1 Using Green Infrastructure to Alleviate Poverty and Promote Healthy Communities: Legal and Policy Solutions for the Urban Environment Alexandra Dapolito Dunn IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Mexico City, November 2008

Executive Summary (1) Green solutions are being used around the world to enhance the aesthetic appeal and environmental health of urban communities.

3 Executive Summary (2) These investments provide important environmental services, such as stormwater control, heat island reduction, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, and energy conservation.

4 Executive Summary (3) When applied in low income and poverty stricken urban communities, green infrastructure can provide poverty alleviating benefits

5 Executive Summary (4) Legal and policy opportunities abound to promote and advance green infrastructure in urban areas and to improve the quality of life for the urban poor.

Four Key Recommendations 1.Build acceptance of models that quantify urban green infrastructure solutions and their life cycle costs 2.Develop regulatory and policy programs that promote urban green infrastructure solutions 3.Increase available funding for urban green infrastructure projects, especially in poverty stricken areas 4.Raise public/policymaker awareness of green infrastructure benefits for the urban poor 6

7 Polluted runoff Flashy streams Heat island effect Depleted groundwater sources Streambank scouring Habitat destruction Urban Environmental Challenges

8 Urban Poor Challenges (1) Reduced health quality resulting from –Exposure to polluted runoff –Poor air quality –Nutritional limitations –Reduced opportunity to exercise

9 Urban Poor Challenges (2) Reduced connection to the outdoors Lower property values Depleted sense of community Limited job opportunities High energy costs Crime

10 Green infrastructure can mitigate these urban environmental and public health challenges – and alleviate poverty and its related conditions as a result.

11 Urban Green Infrastructure Natural systems or designed or engineered systems that use soil and vegetation to mimic natural processes to protect and enhance environmental quality and public health

12 Urban Green Infrastructure Green roofs Trees and tree boxes Rain gardens Rain barrels Vegetated swales Pocket wetlands Infiltration planters Green alleys Vegetated median strips

13 Stormwater Capture Groundwater Recharge Portland, OR (US): $8 million subsidized downspout disconnection = Diverts 1 billion gallons of rain annually from combined sewer system Allows rain to soak into ground $250 million saved in infrastructure improvements

14 Offsets urban heat island effect Reduces heating/cooling costs  Chicago, IL (US) City Hall green roof  Temp °F lower than nearby black tar roof  Difference as much as 50°F in August  Energy savings for building = $3,600 US annually

15 Offsets urban heat island effect Reduces heating/cooling costs –Chicago urban forest study found increasing tree cover by 10 % (+3 trees per building) = reduced total heating and cooling energy use by up to 10 % –National estimate: planting + 3 trees per building = $2 billion in energy costs saved

16 Environmental Quality Benefits Green infrastructure –Filters airborne pollutants –Creates wildlife habitat

17 Poverty Alleviation Benefits Improved health, reduced exposure to environmental toxins Increased connection to the outdoors

18 Trees = A canopy against crime –Presence of trees reduces crime in part due to higher natural surveillance of well-used greenspace (U. Ill., F. Kuo, W. Sullivan) –Apartment buildings with high levels of greenery had 52 percent fewer total crimes than those with little or no greenery

19 Poverty Alleviation Benefits Green collar jobs = wind turbine manufacturing, solar panel installation, energy efficiency retrofits, green building

20 Urban Food Production Urban poor spend 30% more on food and 60% of their total expenditures on food Food insecurity can be more serious among the urban poor than the rural poor

Four Key Recommendations 1.Build acceptance of models that quantify urban green infrastructure solutions and their life cycle costs 21

Four Key Recommendations 2. Develop regulatory and policy programs that promote urban green infrastructure solutions 22

Four Key Recommendations 3. Increase available funding for urban green infrastructure projects, especially in poverty stricken areas 23

Four Key Recommendations 4.Raise public/ policymaker awareness of urban green infrastructure benefits for the urban poor 24

Questions