Snapshot: Strengthening Climate Resiliency in Public Spaces
For lots of people, the terms “climate crisis”, or “global warming” will bring up images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels. But this is only part of the picture. Consider, for example, the unacceptable number of Indigenous communities who are unable to use with the water around them due to pollution, or the devastating impacts of flooding that hits poor neighbourhoods the hardest each and every hurricane season. The concept of environmental justice connects the dots between the physical symptoms of a warming planet (like the melting ice caps) and systems of disadvantage (like a lack of access to clean water) so we are able to understand that not all communities feel the impact of the climate crisis equally.
The climate crisis makes the future of living in urban settings uncertain. Intense natural disasters can put lives at risk in coastal cities, but so can air pollution that makes it harder for people to breathe. Earlier this year, we were also forced to face the fact that our actions impact the number of non-human living things we share the planet with. In trying to understand the impacts to our health and safety the climate crisis poses, Matthew Hickey reminds us of how our other connections to nature mean “humans are only one part of this enormous system”.
If we start with a new understanding of what the climate crisis looks like in our cities, we can also begin to use its resources, like public spaces, differently to begin to address it. Communities most affected by this crisis have been doing just that. Initiatives and policies at various levels have already begun re-working how we use our public spaces with sustainability and justice in mind.
This week’s Snapshot will highlight 3 ways people are creatively using public spaces to address the climate crisis:
1. Growing food in public space: Bringing food production closer means lowering the environmental and economic costs of transportation. More importantly, it lets people take control of the food systems they depend on – making them more sustainable and thus safer over the long term.
In Toronto, discussions on turning City-owned golf courses into urban farms are growing. Advocates of this change have highlighted that this public space usually operates at a financial loss and is used by a small privileged group of people. Instead, transforming them into urban farms would mean meeting the needs of local communities, especially during a pandemic.
Cheyenne Sundance, founder of food-justice centered Sundance Harvest Farm, started the program Liberating Lawns that pairs people with unused lawns or land with food growers. The initiative turns a private piece of land into a shared space that improves food security for both the grower and the landowner.
Bonton Farms, in Dallas, USA, is one of the largest urban farms in the country and based in a predominantly Black and low-income community. A lifeline for many of the residents, it produces food and jobs for those with few other options.
2. Being active in public space: Many cities feel dominated by cars and the way our streets are designed for them. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how those same public spaces can be used by pedestrians, cyclists and other users of active transportation for a greener and safer outcome.
ActiveTO, a program initiated early in the pandemic, has used a variety of methods to shift habits away from driving. Major road closures such as those along Lakeshore Boulevard allowed hundreds of Toronto residents the space to run, walk and cycle to their destinations.
In Los Angeles, CicLAvia shuts down streets to bring new life to this public space. During the pandemic, participants in their events have been encouraged to physically distance while riding their bike or walking instead of getting in their cars.
Across the ocean, we see a similar pattern. European cities including Paris have made more room for cyclists as public support for bike lanes finally reached a high.
3. Experimenting in public space: Architects and designers are experimenting with the different ingredients of our public spaces, from the buildings to the art, to make them greener than ever. Public art pieces or installations explore how the materials of design can be used to become one with the environment around it.
Wendy, a temporary building in the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, was coated in small particles of titanium that reduced the impact of nitrogen dioxide in the air (a gas that comes from burning fuel). It also misted summer visitors with water to cool them down and make the space more comfortable.
Designer and artist Michael Jantzen created sculptures out of functional solar panels. The sculptures can then use the electricity collected to help visitors charge their devices or power the local community.
Unsurprisingly, this concept of blending art and eco-friendly design is not new. In 1999, Noel Harding created the “Elevated Wetlands” which cleans water from the Don River watershed in Toronto. The recycled-plastic sculptures use solar energy to pump water in and plants to filter them.
