6 minute read
Equity and landscape
Graham Duxbury
Graham Duxbury is Chief Executive of Groundwork UK, and can be contacted for further information on this initiative.
The speed with which COVID-19 brought the world to a halt is a graphic illustration of our global interconnectedness. As with other powerful global forces – from conflict to the climate emergency – those hit hardest by the pandemic have been those who were already suffering most inequality.
Deaths in the UK have been disproportionate in disadvantaged areas and among BAME communities, and the legacy of the virus on our health and jobs will weigh most heavily in those same areas.
One of the bright spots amid the gloom has been the narrative around society’s reconnection with nature. The role of green spaces in keeping us physically fit and mentally well has come to the fore, and how often we can visit the park, and who with, has been a barometer of our confidence to unlock society.
What this narrative masks is that, for some people, this isn’t the gradual return of cherished freedoms, but an ongoing reminder of what they lack. One in eight homes in England has no garden, with the figure much higher among black families than white. (1) Data from Natural England consistently shows that people living in more disadvantaged areas, people from BAME communities and people with disabilities or long-term health conditions visit parks and green spaces less frequently than others. (2) There is a strong correlation (3) between these groups and people who are less physically active (according to Sport England) and a clear ‘read-across’ to people and areas experiencing health inequalities, as highlighted by Professor Marmot. (4)
The pandemic has both highlighted and exacerbated this inequity, providing a stark reminder that, for people in certain communities, green spaces may be close by but remain off-putting or off-limits. For some, the issues are systemic – where green spaces are located, how they can be accessed, and whether or not they have decent facilities. For others the barriers are about relevance or confidence – perceptions of who and what green spaces are for, how people behave in them, and how to make the most of them. These issues are not new, but COVID-19 has intensified the challenge. How to address that challenge in the context of a ‘green recovery’ is at the core of a debate being taken forward under the auspices of the National Outdoors for All Working Group (5) , convened by Natural England.
We need to start by understanding the financial, health and social realities of the post-COVID-19 period. Budgets to manage parks and green spaces have seen a steep reduction in the last ten years, and financial pressures will only increase in the months ahead as local authorities consider how to cope with an estimated £5.5bn in lost income and spiralling social care costs. At the same time, travel restrictions, the ‘staycation’ boom and anxiety about indoor attractions means an unprecedented increase in visitor numbers, with all the associated maintenance challenges that entails.
Some people who consider themselves vulnerable will be experiencing physical ‘deconditioning’ as a result of extended inactivity, which may make them even less likely to visit open spaces. Meanwhile, for many with underlying conditions, the easing of lockdown will lead to ongoing anxiety about the safety of being in places which may become crowded.
Finally, the renewed focus on tackling racism adds urgency to the questions about how well diverse voices are heard in the design and delivery of local services and the management of public institutions. The parks, landscape and conservation sectors are not seen to be representative of wider society and often default to certain norms in terms of the way green and blue spaces are managed and promoted, including the behaviours that might be expected of people using them.
As well as highlighting the challenges, this debate also creates an opportunity to put parks and urban green or blue spaces at the forefront of thinking about how we emerge from the pandemic stronger.
A growth in visitor numbers means there is a wider group of people to influence and engage in activities which lock in positive health and environmental behaviours. The need to provide ongoing support for people who are vulnerable, in poor health or convalescing, presents the opportunity to position green spaces as a more important part of our national infrastructure to keep people well. The increased focus on health inequalities and racism paves the way for a conversation about the value of parks and green spaces in promoting cultural understanding and cohesion, and in levelling up opportunity to lead a healthy life.
In thinking about where we go from here, we need to recognise that the majority of green and blue spaces in our urban areas are the result of historic attitudes to leisure and recreation, or a by-product of previous industrial activities. This heritage value is important and needs to be protected. However, it also risks this infrastructure being seen as the preserve of certain sections of society. In the US, the Sierra Club’s apology (6) over the views of its founder, John Muir, has sparked a debate about the role of national parks in reinforcing ‘self-segregation’. Closer to home, Dr Bridget Snaith’s work on equalities in landscape is opening up a similar debate around ‘parks and prejudice’. (7)
Unless we take a step back and ask again what the purpose of these spaces should be, our planning, design and management processes are likely to perpetuate exclusion. As a sector, we need to find better ways of consulting to find out what people want from their parks and green spaces, and using those processes to challenge our accepted assumptions. This starts with planning and design, but then incorporates the maintenance and ‘activation’ of spaces. There is a real opportunity to embed inclusion, equity and environmental justice into work already underway to explore alternative maintenance models, and to build stronger local ownership that helps land managers build partnerships with a more diverse pool of community and voluntary organisations.
We know that excluded groups are not ‘hard to reach’ and that, instead, some people find organisations in the landscape and nature sector ‘hard to access’. Many of the target groups who would benefit most from what the sector can offer are simply unaware of its existence, or unsure about how to connect with it. Competition for resources often leads to overlapping initiatives aimed at bridging this divide, and can actually increase the disconnect between larger bodies and communityled organisations representing specific marginalised groups. The concept of ‘generous leadership’ involves working to achieve a better balance of power and resources between organisations of different scales and levels of capacity. In resource-constrained times, it is a challenge to work in this way, but it will be necessary do so if we are to build an organisational ecosystem with the reach, resources and relevance to empower a wider diversity of people.
As we emerge from hibernation, we have an opportunity to reconfigure both our green and social infrastructure in a way that harnesses the community spirit that has flowered during the crisis, and that prepares all of us better for future emergencies. To make our recovery both green and fair, we need to prioritise the needs of the places that have borne the brunt and the people who are paying the highest cost.
The National Outdoors for All Working Group is convening a number of green recovery discussions, bringing together organisations promoting engagement with nature and green space with those representing the interests of excluded groups. Making links across and between sectors to build a broader coalition for change is a key part of the approach.
References
1 https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/accesstogardensandpublicgreenspaceingreatbritain
2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904439/Improving_access_to_greenspace_2020_review.pdf
3 https://www.sportengland.org/news/surge-appreciation-exercise-and-activity-during-lockdown
4 https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/the-marmot-review-10-years-on
5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/outdoors-for-all-fair-access-to-a-good-quality-natural-environment/outdoors-for-all-fair-access-to-a-good-quality-natural-environment
6 https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Sierra-Club-distances-itself-from-John-Muir-15426324.php and https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americas-national-parks-face-existential-crisis-race/story?id=71528972
7 https://repository.uel.ac.uk/researcher/80347/dr-bridget-snaith
