Centring justice in conceptualizing and improving access to urban nature

[摘要] 1. As humanity has become increasingly urban, a growing number of people havebeen deprived of access to nature and the benefits it provides. This is especiallytrue for marginalized groups, who often live in neighbourhoods where nature hasbeen so diminished and degraded that it provides fewer types, and much lowerlevels of benefits.2. We review the literatures on human–nature relationships, urban sustainabilityand justice to create an actionable definition of ‘access to nature’ that people canuse to advocate for and guide investments that improve access to nature in urbancontexts.3. We show how the interplay of three dimensions of justice—recognitional, procedural and distributional—determines access to nature in cities, and how thesedimensions are core to increasing access to urban nature.4. We present a design thinking framework that centres justice in creating interventions for access to nature, together with questions that can guide the process ofdesigning and implementing new interventions.5. Lastly, we illustrate how our framework can be operationalized by showcasingthree case studies that improve access to nature to marginalized communitiesin the United States: Latino Outdoors, Sogorea Te′ Land Trust and the NatureImagery in Prisons Project.6. We conclude by re-affirming the importance of centring justice in improving access to nature, so that all people can enjoy the benefits that nature provides andlead healthy, fulfilling lives.

[学科分类] 护理学

[关键词] access to nature;design thinking;extinction of experience;human–nature interactions;justice;sustainable cities