Unequal accessibility to green spaces in Brussels

 By Benjamin Malesevic and Skander Alexander Mraida, 1^st of May 2023

Over the last decades, cities have grown tremendously. They are becoming more densely populated and many people are starting to lose connection with nature. Therefore, the provision of green spaces in cities is greatly valued by urban residents. Access to ecosystem services provide many benefits such as improving physical and mental health and providing recreational opportunities. Moreover, due to climate change and the increasing urban heat island effect, people living in cities desire frequent and easy access to urban green spaces. According to Brussels Environnement, about 50% of the Brussels Capital Region is covered by green space and about 30% of green spaces are considered to be private gardens. Nevertheless, are all residents able to use green spaces and benefit from the services they have to offer?

Several studies have shown that development of urban green spaces in low-income neighbourhoods are less pronounced. Looking at the maps below, it confirms that the city centre of Brussels and the Northwest of the city have a poor degree of vegetation. Municipalities like Anderlecht, Molenbeek and Sint-Joost-Ten-Node are seen as low-income neighbourhoods and are often referred to as the “poor croissant of Brussels”. Residents of these neighbourhoods have to travel substantially further to enjoy large urban green spaces compared to the more affluent neighbourhoods in the South of the city. This shows that there was little attention paid to the implementation of green spaces in these neighbourhoods during the development process of the city. Historically, accessibility to urban green spaces in the past was only reserved to the wealthy elite like the bourgeoisie and these previous urban developments are still seen today. Former industrialised areas such as the canal zone and the densely built-up city centre have much less space to implement parks and other urban green spaces. Even if there are green spaces available, you can clearly see that they are characterised by lower quality and people enjoy using these spaces less compared to the large parks located in the South of the city such as Bois de la Cambre and Parc Cinquantenaire. This makes nearly two third of the population have no access to high quality green spaces (Phillips et al., 2022; Rodriguez-Loureiro et al., 2021; Schindler et al. 2018; Stessens et al., 2017).

Figure 1: Map of vegetation index in % of Brussels in 2020 (left) and map of average income per capita after tax in €, in 2019 (right) (Source: BISA).

But why is equal access to green space important? According to VUB researcher Charlotte Noël, there is a correlation between air pollution in areas which lack urban green spaces. Even when there are green spaces available, not everyone respects them equally.

“There are people that are not respectful towards their environment here. A simple empty beer bottle can create a subjective feeling of insecurity which keeps people from using public spaces, not only but especially for women.” (Charlotte Noël, 2021)

Urban green spaces which are not well maintained will discourage people from visiting the park more frequently and their accessibility to green spaces will become limited. For example, when you see empty beer bottles and other trash left on the ground, it will make people feel uncomfortable and unsafe. This is the case for several parks or smaller urban green spaces located in the city centre while larger urban green spaces in the South of the city are perceived as cleaner and more attractive. Therefore, from these characteristics it also emerges how accessibility is not only derived by one’s positionality but also from other factors, like cleanliness and safety.

Subsequently, the study mentioned that pollution plays an important role in the healthiness of a park. In the maps below, we can see the increasing air pollution in the city centre due to the presence of smaller urban green space. Hereby, residents living in “the poor croissant” of Brussels are especially disadvantaged compared to people living in the South of the city. To eliminate this inequality, it is important that we know who has access to green spaces and who does not, so that we can eliminate this inequality.

Figure 2: Annual mean concentrations of pollutants (µg/m³) (left) and percentage of houses with very low comfort in % (right) (Source: Noël et al., 2021).

“It is important that we know who has access to green and who does not, so that we can eliminate this inequality.” (Amy Phillips VUB, 2019).

However, to eradicate this social inequality and environmental injustice, it is important to identify the perception of urban green spaces and who uses them. According to the Co-Nature project, there is a classification of residents who use urban green spaces. On the one hand, there are social users who visit city parks to socialise, hang out with friends and family, go to events, or bring their children along for some playtime. On the other, there are people who value nature and use urban green spaces to get in touch with it, take advantage of ecosystem services, and seek out peace and quiet in the city. Compared to social users, nature-oriented users are also more likely to travel further to enjoy the necessary connection to nature (CO-NATURE, 2019).

Figure 3: Distance travelled by residents to their selected UGS (Source: CO-NATURE)

Social disparities in access to green spaces present a significant challenge for the Brussels Capital Region. However, the Brussels Government is taking actions to improve the provision of green spaces and its quality without creating disparities of accessibility. The city is planning on creating ecological corridors to connect existing urban green spaces to increase biodiversity. Moreover, they are planning to implement better mobility connections to large urban green spaces so more residents can enjoy the benefits of urban green spaces (Perspective.Brussels, 2022).

This is part of the OPEN Brussels project, which aims to create a vision for enhancing an open space network that is sustainable and regionally coherent with an emphasis on biodiversity, water, coolness, silence, recreation, and active mobility. This concept is based on the widely held belief that open space is a vital part of the city. Furthermore, the Brussels Government believes that an ecological optimisation of the Brussels open space network is the appropriate way to ensure, in particular, further urban densification in a qualitative way. Additionally, it contributes to social cohesion, the quality of life of the Brussels residents, together with resilience, attractiveness and overall value of the city (Perspective.Brussels, 2022).

Figure 4: Visualisation of developing open green space in the Brussels Capital Region (Source: Perspective.Brussels).

To develop these projects successfully, community involvement and participation should be taken into account and bottom-up initiatives need to be supported, guided and directed. To ensure that everyone has equal access to high-quality green spaces, a comprehensive, egalitarian and long-term strategy to resource allocation and community engagement is necessary. By doing this, we can make the urban environment more sustainably just and healthy for everyone who lives in the Brussels Capital Region.

References

Bruzz. (2019, September 26). VUB-onderzoek toont aan: Brussel is groen, maar niet voor iedereen. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://www.bruzz.be/samenleving/vub-onderzoek-toont-aan-brussel-groen-maar-niet-voor-iedereen-2019-09-26

CO-NATURE. (2019). Green space access and satisfaction in the Brussels Capital Region. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://www.co-nature.org/accessibility-to-ugs

Da Schio, N., Boussauw, K., & Sansen, J. (2019). Accessibility versus air pollution: A geography of externalities in the Brussels agglomeration. Cities, 84, 178-189.

Noël, C., Landschoot, L. V., Vanroelen, C., & Gadeyne, S. (2021). Social barriers for the use of available and accessible public green spaces. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 102.

Perspective.Brussels. (2022, February). Openruimtenetwerk in en rond Brussel. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://perspective.brussels/sites/default/files/open_20220203_brochure_nl.pdf

Phillips, A., Canters, F., & Khan, A. Z. (2022). Analyzing spatial inequalities in use and experience of urban green spaces. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 74, 127674.

Rodriguez-Loureiro, L., Casas, L., Bauwelinck, M., Lefebvre, W., Vanpoucke, C., Vanroelen, C., & Gadeyne, S. (2021). Social inequalities in the associations between urban green spaces, self-perceived health and mortality in Brussels: Results from a census-based cohort study. Health & Place, 70, 102603.

Schindler, M., Le Texier, M., & Caruso, G. (2018). Spatial sorting, attitudes and the use of green space in Brussels. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening,31, 169-184.

Stessens, P., Khan, A. Z., Huysmans, M., & Canters, F. (2017). Analysing urban green space accessibility and quality: A GIS-based model as spatial decision support for urban ecosystem services in Brussels. Ecosystem services, 28, 328-340.

The Brussels Times. (2021, November 19). No fresh air: Brussels parks not as green as they seem. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://www.brusselstimes.com/192761/no-fresh-air-brussels-parks-not-as-green-as-they-seem