Residents to enhance their communities
With the support of EU funding, the 'Building just and livable cities: participation and contestation in neighborhood revitalization' (URBLIV) project took a qualitative approach to highlight how resident actions can translate to community recovery. Three case studies were conducted, covering the neighbourhoods of Cayo Hueso (Havana, Cuba), Dudley (Boston, United States) and Casc Antic (Barcelona, Spain). All historically marginalised, these neighbourhoods took a proactive approach to fighting degradation and abandonment. Data collection involved interviews, observations and secondary data reviews. Through analyses, they sought to understand the individual and collectives meanings reflected in residents' actions. Researchers assessed how the developed strategies built on local individual and collective identities that take shape in various political systems and contexts of marginalisation. Research results have contributed a deeper understanding of how residents in such neighbourhoods can make a positive impact through organisation, community claims and engaging with supporters. URBLIV activities also involved the organisation and teaching of courses in Political Ecology; Political Ecology, Environmental Conflicts and Justice; and Research Design and Qualitative Methods. In addition, the project developed a transnational environmental justice umbrella platform. This represents a new research collaboration on environmental gentrification in partnership with the University of Massachusetts in Boston. A series of research papers on various topics related to the project and its findings have been submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. These include the Journal of Planning Education and Research and the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. Other publications include two book chapters on 'Urban Gardening' and 'Environmental Justice'. Project efforts and outcomes have strengthened the relevance of urban environmental justice dimensions in urban policy and planning. URBLIV's work is thus set to help residents in marginalised neighbourhoods organise and transform their communities for enhanced quality of life.
Keywords
Marginalised neighbourhood, urban environment, community recovery, resident action, collective identity, environmental gentrification
