Green Infrastructure Solutions to Health Impacts of Climate Change: Perspectives of Affected Residents in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Christine Carmichael, Cecilia Danks and Christine Vatovec
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Christine Carmichael: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Cecilia Danks: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Christine Vatovec: Larner College of Medicine, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Cities worldwide are incorporating green infrastructure to mitigate climate change and achieve health cobenefits. However, green infrastructure projects are often distributed inequitably based on race and class. Residents’ perspectives are necessary to develop and enact effective and equitable ‘green’ strategies to address climate change and its health impacts. This study reports findings from interviews and ethnographic observations with diverse residents of Detroit, Michigan, USA, who have experience with both green infrastructure projects and intense weather events (flooding). Residents expressed widespread support for green infrastructure solutions, while also sharing concerns about unintended health consequences from unsatisfactory governance of green spaces and climate change itself. Residents also held differing perspectives regarding their responsibility for, and capacity to enact, these solutions compared to businesses, city government, and nonprofit organizations. These findings illuminate key factors that city governments and partnering institutions should incorporate into planning processes with residents to achieve greater environmental justice through green infrastructure strategies to mitigate climate change and related health impacts.

Keywords: green infrastructure; climate change; human health; environmental justice; governance; qualitative methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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