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Under pressure: Factors shaping urban greenspace provision in a mid-sized city
- Source :
- Cities (London, England)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier Ltd., 2020.
-
Abstract
- Urban greenspaces provide diverse ecosystem functions, services and benefits to residents. Much commentary has been offered to date about citizens' demands for more urban greenspace. Less attention, however, has been given to the ‘supply side’ pressures experienced by local government in delivering urban greenspace, particularly in mid-sized cities. Greater attention to factors shaping supply is warranted, especially in the context of rapid population growth. By understanding how existing greenspace provision approaches can stymie the efforts of local government to meet citizens' needs, new approaches can be identified. This paper assesses several factors shaping urban greenspace provision in Surrey - a city within the Greater Vancouver area. Insights are derived from in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, public documents, and census and municipal data about parks and their context as a specific type of greenspace. Our findings suggest that governance tools, economy and property markets, and financial and natural resources manifest as core factors influencing urban greenspace provision in Surrey. A reliance on governance tools premised upon standards has created park provision paradoxes. Treating greenspace provision as a largely technocratic exercise may be limiting Surrey's ability to respond to changing politics, economics and population trends. We point to alternative approaches.<br />Highlights • Providing urban greenspace is more than supplying land and revenue for facility development. • The clamour for more greenspace could be setting local governments up for some serious future policy deficiencies. • The tensions around land shortages, fiscal constraints and community expectations are driving the need for leadership.
- Subjects :
- Sociology and Political Science
Municipal governance
Population
0211 other engineering and technologies
0507 social and economic geography
Property development
Context (language use)
02 engineering and technology
Development
Article
Planning practice
Human geography
Population growth
education
Environmental planning
education.field_of_study
Corporate governance
05 social sciences
021107 urban & regional planning
Technocracy
Qualitative methods
Natural resource
Urban Studies
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
Local government
Urban greenspace
Business
050703 geography
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02642751
- Volume :
- 106
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Cities (London, England)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....02876b4592a31353c98843a32f2cdad9