New video series explores heat justice and green gentrification in Barcelona and Boston
A new video series from the ClimateJusticeReady project at ICTA-UAB examines how climate adaptation can exacerbate social inequalities. The series focuses on Barcelona and Boston, two cities where urban greening efforts have led to green gentrification processes with rising rents and displacement, leaving marginalized communities at greater risk from extreme heat.
The project, ClimateJusticeReady: Predicting and Preventing Green Gentrification in Climate-Adapting Cities, investigates how green infrastructure, meant to mitigate climate change, often benefits wealthier residents while pushing out lower-income communities. The project seeks to equip municipal planners with knowledge and tools to prevent these unintended consequences, ensuring that climate adaptation is both environmentally and socially just.
What is Heat Justice?
This video series explores how access to cooler, greener neighborhoods is often a privilege of wealthier communities, while working-class areas face worsening heat risks. Through expert interviews, it sheds light on how urban policies can either reinforce or challenge these inequities.
- Isabelle Anguelovski from the group BCNUEJ at ICTA-UAB, explains how climate adaptation often disproportionately benefits wealthier communities, leaving marginalized neighborhoods vulnerable to extreme heat.
- Jaime Palomera, from IDRA, discusses how Barcelona’s skyrocketing rental prices in newly greened areas highlight the link between environmental and social justice.
- Virginia Vallvé, from Cornellà City Council, emphasizes the importance of affordable housing in the Cornellà Natura re-greening project, ensuring that green interventions do not displace existing residents.
- Ana Vanegas, from Chelsea Community Land Trust, explores the intersection of climate justice and housing justice, advocating for community-led solutions in Boston.
- Barry Keppard, from MAPC, presents strategies to address heat injustice through equitable urban planning, integrating access to housing, transportation, and public spaces.
By incorporating perspectives from residents and community-based organizations, ClimateJusticeReady promotes co-designed solutions to prevent green gentrification and climate-driven displacement. The project uses participatory mapping and citizen science to document local knowledge and perceptions, ensuring that policy interventions are rooted in lived experiences.
This video series offers an engaging and accessible look at these pressing issues, amplifying the voices of those most affected.