Authors: Yun Hye HWANG(NUS), Ivan Kurniawan NASUTION(NUS), Deepika AMONKAR (NUS) and Amy HAHS(University of Melbourne)
Research period: 2017-2019
Research site: Mumbai and Jakarta
Many studies on disparities in the distribution of urban green spaces (UGS) often focus on the quantity and accessibility of designated open spaces. Yet, when all types of UGS including unmanaged and informal green areas are accounted for, claims of green space distributive injustice becomes more complicated. To date, there has been little research to characterize inequality in UGS distribution in rapidly developing Asian megacities, particularly research that incorporates many different types of UGS. Using the case studies of Mumbai and Jakarta where wealth inequality has grown, this paper questions the common assumption that the poor have less access to the benefits of green space through analyses of green space distribution patterns of the two cities. Spatial regression was employed to examine the association between UGS provision and social inequity among different land value districts, using four sets of geospatial data: area and types of UGS, vegetation density and patch sizes, and the level of deprivation of districts based on property value information. We found that the total vegetated cover declines in the higher land value districts while the marginalized districts have over 50% vegetation cover. The more disadvantaged districts tend to have higher vegetation density with a large quantity of unmanaged greenery and the relationship between the status of urban development and the land values in a district is not necessarily reflective of the UGS distribution. The study concludes by discussing ways to optimize the usage of unmanaged urban greenery as a socio-ecological asset for the poorer districts, and the practical consequences of incorporating these findings into policy and planning towards ecologically inclusive cities.
Keywords: Green space distribution, Social inequity, Unmanaged greenery, Asian developing megacities, environmental justice
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