Parks vs people: barriers to greening efforts in Tshwane

Urban green spaces have recently been getting more research attention because of the various benefits they offer, say researchers Titilope Funmbi Onaolapo and Christina Breed from the University of Pretoria, and Kristine Engemann Jensen and Maya Pasgaard from Aarhus University in Denmark.

Gardens, parks, reserves and trees have been linked to cultural, spiritual and alternative medical solutions. Natural or seminatural land areas can also deliver ecosystem services such as food supply, storm-water management and climate control. Cities can plan and manage these for maximum benefit.

Our research team works on the Integrative Green Infrastructure Planning project, a collaboration between the University of Pretoria in South Africa and Aarhus University in Denmark. We reviewed policy documents relating to green infrastructure in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (Pretoria and surrounds) to look for ways to plan, manage and maintain these green-space resources. We also interviewed city officials and held workshops with officials and consultants.

We discovered that Tshwane needs guidelines based on green infrastructure principles. An increase in the awareness of green infrastructure among city officials and residents will increase the many benefits that green spaces can deliver.

RAPID DEVELOPMENT

Tshwane is an area rich in biodiversity. It is also one of the world’s largest metropolitan municipalities by area, and is growing at 3,1% a year. Despite the change of government to democratic rule in 1994, the impact of the apartheid era still shows in the city’s neighbourhoods and land development. People are still separated spatially, and some areas have more services, facilities and access to planned green infrastructure than others.

CITIES NEED TO BALANCE RESIDENTS’ DAILY NEEDS WITH THE CONSERVATION OF GREEN SPACES FOR BIODIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH