Urban green boosterism and city affordability : for whom is the 'branded' green city?
García-Lamarca, Melissa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Anguelovski, Isabelle (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Cole, Helen (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Connolly, James J. T. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Argüelles, Lucía (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Baró Porras, Francesc (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Loveless, Stephanie (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Pérez-del-Pulgar, Carmen (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Shokry, Galia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2019
Abstract:	Increasingly, greening in cities across the Global North is enmeshed in strategies for attracting capital investment, raising the question: for whom is the future green city? Through exploring the relationship between cities' green boosterist rhetoric, affordability and social equity considerations within greening programmes, this paper examines the extent to which, and why, the degree of green branding - that is, urban green boosterism - predicts the variation in city affordability. We present the results of a mixed methods, macroscale analysis of the greening trajectories of 99 cities in Western Europe, the USA and Canada. Our regression analysis of green rhetoric shows a trend toward higher cost of living among cities with the longest duration and highest intensity green rhetoric. We then use qualitative findings from Nantes, France, and Austin, USA, as two cases to unpack why green boosterism correlates with lower affordability. Key factors determining the relation between urban greening and affordability include the extent of active municipal intervention, redistributional considerations and the historic importance of inclusion and equity in urban development. We conclude by considering what our results mean for the urban greening agenda in the context of an ongoing green growth imperative going forward.
Grants:	European Commission 678034 European Commission 730243
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Green growth ; Green urban boosterism ; Urban affordability
Published in:	Urban Studies, (December 2019) , ISSN 1360-063X

DOI: 10.1177/0042098019885330

Postprint 38 p, 1.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) > The Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles