of the Green Deal.
... Considering Lisbon's election as European Green Capital 2020, the TMJC project emerged at a time when the city is particularly concerned with publicly promoting its commitment to urban greening. While agenda-setting and policy-steering for this award occurs at EU level (Gulsrud et al. 2017), localbased action is required to translate these policy discourses into concrete outcomes. This way, the local grassroots initiative in Marvila was able to advance its claims for more green space by "riding the wave" of the European Green Capital 2020. ...
... As argued by Sareen and Grandin (2019), the ECGA is constructed around a discourse that fails to incorporate environmental justice concerns (see also Bradley, Hult, and Cars 2013). This absence is significant considering its role as a tool for agenda-setting, by promoting a number of priorities and goals towards which European cities ought to work (Gulsrud et al. 2017). As long as environmental justice is left out of this agenda, there is no encouragement for cities to effectively address, measure and bring to light the possible justice implications of their sustainability strategies. ...
... Moreover, procedural justice concerns should be further acknowledged, not only on a local level but particularly at a global scale. Incentives such as the ECGA provide a solid starting point for refocusing dominant approaches to urban greening, currently centred on "green growth" and "innovation" (Gulsrud et al. 2017), towards procedural justice, giving it the attention it requires. Research can contribute by questioning and examining aspects related to procedural justice, which have too often been sidelined in comparison to distributional justice (Walker 2009). ...
As urban greening has become a prevalent tool in the context of global climate governance, this paper examines Lisbon’s greening strategies in the context of its election as European Green Capital 2020. While applying an analytical framework based on environmental justice, we perform a cross-analysis of the city-wide greening strategies, together with a peculiar and unusual planning process for a new green space in the neighbourhood of Marvila. Based on qualitative research carried out in-situ, we argue that Lisbon’s greening strategies are based on a discourse of ecological benefits, without aiming to ensure access to green space for different population groups. Procedural justice concerns are widely undervalued, resulting in limited space available for community involvement. We show how urban greening is essentially a multiscalar exercise, impacted by and affecting multiple scales simultaneously. Hence procedural justice deserves a much more prominent role in urban greening, as participation and recognition can give local communities the opportunity to adapt global urban agendas toward their particular needs and desires. Our findings lead us to conclude that environmental justice is ultimately an exercise of multiscalar governance, where local decision-making needs to attend to contextual challenges but also to a long-term sustainability vision at a larger scale.
... Indeed, some European cities, like Copenhagen, Freiburg or Stockholm, explicitly promote themselves as 'green cities' (Anderberg and Clarke, 2013). In Sweden, the mid-sized town of Vaxjö even boasts that it is 'the greenest city in Europe' (Andersson, 2016). 1 If the environmental image of a city is negative, local governments strive to change it by developing urban renewal projects, investing in collective transport facilities, orchestrating tree-planting campaigns and so on (Beatley, 2012;Gulsrud et al., 2017). ...
... The aim of this paper is to reflect on what is really 'green' in place branding. There can be considerable ambiguity within 'green' discourses and this can affect urban policies (Gulsrud et al., 2017). ...
... Indeed, local governments' capacity to act may vary according to national institutional frameworks, which can facilitate, steer or hinder the ability to effectively address urban and environmental challenges that are felt locally (Demazière, 2018). In the European context, a large literature has stressed the tendency of national governments and the European Union to urge local governments to improve their urban environments, and address negative externalities (Gulsrud et al., 2017), whilst also steering economic growth and wealth creation (Gibbs and Jonas, 2000;While et al., 2004). ...
... Assessment of the current state of a city's urban forest according to the 3-30-300 rule, parallel to other possible targets and indicators, can also help with benchmarking with other cities nationally and internationally. Recent years have seen the emergence of various international green city benchmarking schemes including, for example, the European Green City Award (Gulsrud et al. 2017) and the Tree City of the World program (FAO and Arbor Day Foundation 2021). Some of the tools already exist for assessing and monitoring a city's urban forest program according to the 3-30-300 rule, but further development and testing of methods will be needed. ...
The important contributions of urban trees and green spaces to for example, climate moderation and public health are widely recognized. This paper discusses guidelines and norms that promote the benefits of viewing green, living amongst green, and having easy access to green spaces for recreational use. Having trees and other vegetation in sight from one’s home, place of work, or school has important mental health and performance benefits. Local tree canopy cover is positively associated with cooling and other aspects of climate moderation. The availability of public green spaces in proximity to one’s home stimulates regular use of these areas and results in positive impacts on mental, physical, and social health. After analyzing existing guidelines and rules for urban green space planning and provision, a new, comprehensive guideline is presented, known as the ‘3–30–300 rule’ for urban forestry. This guideline aims to provide equitable access to trees and green spaces and their benefits by setting the thresholds of having at least 3 well-established trees in view from every home, school, and place of work; no less than a 30% tree canopy in every neighbourhood; and no more than 300 m to the nearest public green space from every residence. Current implementation of this new evidence-based guideline is discussed, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using it.
... The European Strategy on Green Infrastructure advocates for the full integration of blue and green infrastructure into EU policies and requires their implementation in master plans as binding planning documents that ensure the preservation of existing and enhancement of degraded landscape networks. The comparison of development strategies of European Green Capitals (Section 3.1) highlights the watercourse network as the key element in planning and establishing urban blue and green infrastructure on both the strategic level of city strategies and master plans and the implementation level of urban plans and design [101]. ...
Urban streams constitute a valuable form of multi-functional blue and green infrastructure (BGI) and can support urban development to generate ecosystem, social, and economic benefits. In global cities, planning for BGI enhancement contributes to climate change adaptation, ecosystem restoration, community health and wellbeing, improved quality of life, etc. This research aims to assess the dynamics of stream landscape change in Zagreb as well as the influence of urban development on the blue and green landscape and related urban values. The analysis of landscape features and their planning is conducted at the level of the stream system of the whole city of Zagreb and at the level of two stream sequences by superimposing spatial data from cartographic sources. By developing an urban planning-social-ecological approach to evaluation, monitoring, and management, a quantitative and qualitative trend in stream landscape changes is identified and indicators for detecting areas of critical urbanization pressure are established. This research confirms the trend of negative changes in the urban BGI, evident in the present state (interruption of open streams, and the reduction, fragmentation, and disconnection of blue and green landscape), as well as in the planned neglect (plans for further stream closures and reduction in public green areas). Stream landscape potential is emphasized as one of the greatest urban assets for improving the system of BGI, and areas needed for their prioritization in urban planning measures, directed towards an increase in multiple landscape values, are determined.
In the last decade, the urban management of the Egyptian capital adopted a comprehensive vision for its urban development sectors. Sustainability indicator results issued by a number of international institutions showed that the Egyptian capital’s ranking dropped after applying this vision. This proves that the capital has deviated from the path for which the vision was created. This research aims to build a general framework that supports achieving urban sustainability in the Egyptian capital, periodically assessing its urban policy, and assisting urban decision makers in correcting the course of their policies if necessary. This framework can be built by reviewing the legacy of urban development policies of the Egyptian capital and determine the urban issues the capital is still facing. This framework is also built by studying international practices of cities whose development plans were likewise based on setting a framework that enabled them to assess the success rate of the urban strategies adopted in achieving urban sustainability. From this, we can form the elements of a general framework for achieving urban sustainability of the Egyptian capital. This research identifies these elements as a group of issues, indicators, criteria, principles, and pillars. These elements observe the local context of the Egyptian capital. The selected issues are fitting to the Egyptian capital and its observance of its international responsibilities. These issues are determined by identifying a group of indicators and principles adopted by international institutions and authorities in assessing cities’ progress towards achieving urban sustainability. The results of this research demonstrate how cities work on building their developmental plans, with an approach based on the exchange of knowledge pertaining to the results of different practices, as well as the principles and indicators endorsed by international institutions and authorities, ensures the achievement of urban sustainability.
Natural habitats are being altered and destroyed worldwide due to urbanization, leading to a decrease in species abundance and richness. Nevertheless, some species, including tawny owls, have successfully colonized this novel habitat. Consequences at the population level have not been described; thus, our main objective was to describe the effects that urban structure have on the tawny owl population at local and landscape levels. Data were obtained from 527 survey points over 7 months in a large-scale owl survey in the Basque Country (northern Spain) in 2018. At the local scale, the interaction between forest and urban cover affected tawny owl abundance, the optimum being in medium forested areas. The interaction between urban cover and clumpiness index (urban patch distribution) showed a generally negative effect. At the landscape scale, its abundance decreased in complex-shaped urban patches and when distance between them was greater. In conclusion, at the local scale, when a minimal forest structure is present in urbanized areas, the species can exploit it. At the landscape scale, it prefers smaller urban towns to cities. Thinking ahead, the current tendency toward “green capitals” should benefit tawny owl populations.
There is rising scholarly and political interest in participatory budgets and their potential to advance urban sustainability. This article aims to contribute to this field of study through the specific lens of the city of Lisbon’s experience as an internationally acknowledged leader in participatory budgeting. To this end, the article critically examines the lessons and potential contribution of the Lisbon Participatory Budget through a multimethod approach. Emerging trends and variations of citizen proposals, projects, votes, and public funding are analysed in tandem with emerging key topics that show links and trade-offs between locally embedded participation and the international discourse on urban sustainability. Our analysis reveals three interconnected findings: first, the achievements of the Lisbon Participatory Budget show the potential to counteract the dominant engineered approach to urban sustainability; second, trends and variations of the achievements depend on both citizens’ voice and the significant influence of the city council through policymaking; and, third, the shift towards a thematic Green Participatory Budget in 2020 was not driven by consolidated social and political awareness on the achievements, suggesting that more could be achieved through the 2021 urban sustainability oriented Participatory Budget. We conclude recommending that this kind of analysis should be systematically carried out and disseminated within city council departments, promoting much needed internal awareness of PBs’ potential as drivers of urban sustainability. We also identify further research needed into the sustainability potential of green PBs.
Methods for the environmental assessment and certification of ‘green’ buildings are increasingly being adopted by local governments and other entities as a means of meeting environmental, and often energy-related, goals. Literature on building environmental assessment has examined how these tools are interpreted by stakeholders in design and construction, but less attention has been paid to their interpretation and usage as objects of policy – despite this being a channel through which they have a potentially huge impact. Based on a case study of the emergence of green building in Israel, and drawing on socio-technical literatures, this paper explores the meanings attributed to building environmental assessment in the policy context. It finds that these meanings include a platform for divergent environmental goals and a proxy measure for greenhouse gas abatement. The analysis suggests that for policy-makers, the significance of green building lies not in its constituting a set of environmental benchmarks but as a standard that gains currency as a black-boxed policy object. An open discussion is needed on the various logics driving the use of green building tools in public policy, and what they hope to achieve.
The concept of green infrastructure and its integration into policies using monitoring systems
Governance has become one of the most commonly used concepts in contemporary political science. It is, however, often used to mean a variety of different things. This book helps to clarify this conceptual muddle by concentrating on one variety of governance - interactive governance. We argue that although the State may remain important for many aspects of governing, interactions between State and society represent an important, and perhaps increasingly important, dimension of governance. These interactions may be with social actors such as networks, with market actors, or with other governments, but all these forms represent means of governing involving mixtures of State action with the actions of other entities. This book explores thoroughly this meaning of governance, and links it to broader questions of governance. In the process of explicating this dimension of governance, we also explore some of the more fundamental question about governance theory. For example, although we talk about governance a great deal political science has done relatively little about how to measure this concept. Likewise, the term multilevel governance has become widely used but we also need to understand that idea more fully and how it functions in the context of interactive forms of governance. We also link governance to some very fundamental questions in political science and the social sciences more broadly. How is power exercised in interactive governance? How democratic is interactive governance, and is democratic governance always advanced through transparency? © Jacob Torfing, B. Guy Peters, Jon Pierre, and Eva Sørensen, 2012. All rights reserved.
'Theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich, this book provides an overview of the introduction, development, and use of new policy instruments and new modes of environmental governance in the European context, taking into account both national and European Union experiences. This is a welcome addition to the field!' - Miranda Schreurs, Environmental Policy Research Centre and Free University of Berlin, Germany.