Urban green spaces, often hailed as sanctuaries of wellbeing and ecological balance, paradoxically function as both inclusive commons and mechanisms of socio-spatial exclusion, a tension that becomes evident when examining their historical and contemporary roles in urban transformation. From their origins in the nineteenth-century industrial city—conceived as instruments of hygienic reform and social order—to their present incarnation as tools of sustainable redevelopment, parks have consistently served to negotiate, mitigate, and reproduce urban inequalities. Case studies such as Central Park in New York exemplify how park creation involved the erasure of marginalized communities, revealing a foundational contradiction in the rhetoric of urban greening. Contemporary discourses framed through environmental justice and urban political ecology emphasize how green spaces, while promoting ecosystem services and health benefits, are unevenly distributed and increasingly tied to processes of green gentrification, whereby ecological improvements often catalyze property value increases and displacement of vulnerable populations. In cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, spatial analyses and ethnographic research reveal the systemic ways in which race, class, and institutional legacies shape access to green amenities. Moreover, emerging frameworks such as resilience and just sustainabilities propose more nuanced understandings of community agency and resistance, suggesting that greening processes need not be synonymous with exclusion. However, as cities confront climate challenges and intensify land-use pressures, the dual function of parks—as both ecological infrastructure and contested socio-political territory—demands renewed scrutiny. Ultimately, the promise of equitable green futures depends not solely on the provision of green space but on a critical reckoning with the power relations and urban imaginaries that shape their design, access, and meaning in diverse urban contexts.
Barchetta, L. (2020). Renaturing cities: green space for all or elitist landscape? A review of the literature. Gran Sasso Science Institute.
