Isabelle Anguelovski
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262026925
- eISBN:
- 9780262322188
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262026925.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This book is an international comparative study of three critical and emblematic minority and low-income neighborhoods whose residents have organized to holistically improve local environmental ...
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This book is an international comparative study of three critical and emblematic minority and low-income neighborhoods whose residents have organized to holistically improve local environmental quality and livability—Casc Antic (Barcelona), Dudley (Boston), CayoHueso (Havana). It examines the role played by environmental revitalization (land clean up, parks, community gardens and farms, healthy housing, community centers, improved waste management) in addressing exclusion, reconstructing community, overcoming loss, trauma, and fear of erasure, and recreating a sense of place for vulnerable residents. In those three neighborhoods, active residents, local leaders, community organizations, environmental NGOs, and other supporters have taken action in a several complementary domains that are connected to each other in order to holistically rebuild a broken community. Environmental initiatives are holistic as activists do not envision their revitalization work in compartments. The environmental work of activists also encompasses aspects of safety that go beyond individual protection against physical, social, or financial damage and harm to include soothing, nurturing, and resilience through the construction of safe havens. This research develops a new framework for understanding urban environmental justice and for planning just and resilient cities and shows that both physical and psychological dimensions of environmental health must be taken into consideration by urban decision-makers and planners to rebuild historically marginalized and degraded communities.Less
This book is an international comparative study of three critical and emblematic minority and low-income neighborhoods whose residents have organized to holistically improve local environmental quality and livability—Casc Antic (Barcelona), Dudley (Boston), CayoHueso (Havana). It examines the role played by environmental revitalization (land clean up, parks, community gardens and farms, healthy housing, community centers, improved waste management) in addressing exclusion, reconstructing community, overcoming loss, trauma, and fear of erasure, and recreating a sense of place for vulnerable residents. In those three neighborhoods, active residents, local leaders, community organizations, environmental NGOs, and other supporters have taken action in a several complementary domains that are connected to each other in order to holistically rebuild a broken community. Environmental initiatives are holistic as activists do not envision their revitalization work in compartments. The environmental work of activists also encompasses aspects of safety that go beyond individual protection against physical, social, or financial damage and harm to include soothing, nurturing, and resilience through the construction of safe havens. This research develops a new framework for understanding urban environmental justice and for planning just and resilient cities and shows that both physical and psychological dimensions of environmental health must be taken into consideration by urban decision-makers and planners to rebuild historically marginalized and degraded communities.